Criminal background check API for skilled nursing facilities
One API call from your EHR or referral intake across jail bookings, state corrections, courts, warrants and federal custody, answered before the bed is offered. A BAA is signed before the first search, and every check is stored for the surveyor. CNA and LPN hiring decisions run as FCRA orders, never on a standard result.
25 free searches, no card. $0.15 a call, no platform fee, no seats, no minimum. No integration yet? The same search runs from the dashboard.
curl https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/criminal/search \ -H "X-API-Key: $OFFENDERSEARCH_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"query": {"firstName": "Daniel", "lastName": "Okafor", "dob": "1966-08-30"}}' // response { "status": "complete", "counts": { "records": 0, "sourcesIncomplete": 0 }, "records": [] } // a record carries its type and status { "recordType": "criminal_record", "currentStatus": "released", "matchState": "dob_match", "matchConfidence": 0.96, "matchBasis": "lastName:exact firstName:exact dob:match" }
Skilled nursing criminal background check workflow. A data call for safety checks, an FCRA order when a hire is decided.
Check the referral before the bed offer. Name and date of birth from the referral packet, one POST across every live jurisdiction: county jails, state corrections, courts, warrants and federal custody.
Branch on record type and status. A 1998 booking, a dismissed case and a recent conviction for resident abuse are different facts. Read recordType, currentStatus, matchConfidence and matchBasis.
Apply the written admissions policy. Admissions decides with the record in front of it, and the decision is logged against the stored search.
Send hires to an FCRA order. CNA, LPN and agency clinician hiring runs as an FCRA order through your screening company, with consent, dispute and adverse-action steps.
Store it for the surveyor. Every search kept with query, timestamp and per-jurisdiction outcome, exportable as a verification report.
Skilled nursing criminal background check API: request and response. One POST per person, or the same search from the dashboard with no code.
curl https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/criminal/search \ -H "X-API-Key: $OFFENDERSEARCH_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"query": {"firstName": "Daniel", "lastName": "Okafor", "dob": "1966-08-30"}}' // response { "status": "complete", "counts": { "records": 0, "sourcesIncomplete": 0 }, "records": [] } // a record carries its type and status { "recordType": "criminal_record", "currentStatus": "released", "matchState": "dob_match", "matchConfidence": 0.96, "matchBasis": "lastName:exact firstName:exact dob:match" }
| Person | Checked for | Result | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Okafor | referral intake | No record | 1,164 |
| Jordan Sample | referral intake | Court case · year_match | 1,164 |
| J. Sample | referral intake | Warrant · dob_match | 1,164 |
Criminal API docs › · Search from the dashboard › · Bulk criminal record search ›
When skilled nursing facility administrators and admissions teams run a criminal background check. Each moment on its path: the data call or the FCRA order.
Before the bed is offered
Admissions checks the referral so it can plan supervision and room assignment under its written policy.
Across the standing census
The census re-screened on your own cadence from a CSV, billed per row.
Before a CNA or LPN is hired
The hiring check runs through an FCRA order placed by your screening company, alongside any state fingerprint check.
Between checks
A criminal person monitor flags a new booking, warrant or case after admission.
What a skilled nursing criminal background check covers. Five record layers, scored on date of birth and cited to the jurisdiction on every record.
| Record type | What the admissions team learns | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Jail bookings | A recent arrest and booking: charges, booking date, in custody or released. A booking is not a conviction. | 1,408 county rosters · 1027 live |
| State corrections | State custody, parole or release, with the facility and release date. | 53 systems |
| Court cases | Filed charges and how they ended: dismissed, convicted, disposed. | 36 court sources |
| Warrants | An open warrant, the issuing jurisdiction and its status today. | 34 warrant sources |
| Federal custody | Federal custody, or release from it. | searched live |
Criminal screening challenges for skilled nursing facility administrators and admissions teams
- Criminal records are spread across county jails, state corrections, courts and warrant systems, not one list.
- Admissions decisions move in hours; a criminal check cannot wait on a vendor turnaround of days.
- A referral check and a CNA hiring check look alike but answer to different law.
- Surveyors and counsel expect a record of what was checked, when, and what came back.
What criminal background checks give skilled nursing facility administrators and admissions teams
A criminal answer on every referral before the bed is offered, without waiting on IT.
An FCRA path for every CNA and LPN hire, through your screening company, kept apart from admissions.
Re-screen the census and agency roster on your own cadence, from a CSV or the API.
Hand a surveyor a complete, stored history of every check, with every jurisdiction that answered.
Criminal background checks for CNA and LPN hires run as FCRA orders.
When a result will help decide whether to hire or engage a CNA, LPN or agency clinician, the check is a consumer report. It runs as an FCRA order through FCRA Partner Access, placed by a background screening company or screening platform under a written FCRA agreement: disclosure and consent, the check, a copy of the report and a summary of rights before any adverse action, and a dispute path for the person.
The $0.15 criminal search is for safety checks. It is not a consumer report, and standard results are never the reason an applicant is turned away.
The screening company attests the applicant’s disclosure and authorization on the order.
Exact date of birth only; the seven-year rule and state limits applied before anything is furnished.
Records with verification time; withheld items as counts by reason.
The applicant sees the report in the consumer portal and can dispute any item.
Pre-adverse notice with the report, a waiting period, then a final notice, by the employer.
Criminal background check practices for skilled nursing facility administrators and admissions teams. Record what you checked, not just what you found.
| Jail | County rosters · answered | 0 |
| DOC | State corrections · answered | 0 |
| Court | Court sources · answered | 0 |
| Warrant | Warrant sources · answered | 0 |
| Federal | Federal custody · answered | 0 |
Screen the referral, not the admission. Illinois asks for a criminal history check within 24 hours after admission. Checking at referral meets that clock and leaves room to plan a room.
