Do home health aides in Connecticut need a background check?
Yes, Connecticut's criminal history and patient abuse background search program applies to home health care agencies, home health aide agencies, and hospice agencies among other long-term care facility types. The law requires the search before an offer of employment, and a state program office, not the hiring agency itself, decides whether anything found disqualifies an applicant.
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What the search actually checks
State law defines a background search as three things together: a check of the state's registry of nurse's aides, a check of state and national criminal history records, and a review of any other registry the Department of Public Health decides is necessary.
Who decides, and how long a clean result lasts
The Department of Public Health's program staff, not the long-term care facility, makes the call on whether someone has a disqualifying offense. If you already went through a background search within the past three years and nothing disqualifying turned up, a facility does not have to put you through it again for a new application.
Where this requirement actually applies
State law lists several kinds of long-term care facilities under this requirement, including nursing homes, residential care homes, assisted living services agencies, home health care agencies, hospice agencies, and home health aide agencies, so the rule reaches well beyond hospital settings into the kind of home-based work most aides are hired for.
More questions
Does the hiring agency decide if I am disqualified?
No, that decision is made by the Department of Public Health's background search program staff, not the agency.
Does a clean background search ever expire?
If it was completed within the past three years with no disqualifying offense found, a facility can generally rely on it rather than requiring a new one.
Does this requirement apply beyond nursing homes?
Yes, it also covers home health care agencies, home health aide agencies, hospice agencies, residential care homes, and assisted living services agencies.
Sources
- Public Act No. 25-16 (Substitute House Bill No. 6771), Connecticut General Assembly
- Connecticut Long-Term Care Criminal History and Patient Abuse Background Search Program — Frequently Asked Questions (ABCMS FAQs), Connecticut Department of Public Health
Checked against these sources on November 6, 2026. Rules change, so confirm with the source before you rely on a detail. This page is general information, not legal advice.