HB2102 Summary: Health Care Worker Background Check Act Amendments

• Expands disqualifying offenses for health care workers to include substantially equivalent convictions under other states' or federal laws, verified through court records, state agency records, or FBI criminal history checks.

• Adds new category of disqualifying offenses in subsection (a-1) including specific criminal code violations and nursing practice violations, with waiver eligibility under Section 40.

• Requires fingerprints to be transmitted through a livescan vendor licensed by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and checked against both Illinois State Police and FBI databases, including civil, criminal, and latent fingerprint records.

• Clarifies that the Illinois State Police shall forward fingerprints to the FBI and request national criminal history records, with results maintained in the Health Care Worker Registry.

• Allows workforce intermediaries and pro bono legal services organizations to initiate background checks for individuals with disqualifying convictions before a conditional employment offer is made.