Background checks for PA home care caregivers
What background checks do caregivers need at a Pennsylvania home care agency?
- Interview the applicant and collect two references
- Check how long the applicant has lived in Pennsylvania
- Order the State Police check, or FBI check plus Aging letter
- Add a ChildLine clearance if you serve anyone under 18
- Get the written affirmation before any provisional hire
- Monitor provisional hires and stop at the 30 or 90 day limit
- File every result in the worker's personnel record
Who has to be screened, and when
Every caregiver, office staff member and owner of a Pennsylvania home care agency or registry must submit a criminal history report dated within a year of applying.
The rule is not only about caregivers. The person answering the phone and scheduling visits sees client addresses and door codes, so office staff are covered too, and so are the owners who hold the license.
The report has to be obtained at the time of application or within the year before. A check from a previous job two years ago does not count, even if it was clean.
Pennsylvania home care agencies and registries must require criminal history reports from direct care worker applicants, office staff and owners. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.52, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
1 yearThe criminal history report must be obtained at the time of application or within 1 year immediately preceding it. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.52, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
State Police check or FBI check, decided by residency
Applicants who have lived in Pennsylvania for the two years before the request need a State Police report; anyone newer needs an FBI report and a Department of Aging determination letter.
Ask about residency at the interview, before you order anything. A caregiver who moved from New Jersey eighteen months ago needs the FBI route, and ordering only the State Police check wastes the fee and a week.
The State Police check can be ordered online through the PATCH system or by mailing form SP 4-164. The FBI check means fingerprinting, after which the Department of Aging issues its letter.
| Applicant | Report required | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania resident for the prior 2 years | State Police criminal history report | $22 |
| Resident for less than 2 years | FBI report plus Department of Aging letter | $26.20 |
2 yearsTwo years of Pennsylvania residency means a State Police report; anyone resident for less needs an FBI report and a Department of Aging determination letter. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.52, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
SP 4-164Pennsylvania State Police criminal record checks can be requested online through PATCH or by mailing form SP 4-164. — Pennsylvania State Police, retrieved 2026-09-27
What the checks cost per applicant
A State Police check costs $22, with an optional $5 notarization, and the FBI fingerprint check listed by the Department of Aging costs $26.20.
Decide early who pays. Some agencies absorb the fee as a recruiting cost, others reimburse it after the first month of shifts. Either way, you will pay for applicants who fail the check or never start, and in a high-turnover workforce that adds up.
The rest of the startup budget, including the license and entity fees, is on the startup cost page.
$22A Pennsylvania State Police individual background check costs $22 and can be notarized for an additional $5. — Pennsylvania State Police, retrieved 2026-09-27
$26.20The Department of Aging states that the FBI background check fee increased to $26.20 effective June 15, 2024. — Pennsylvania Department of Aging, retrieved 2026-09-27
Convictions that bar a hire under Pennsylvania rules
An agency may not hire, roster or keep anyone whose State Police record shows a conviction on Pennsylvania's prohibited list, or whose Department of Aging letter finds them ineligible.
The list lives in the Department of Aging's regulations at 6 Pa. Code § 15.143, and Chapter 611 points to it rather than repeating it. Read the result against that list, not against your instinct about what seems serious.
The word "retain" matters. The bar applies to current workers as well as new ones, so a disqualifying result for someone already on shifts means removing them from client work.
6 Pa. Code § 15.143A home care agency or registry may not hire, roster or retain an individual whose State Police record shows a prohibited conviction listed in 6 Pa. Code § 15.143. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.52, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
ChildLine clearance when you serve anyone under 18
If your agency serves any client under 18, every caregiver and office applicant also needs ChildLine verification, and you cannot keep anyone named as a perpetrator in a founded or indicated report.
Many non-medical agencies serve only older adults and never need this. But respite care for a family with a disabled child, or a household where a grandchild lives with the client, can bring you into it. Decide your client population before you write your screening procedure.
A provisionally hired worker awaiting ChildLine must be directly supervised, or accompanied by another caregiver, when working with children.
Pennsylvania home care agencies serving people under 18 must require ChildLine verification for direct care worker and office staff applicants. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.53, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
While awaiting child abuse clearance, a provisional hire serving consumers under 18 must be directly supervised or accompanied by another direct care worker. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.54, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
Provisional hiring while results are pending
An applicant who has applied for checks and sworn they are not disqualified may work provisionally for 30 days, or 90 days if newer to Pennsylvania.
Provisional hiring has conditions. The applicant must have applied for the criminal history report and ChildLine verification, you must have no knowledge that disqualifies them, they must meet the competency requirements first, and you must monitor them through random direct observation.
When the period ends without a result, the worker stops. The same applies the moment disqualifying information arrives.
30 or 90 daysA provisional hire may not exceed 30 days for a Pennsylvania resident of 2 years or more, or 90 days for someone resident less than 2 years. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.54, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
Provisionally hired applicants must be monitored through random, direct observation while awaiting a criminal background check. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.54, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
References and the personnel file inspectors open first
Alongside the checks, get at least two satisfactory references from former employers or other unrelated people, and document the interview and references in the worker's file.
A satisfactory reference is positive and verifiable, verbal or written. Family members do not count. Write down who you spoke to and when, because an inspector reading the file cannot verify a phone call you did not record.
The same file holds the TB screening and competency proof covered in the training requirements. If you are still designing the agency, the order all of this fits into is in the licensing guide.
two referencesPennsylvania requires at least two satisfactory references, defined as positive and verifiable references from a former employer or other person not related to the individual. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.51, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
Questions
Can I accept a caregiver's check from their previous agency?
Only if it was obtained within the year before their application to you, because Chapter 611 requires a report obtained at application or within the preceding year. Anything older has to be redone.
Do registries have to run the same checks as agencies?
Yes. The criminal history, ChildLine, reference and provisional hiring rules in Chapter 611 apply to home care registries rostering independent contractors exactly as they apply to agencies hiring employees.
Who pays the FBI fingerprinting fee?
The regulation does not assign the cost. Agencies choose whether to pay it, reimburse it, or ask applicants to pay; the Department of Aging lists the FBI fee at $26.20.