[co-author: Leah Shepherd]
Certain organizations in Florida that work with children and vulnerable adults must link to the Agency for Health Care Administration’s (AHCA) new background checks resource in their job postings for any position that requires a screening through Florida’s Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, commonly referred to as Level 2 Background Screening. The resource includes details on disqualifying offenses, exemption procedures, and timelines.
Quick Hits
- Certain organizations in Florida that work with children and vulnerable adults must link to the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) new public background checks resource in their job postings for any position that requires a screening through Florida’s Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse.
On June 4, 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that requires the AHCA to create and maintain a webpage for background screening education and awareness. The AHCA had until January 1, 2026, to activate this webpage, which is now live. The agency is required to update the webpage by October 1, 2026, and then by October 1 each year, to incorporate any changes to law, the employment screening process, or the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, which retains fingerprint data and allows the results of criminal history checks to be shared among certain entities that provide care or placement services for children or vulnerable adults.
The clearinghouse is Florida’s central system for completing and sharing Level 2 background screenings, which are fingerprint-based checks for positions of trust, such as healthcare, education, childcare, and law enforcement jobs. The Level 2 screenings search state and national criminal records for serious disqualifying offenses. The clearinghouse constantly reviews new criminal history information and matches fingerprints retained in the clearinghouse against fingerprints received for new arrests that occur after an individual was originally screened. Once a person’s screening record is in the clearinghouse, that person may avoid the need for any future state screens and fees for screenings.
Going forward, organizations must include a link to the AHCA’s resource in their job postings for all positions requiring background screening through the clearinghouse. For example, this may include public schools, healthcare providers, home health agencies, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, residential care facilities, group homes, and youth athletic programs.
The following entities must link to the AHCA’s webpage about background screening:
- School districts, special school districts, charter schools, and alternative schools
- Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
- Florida Virtual School
- Virtual instruction programs
- Regional workforce boards
- County-level agencies with authority to license and oversee childcare facilities
- Florida Department of Health
- Florida Department of Children and Families
- Florida Department of Elder Affairs
- Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
- Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities
- Florida Department of Education
- Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Next Steps
Employers with positions involving mandatory background screenings may wish to update their webpages and job listings to comply with the new state law. They may wish to become familiar with the information posted on AHCA’s resource on background checks and how to use the clearinghouse.
