State of Wisconsin “Caregiver Background Check Law”
The State of Wisconsin “Caregiver Background Check Law” (“Caregiver Law”) went into effect on October 1, 1998. The law requires that certain individuals who provide care for others or have access to clients of a covered entity* must undergo a criminal background check. The Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services has ruled that professional health care (e.g., pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and social work) students are subject to the law, because of the experiential course work (clerkships) in their academic programs. Accordingly, it is necessary that a condition of Pharm.D. admission be completion of the Wisconsin Department of Justice “Background Information Disclosure” form.
If admission is approved, a “Background Information Disclosure” form will be sent with the admission letter. It will be imperative that an admitted student fill out the “Background Information Disclosure” form completely. If an admitted student has lived in one or more states other than Wisconsin during the past three years, a criminal background check will need to be conducted in each such state. If an admitted student has been discharged from any branch of the military during the past three years, the student will need to provide his/her military discharge papers.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice will conduct the caregiver background check, and will inform the School of Pharmacy of the results. The results will be made available to prospective clerkship site (covered entity) supervisors. The “Caregiver Law” identifies numerous “serious crimes” that automatically bar a student from participation in clerkship experiences, unless the student successfully completes the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services rehabilitation review process. For all other offenses, it will be the prerogative of a prospective clerkship site supervisor to accept or not accept a student as a clerkship participant, based upon whether the offense in question substantially relates to the care of the site’s clients. If a student is not eligible to participate in the required clerkship experiences, the student will not be able to earn the Pharm.D. degree.
If you have questions about the “Caregiver Law,” feel free to contact us. More information about the law is available at: http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/caregiver/.
* A “covered entity” is any facility, agency, organization, or service that is licensed,
approved, or certified by, or registered with, the Wisconsin Department of Health
and Family Services.