Background Checks: why you need them

Granholm signs law requiring background checks in nursing homes

LANSING -- New workers in hospices, home health programs and psychiatric hospitals will have to undergo criminal background checks starting May 1 under a law signed Friday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Background checks currently are required in nursing homes, adult foster care homes and homes for the aged. The new law will expand the requirement to other health facilities.

The state Department of Community Health got $5 million from the federal government last fall to create a background check system, but was required to enact tougher new laws for workers in long-term care facilities.

"I'm pleased to sign legislation that will help protect our state's most vulnerable citizens in the long-term care facilities they call home," Granholm said in a statement. "By requiring background checks on new employees, we can ensure that people who shouldn't have access to our parents and grandparents don't."

The background check bills are House Bills 5168 and 5448, and Senate Bills 621-22.