Caregivers in Washington State faced significant challenges due to the state’s background check process.
Why the Let Us Work law is needed
While Washington maintains some of the highest standards for caregivers in the country, the background check system, with its overwhelming administrative hurdles, often resulted in caregivers losing wages and benefits. Qualified caregivers were prevented from starting or continuing to provide paid care. Frequently, minor issues such as littering or loitering triggered Character, Competency, and Suitability (CC&S) reviews, causing unnecessary delays in getting caregivers back to work. Fingerprinting requirements also led to prolonged wait times, further delaying caregivers’ ability to earn a living and impacting client care for months.
This system disproportionately impacted Black caregivers, Indigenous caregivers, Latinx caregivers, non-native English-speaking caregivers, trans, and non-binary caregivers, deepening existing inequities. Employers struggled to navigate the complexity and ambiguity of the state’s requirements, leading to inconsistent interpretations of how to comply with the process.
What is Let Us Work?
In 2024, when SEIU 775, the caregivers’ Union, learned what caregivers and clients were going through, we knew we had to act. We pushed for change in Olympia to fix the state’s overcomplicated and burdensome background check process by passing the Let Us Work bill.
We fought and we won, maintaining Washington’s high standards for caregivers while making the background check process fairer and more efficient, so caregivers can focus on what we do best: caring for our loved ones.
Thanks to our Union’s advocacy in Olympia, we were able to pass the Let Us Work bill so caregivers will no longer face unnecessary delays or unpaid time due to background checks.
What caregivers passed
The improvements made through the Let Us Work law for all in-home caregivers in Washington include:
- Gaps in care were reduced by allowing caregivers to continue to provide paid care for up to 30 days while undergoing CC&S reviews for non-disqualifying actions.
- Unnecessary CC&S reviews were eliminated. Now, caregivers with non-disqualifying actions that have already been reviewed by the same employer, and non-disqualifying actions that occurred more than 10 years ago will no longer have to go through a CC&S review.
- The state has now been directed to develop standards under which CC&S reviews will need to be conducted to ensure an equitable review process for caregivers.
- Employers will now be provided with clarity and consistency on fingerprint requirements. Now fingerprints are only required for:
- Initial hires
- Cases required by federal law
- Caregivers who lived outside WA
- Documented, good-faith concerns
Additional improvements in our 2025–2027 CDWA contract include:
- CDWA must send background check expiration reminders 90 and 30 days in advance via email, text, and portal—in the caregiver’s preferred language
- Caregivers can request assistance from CDWA, including in-language help, when completing background check forms
- CC&S reviews must be completed within 7 days after receiving all necessary information
- Service coordinators must give timely, correct updates on background check status if requested
- CDWA transparency and accountability:
- CDWA must notify caregivers and our Union before any changes to background check requirements
- CDWA must inform our Union of any communication failures with caregivers during the process