225 ILCS 46/15

(225 ILCS 46/15)

Sec. 15. Definitions. In this Act:

"Applicant" means an individual enrolling in a training program, seeking employment, whether paid or on a volunteer basis, with a health care employer who has received a bona fide conditional offer of employment.

"Conditional offer of employment" means a bona fide offer of employment by a health care employer to an applicant, which is contingent upon the receipt of a report from the Department of Public Health indicating that the applicant does not have a record of conviction of any of the criminal offenses enumerated in Section 25.

"Department" means the Department of Public Health.

"Direct care" means the provision of nursing care or assistance with feeding, dressing, movement, bathing, toileting, or other personal needs, including home services as defined in the Home Health, Home Services, and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act. The entity responsible for inspecting and licensing, certifying, or registering the health care employer may, by administrative rule, prescribe guidelines for interpreting this definition with regard to the health care employers that it licenses.

"Director" means the Director of Public Health.

"Disqualifying offenses" means those offenses set forth in Section 25 of this Act.

"Employee" means any individual hired, employed, or retained, whether paid or on a volunteer basis, to which this Act applies.

"Finding" means the Department's determination of whether an allegation is verified and substantiated.

"Fingerprint-based criminal history records check" means a livescan fingerprint-based criminal history records check submitted as a fee applicant inquiry in the form and manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police.

"Health care employer" means:

(1) the owner or licensee of any of the following:

(i) a community living facility, as defined in the Community Living Facilities Licensing Act;

(ii) a life care facility, as defined in the Life Care Facilities Act;

(iii) a long-term care facility;

(iv) a home health agency, home services agency, or home nursing agency as defined in the Home Health, Home Services, and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act;

(v) a hospice care program or volunteer hospice program, as defined in the Hospice Program Licensing Act;

(vi) a hospital, as defined in the Hospital Licensing Act;

(vii) (blank);

(viii) a nurse agency, as defined in the Nurse Agency Licensing Act;

(ix) a respite care provider, as defined in the Respite Program Act;

(ix-a) an establishment licensed under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act;

(x) a supportive living program, as defined in the Illinois Public Aid Code;

(xi) early childhood intervention programs as described in 59 Ill. Adm. Code 121;

(xii) the University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago;

(xiii) programs funded by the Department on Aging through the Community Care Program;

(xiv) programs certified to participate in the Supportive Living Program authorized pursuant to Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public Aid Code;

(xv) programs listed by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act as Freestanding Emergency Centers;

(xvi) locations licensed under the Alternative Health Care Delivery Act;

(2) a day training program certified by the Department of Human Services;

(3) a community integrated living arrangement operated by a community mental health and developmental service agency, as defined in the Community-Integrated Living Arrangements Licensure and Certification Act;

(4) the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, including any regional long term care ombudsman programs under Section 4.04 of the Illinois Act on the Aging, only for the purpose of securing background checks;

(5) the Department of Corrections or a third-party vendor employing certified nursing assistants working with the Department of Corrections; or

(6) a financial management services entity contracted with the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities, which is not the employer of personal support workers but supports individuals receiving participant directed services, to administer the individuals' employer authority. A financial management services entity assists participants in completing background check requirements, collecting and processing time sheets for support workers, and processing payroll, withholding, filing, and payment of applicable federal, State, and local employment-related taxes and insurance.

"Initiate" means obtaining from a student, applicant, or employee his or her social security number, demographics, a disclosure statement, and an authorization for the Department of Public Health or its designee to request a fingerprint-based criminal history records check; transmitting this information electronically to the Department of Public Health; conducting Internet searches on certain web sites, including without limitation the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, the Department of Corrections' Sex Offender Search Engine, the Department of Corrections' Inmate Search Engine, the Department of Corrections Wanted Fugitives Search Engine, the National Sex Offender Public Registry, and the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities database on the website of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to determine if the applicant has been adjudicated a sex offender, has been a prison inmate, or has committed Medicare or Medicaid fraud, or conducting similar searches as defined by rule; and having the student, applicant, or employee's fingerprints collected and transmitted electronically to the Illinois State Police.

"Livescan vendor" means an entity whose equipment has been certified by the Illinois State Police to collect an individual's demographics and inkless fingerprints and, in a manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police and the Department of Public Health, electronically transmit the fingerprints and required data to the Illinois State Police and a daily file of required data to the Department of Public Health. The Department of Public Health shall negotiate a contract with one or more vendors that effectively demonstrate that the vendor has 2 or more years of experience transmitting fingerprints electronically to the Illinois State Police and that the vendor can successfully transmit the required data in a manner prescribed by the Department of Public Health. Vendor authorization may be further defined by administrative rule.

"Long-term care facility" means a facility licensed by the State or certified under federal law as a long-term care facility, including without limitation facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or the MC/DD Act, a supportive living facility, an assisted living establishment, or a shared housing establishment or registered as a board and care home.

"Resident" means a person, individual, or patient under the direct care of a health care employer or who has been provided goods or services by a health care employer.

(Source: P.A. 102-226, eff. 7-30-21; 102-503, eff. 8-20-21; 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 103-303, eff. 1-1-24.)