One of the challenges that nursing homes and other long-term care providers face is verifying the information potential employees write on their job applications.

Nursing homes and senior housing providers conduct screening for their prospective employees, including mandatory drug testing, medical examinations, and formal reference checks. In addition, RAHSA organizations check the licenses of nurses, therapists, and other licensed or certified health care professionals to ensure the licenses are up-to-date and there are no concerns regarding the quality of their patient care.

In 1999, RAHSA established a voluntary, county-wide system for long-term care providers to determine if an applicant has any criminal history.

With the support of the county executive's and the sheriff's offices, as well as local town and city police agencies, an efficient and centralized method for our area nursing homes to check on a potential employee's criminal record was established.

As part of this initiative, the participating not-for-profit homes within RAHSA and the Genesee Healthcare Facilities Association collectively fund a position in the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, which is responsible for conducting employee background investigations on prospective nursing home employees. The background checks are performed in conjunction with all local jurisdictions and identify individuals with violations, misdemeanors or felonies.

In 2005, the State of New York passed legislation requiring criminal background checks on all new hires of health care workers via a state-wide database. These systems of background checks further expands the abilities of nursing homes to verify the information prospective employees put on their job applications-helping to ensure the individuals they hire are of the highest caliber and will provide the best of care.

In 2008, the Board of Directors of RAHSA voted to discontinue the operations and oversight of the Criminal Background Check (CBC) program and turned the program over to the Genesee Health Facilities Association (GHFA). RAHSA organizations continue to utilize the GHFA CBC progarm or opt to use another competitive CBC program.