A new report estimates that nearly a third of Kansas school district employees or contractors who provide Medicaid services to public school students may be working without a criminal background check.
Medicaid Inspector General Steven Anderson issued a report Wednesday estimating that 31% out of roughly 3,731 Medicaid providers in Kansas schools did not have a background check completed.
The Kansas State Department of Education requires a fingerprint-based criminal background check for licensed staff, but there is nothing in state law that requires them, according to the inspector general’s audit report.
The audit reported that background investigations of other school employees, such as therapists, coaches, paraprofessionals and bus drivers, were not required.
“Regular background checks are routine for workers in the medical community and in many functions of government,” Anderson said in a statement.
“It is logical that Kansans would want to ensure individuals who work directly with children are properly cleared.
“It would be inexcusable to allow someone convicted of a serious crime to have unsupervised access to children when a simple criminal history check could have prevented a potential problem.”
The audit also reported that teachers are only required to have single background checks.
Unless a teacher has a break in service and allows their license to lapse, they’re not required to undergo any additional background checks during their careers, the audit said.
There were three teachers in the sample size who last had background checks completed in 1997 and 1998.
“It is reasonable to assume there are teachers in daily contact with students that have not had any type of background check done in 10-20 years,” the audit said.
Anderson recommended that school districts confirm that all employees, regardless of role, have current background investigations on file.
He also said legislators should adopt a law requiring fingerprint-based criminal history background investigations for all school employees on a five-year cycle.
A spokesperson from the Kansas State Department of Education could not immediately be reached for comment on the audit.
The audit sampled 17 of the 287 public school districts across Kansas.
The audit found that 72 of the 231 providers examined – or 31% – did not have proof that background checks were completed.
The audit estimated that there was an average of 13 Medicaid providers per school district in Kansas for a total of 3,731 working directly with children in public schools.
Based on its sample size, the report estimated that 1,157 of those providers may be working without a background check.
The finding surfaced as part of an audit of Medicaid reimbursements paid to school districts to determine whether Medicaid programs were running effectively and efficiently.
About $23.5 million in Medicaid funds are distributed to Kansas school districts each year to cover the cost of services for students who are on Medicaid.
The funds only pay for medically necessary services identified on the student’s Individual Education Plan such as audiology, nursing care, social work and occupational, physical, speech language and psychology therapies.
