Level 2 background screening in Florida

Florida has two standard levels of employment background screening, both defined in Chapter 435. Other laws decide who must be screened and at which level.

Level 2 applies to people who work with children, older adults, or people with disabilities, along with many health care and education roles. Florida law calls them all “employees,” but that includes contractors, licensees, and volunteers. Common examples:

Some licenses, like DBPR real estate and contractor licenses, also need fingerprints but follow their own licensing law rather than Chapter 435. See every requirement we handle.

Until screening is complete, you can be hired only for training and orientation, with no direct contact with the people the job serves.

Not every offense is disqualifying. As AHCA puts it, a person may have a criminal history record and still be eligible. Disqualification comes from a pending arrest, a guilty or no-contest plea, or a finding of guilt for one of the offenses listed in the statute, regardless of adjudication, including similar laws in other states.

The list has more than 60 entries. Broadly, it covers:

• Homicide and serious violent crimes
• Sexual offenses
• Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of children, older adults, or disabled adults
• Human trafficking
• Felony theft, robbery, and fraud
• Felony drug offenses, and drug offenses involving a minor
• Domestic violence
• Attempts, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit any listed offense

Agencies can add their own offenses. Health care providers licensed by AHCA, for example, also screen for Medicaid fraud and other financial crimes.

If a record is wrong, the only way to contest it is to prove mistaken identity. Otherwise, a disqualified person can ask the agency head for an exemption from disqualification.

• For a felony, at least two years must have passed since you completed your sentence, including supervision.
• For a misdemeanor, you can apply once your sentence is complete.
• For a juvenile felony-level finding, at least three years must have passed.
• Court-ordered fines, fees, and restitution must be paid in full first.
• You have to show by clear and convincing evidence that you shouldn’t be disqualified.

Sexual predators, career offenders, and registered sex offenders can’t be exempted. A pardon or restoration of civil rights alone isn’t enough. Each agency runs its own application. AHCA, for example, publishes its own exemption form.

Level 2 results are kept in the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, run by AHCA. Your fingerprints are retained for five years and checked against new Florida arrests.

• New employer, same field: a new employer with a participating agency can usually review your existing result for free, with no new fingerprints.
• A break of more than 90 days: you need a new national check. AHCA calls this a resubmission, and it doesn’t require new prints.
• Every five years: your employer renews your retained prints, starting up to 60 days before they expire. Once they’ve been purged, you’ll need a whole new screening and new fingerprints.

Under the Jessica Lunsford Act, school employees and contractors with direct student contact or access to school funds need a Level 2 screening through the Clearinghouse, and must report a new conviction within 48 hours.

Contractors who are on campus while students are present but don’t expect contact go through a fingerprint check against a shorter list of offenses and get a statewide ID badge good for five years. Public school districts usually fingerprint their own employees and contractors, so check with your district before booking.