In a recent decision by the Pennsylvania State Court, people who have been convicted of misdemeanors and felonies in the past are no longer banned from working in nursing homes.
The act in question, called the Older Adults Protective Services Act, was intended to bar those who had committed heinous crimes, such as murder, from working with the elderly. However, this decision has recently been overturned.
McKnight’s discusses the case further.
“Indeed, it defies logic to suggest that every person who has at any time been convicted of any of the crimes listed in Section 503 of the Act, including misdemeanor theft, presents a danger to those in an Act-covered facility,” wrote Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt.
Long-term care applicants still must submit to a criminal record check so facilities can assess those with convictions prior to hiring them, Tad LeVan, attorney for the petitioners, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He also noted that the state could benefit from a “more reasoned law” to block people convicted of certain crimes from working in nursing homes.
“If we were all convicted of stupid things we did as a teenager, and three decades later we couldn’t possibly get a job, I think we would have a different view of the fairness of this absolute prohibition,” LeVan told the Post-Gazette.
The Act has been brought to court once before, but only deemed unconstitutional for the petitioners who filed the case.
Photo by Brian Turner via Flickr CC License