Weigh record type, status and years elapsed. Write the policy before the first hit, not under time pressure.
Keep residents and hires in separate flows. Referral checks are admissions; CNA and LPN checks are FCRA orders. Different law, timelines and notices.
Record what you checked, not just what you found. A jurisdiction that failed to answer is a different record from one that answered with no record. The stored search keeps both.
Skilled nursing criminal screening: what the law requires and what it doesn’t
Federal law governs who a facility may employ; a few states govern who it may admit. Where a state requires a fingerprint check for health-care workers, that state process stands on its own, and a name-and-date-of-birth search does not replace it.
| Jurisdiction | Citation | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| Federal | 42 CFR § 483.12(a)(3) | A facility must not employ anyone found guilty by a court of abuse, neglect, exploitation, misappropriation or mistreatment, anyone with such a finding on the State nurse aide registry, or anyone whose licence has been disciplined for those findings. |
| Illinois | 210 ILCS 45/2-201.5(b) | Within 24 hours after admission, the facility must request a criminal history background check on every person aged 18 or over seeking admission. |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. § 435.04 | Level 2 screening includes fingerprinting for statewide and national criminal history records checks. |
| Federal | 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2) | Before a consumer report is obtained for employment purposes: a clear written disclosure in a stand-alone document and the applicant’s written authorization. |
| Federal | 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3) | Before adverse action based on the report: a copy of the report and a summary of the applicant’s rights. |
And what it doesn’t
The federal employment bar turns on court findings of abuse and neglect, nurse aide registry findings and licence discipline, not on every criminal record. There is no federal duty to run a criminal check on a prospective resident; that duty exists only where a state has written one.
Background, not legal advice. Your counsel is the right reader of your own facts.
Criminal and sex offender records for skilled nursing facilities, on one key. Plus monitoring between checks and an FCRA order path for the people you hire.
Sex offender screening
58 US registries, 1.5M records, continuously updated, with the registry photo where one is published.
Sex offender screening for skilled nursing facilities ›Criminal and registry monitoring
People watched between checks. A new booking, warrant or case arrives by signed webhook or email; any employment action that follows runs through an FCRA order.
Monitoring API ›FCRA background check API
When a hire is being decided, the check runs as an FCRA order with consent, disclosure, dispute and adverse-action steps. Pricing is quoted per partner.
Background check API ›Criminal: 1,545 jurisdictions catalogued, 1,164 live, 51 states + DC + federal. Registry: 58 US registries, 1.5M records, continuously updated. See what each state publishes or the live list at /v1/criminal/sources.
One BAA for the registry and the criminal check
An account admin signs the Business Associate Agreement in the dashboard before the first search, and every check, registry or criminal, is stored with its query, timestamp and per-jurisdiction outcome.
Compliance posture for a healthcare buyer
Business Associate Agreement. Signed by an account admin in the dashboard under Compliance, or scoped by counsel on request. HIPAA & BAA ›
Stored, exportable audit trail. Every search kept with query, timestamp, per-source outcome and reviewer. Trust & security ›
Team workspaces and access control. Admissions and HR in separate workspaces on an enterprise plan, net-30 or net-60 invoicing. Enterprise on pricing ›
Security review answered in writing. Questionnaires, data handling and subprocessors through the security contact. Contact ›
What a skilled nursing criminal background check costs. $0.15 a call, $0.11 past 2,000 a month; FCRA orders quoted per partner.
| Line | How it is counted | Units | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referral criminal checks | 40 facilities × ~25 referrals | 1,000 | $0.15 | $150.00 |
| Census criminal re-screen | 40 × 100 beds, quarterly, spread monthly | 1,000 | $0.15 | $150.00 |
| Agency staff re-screen | batch CSV, billed per row | 500 | $0.11 | $55.00 |
| Criminal person monitors | optional, standing watch on 20 residents | 20 | $3 / mo | $60.00 |
| FCRA orders for hiring decisions | quoted per partner | as used | contact | — |
| Month | no platform fee, no seats, no minimum | 2,500 calls | $415.00 |
| Checks / month | Cost | Per check |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | $75.00 | $0.1500 |
| 5,000 | $630.00 | $0.1260 |
| 50,000 | $5,580.00 | $0.1116 |
Criminal and registry calls count toward the same tier. A batch is billed per row, so a roster re-screen costs the same per person as a single lookup. Enterprise plans add custom volume rates and net terms. A fraction of what legacy screening platforms charge.
Skilled nursing criminal background check FAQ
More in the criminal API docs and the FCRA orders docs.
Can we run criminal checks on referrals as well as on new hires?
Yes, as two flows. Referrals get a standard criminal search before the bed is offered, under your admissions policy. CNAs, LPNs and agency clinicians you are deciding whether to hire go through an FCRA order placed by your screening company, with consent, disclosure, dispute and adverse-action steps.
When does a criminal check on a CNA or LPN have to be an FCRA order?
Whenever the result will help decide whether to hire, keep or place that person. Standard results are not a consumer report and are never the reason an applicant is turned away.
Do you sign a BAA before we check referrals?
Yes. An account admin signs the Business Associate Agreement in the dashboard under Compliance before the first search, and every check is stored with its query, timestamp and per-jurisdiction outcome for the surveyor.
Related
Run criminal background checks for skilled nursing facilities
Every referral before the bed is offered, every CNA and LPN hire through an FCRA order. 25 free searches, no card. A BAA before the first real one.