CALA News & Views | Issue 48 | Impact

WORKFORCE AND EDUCATION ADVOCATING FOR AT THE FOREFRONT OF EFFORTS TO STREAMLINE PROCESSES AND ENHANCE EFFICIENCY. CALA HAS DILIGENTLY WORKED TO IMPROVE THE GUARDIAN BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM AND ADMINISTRATOR CERTIFICATION PROCESSING, WHICH HAS LED TO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS.

Progress with Guardian and Background Checks CALA has worked throughout the year to improve the Guardian background check system and processing of background checks while also providing education to members to make the process as smooth as possible. As a result, we’ve seen improvement. CALA elevated concerns to the Care Provider Management Branch (CPMB) related to the “error batch” black hole where fingerprints with inconsistencies in information were relegated without notice until an inquiry prompted an analyst to investigate and try to match the fingerprints to an individual.

in the error batch to just a little over 200 for all licensee categories under Community Care Licensing and it is now being actively monitored. At CALA’s urging regarding the need to speed simplified exemptions, which are granted automatically with no action needed on behalf of the applicant or the employer, CPMB worked with the Guardian vendor to automate the process to the extent possible. The list of individuals that may qualify for a simplified exemption are also actively monitored so if there is a need for manual intervention the department can act quickly to ensure they are approved in a timely manner. There have been many opportunities for CALA staff to help members experiencing significant delays in background check responses understand what could be holding up the clearance or exemption and ways to help the process go as quickly

CALA pursued this issue with CPMB and they have made significant progress in working down the number of fingerprints

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