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| Health & Social Care
November 17 2015

National Background Checks to be Required for those who Work with Senior Citizens

National background checks are now required for all those who work with senior citizens in the US state of Kentucky.  Gov. Steve Beshear signed an order requiring national criminal background checks for any new hires. “We've got to make sure that the folks who work there, and take care of those seniors, are not abusers,” said Beshear.

The state has been conducting a voluntary pilot program. Beshear's order makes a check of the FBI criminal database mandatory statewide. Past efforts to require the national background checks failed in the General Assembly. Beshear, who is about to leave office, decided to bypass lawmakers. “You have some in the industry who have felt like it was an undue expense and an undue burden. But I think we owe it to our families,” said Beshear.