Kentucky Legislature Drops Two Bills to Protect Nursing Home Residents
The first bill, House Bill 73, ensures continued funding for a background-check program that is already in place. Currently, Kentucky has a fingerprint-based background check requirement for job candidates seeking to work with nursing home residents. Through June 30, 2014, the program will be funded by a $3 million federal grant and $1 million in state funds. Without the additional funding sought by House Bill 73, however, the program will fall by the wayside.
House Bill 73 was passed by a full vote of the Kentucky House, but it was never heard by a Senate committee or brought to the Senate floor for a vote. However, the legislature will have a chance in the next session to pass a bill that continues funding the fingerprint background check program before its funding runs out.
The second bill, House Bill 367, would have created a registry that lists nursing home workers involved in substantiated cases of abuse or neglect. Currently, Kentucky has such a registry for people who work with children, but the state does not have one for those who work with the elderly, including nursing home workers. House Bill 367 had a companion bill in the Senate. However, both bills failed to pass for the fourth consecutive year.