Connecticut bill advocates background checks on elderly care employees

New legislation was recently proposed in Connecticut that would regulate extensive background checks on healthcare employees who work with the elderly, according to The Connecticut Post. The proposal comes in response to the recent arrest of Bridgeport, Connecticut, native Alima Kamil, who was charged with sixth-degree larceny after allegedly stealing at least $20 from a 93-year-old woman whom she worked for as a home health aide. Kamil had 20 prior arrests under three different aliases, the news source explains. "There is a convergence of trends that is leading to an epidemic of abuse, particularly financial abuse, of elderly clients in this industry," John Hill, principal consultant of the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, explained to California Watch. The Connecticut Post points out that the state currently doesn't require background screening for their long-term care workers. The new bill, entitled An Act Concerning a Criminal History and Patient Abuse Background Search Program, would place potential employees through a review of the registry of nurse's aides maintained by the state Department of Public Health. Their state and national criminal history records would also be examined, and workers' records would be reviewed for convictions of disqualifying offenses, such as neglect and abuse.