> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://handbook.helendelovely.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Background Checks

> What we verify before you start, and how.

Before your first day, the practice verifies the things a client would reasonably expect us to know about anyone we put in a room with them.

## What we verify for every clinical hire

* **License.** Verified directly with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), never from a copy you provide alone.
* **Exclusion status.** Checked against the federal OIG exclusion list and SAM.gov before hire and monthly after. See [Exclusion screening](/employment/exclusion-screening).
* **Education.** MSW from a CSWE-accredited program, verified with the school or through a verification service.
* **NPI.** Your individual National Provider Identifier, needed for billing.

## Criminal background checks

The practice runs a criminal background check on every clinical hire and on any employee who will handle client records or money, through a screening vendor (the vendor integrated with Gusto, expected to be Checkr; the practice manager confirms the vendor in your offer packet). Because a vendor report is a consumer report, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)) sets exact steps, and the practice follows them in this order:

1. **Disclosure.** You receive a written disclosure that a background report may be obtained, in a document that contains nothing else.
2. **Authorization.** You sign a written authorization. No report is ordered without it.
3. **Timing.** The check runs after a conditional offer, never at application. Utah law (Utah Code § 34-46-201) bars asking for your Social Security number, date of birth, or driver license number before an offer except at this step, and the vendor collects them directly.
4. **If something in the report could affect the offer:** before any decision, you get a copy of the report and the federal "Summary of Your Rights" notice, and a reasonable time (at least five business days) to dispute or explain.
5. **If the decision is adverse:** you get a written adverse-action notice with the vendor's name and contact, a statement that the vendor didn't make the decision, and your right to a free copy and to dispute it.

A record is reviewed for what it means for client safety and the specific role, not as an automatic bar. Helen makes the call, with the attorney when needed.

## Drug screening

We don't require pre-employment drug screening. See [Drug- and alcohol-free workplace](/conduct/drug-and-alcohol-free-workplace) for the conduct standard that does apply.

## Your rights

You'll receive a copy of anything a screening vendor reports about you if it affects an employment decision, and a chance to correct it. Ask the practice manager if you have questions about what was checked.