AHCA Level 2 background screening for Florida healthcare workers

What is AHCA background screening, and who needs it?

AHCA background screening is the Level 2 (Level II) criminal history check that chapter 435 and s. 408.809, Florida Statutes, require of certain people at AHCA-licensed providers and, under s. 409.907, of Florida Medicaid providers. AHCA’s Background Screening Unit reviews the results, decides eligibility and runs the Clearinghouse, which shares them with the other agencies that screen care providers.

Who is screened follows the provider’s license and programs, not the job title:

Source: AHCA, “Who is Required to be Screened?”; ss. 397.4073(1), 400.991(4), 408.809(1) and 409.907(8), F.S. Read Oct 20, 2026.

AHCA’s table also covers hospitals, surgery centers and crisis stabilization units; it does not list a practitioner-owned office that is exempt from clinic licensure and has no Medicaid enrollment or DCF license. Whether Level 2 reaches yours is a question for AHCA’s Background Screening Unit (850-412-4503) or your attorney.

What is the difference between a Level 1 and an AHCA Level 2 background check?

Level 1 (s. 435.03) is employment history checks, a statewide criminal correspondence check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and a check of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website; local checks are optional. Level 2 (s. 435.04) adds electronic fingerprints searched against FDLE’s state records and the FBI’s national records, local checks, and the sexual predator and offender registries of every state the person lived in during the past 5 years. AHCA’s FAQ and exemption form spell it “Level II.”

How do AHCA fingerprints and the Clearinghouse work?

The employer’s side, in order:

1. Register. An employer must register with the Clearinghouse and start every check there before sending anyone for fingerprints (s. 435.12(2)(d)). A new licensee gets access after filing its application (AHCA licensing) and receiving a provider number; a Medicaid applicant, after receiving its Application Tracking Number.
2. Initiate and fingerprint. Search by Social Security number plus last name or date of birth (the number can’t be edited afterward), search OIG’s exclusion list, confirm the privacy policy is signed and print the Livescan Request Form. The person is then fingerprinted and photographed at a Livescan provider.
3. Track and renew. FDLE keeps the prints 5 years and matches them to new Florida arrests (s. 435.12(2)(a)). Arrest alerts and renewal notices (60, 30 and 21 days before expiry) reach you only for people on your Employee/Contractor Roster. Renew inside the 60-day window; after expiry the person is fingerprinted again.
4. Report. Keep that roster current: initial status and every change within 5 business days, with a provisional hire date for someone in training.

“Effective January 1, 2024, initial status and any changes in status must be reported within 5 business days after a person receives his or her initial status or after a change in the person's status has been made.”

Two AHCA sources differ on that deadline: its Screening Information page still says roster changes are due within 10 business days, while its Clearinghouse Results Website guide (January 2025) says 5, as the statute does. A report filed within 5 business days falls inside both.

How long do AHCA background screening results take?

AHCA publishes the pieces, not a total: Livescan vendors take 24 to 72 business hours to transmit the prints. Exceptions show as “Screening in Process”: AHCA writes to the person for missing arrest reports or court dispositions (Rule 59A-35.090(3)(b)), and when the FBI rejects the prints, the person returns to the same vendor for a second set; the TCR number waives the screening fee.

What are the AHCA background screening disqualifying offenses?

Section 435.04(2) lists 64 offenses or chapters of law, from murder and sexual battery to felony theft and drug offenses and the abuse or exploitation of aged persons or disabled adults; s. 435.04(3) adds domestic violence. For people AHCA screens, s. 408.809(4) lists 23 more, among them Medicaid provider fraud, false insurance claims, patient brokering, forgery and money laundering; a Medicaid screening adds federal health-program, controlled-substance and financial-misconduct crimes (s. 435.04(4)). A guilty or no contest plea counts whether or not the court adjudicates, and so does an arrest awaiting final disposition.

What is the attestation of compliance with background screening requirements?

Each employee completes the Attestation of Compliance with Background Screening Requirements, AHCA Form 3100-0008 (July 2024), at hire (Rule 59A-35.090(2)(d)). Under penalty of perjury, the person attests to meeting the employment requirements, to not having been unemployed for more than 90 days from a Level 2 position and to reporting any arrest for a disqualifying offense at once (s. 435.05(2)). It goes in the personnel file with the eligibility result (Rule 59A-35.090(3)(c)); AHCA says it need not be signed again at renewal. The employer’s attestation is separate: a licensed employer submits one to its agency “annually or at the time of license renewal, under penalty of perjury” (s. 435.05(3)).

How does an AHCA background screening exemption work?

AHCA decides exemptions for unlicensed staff, owners, administrators, financial officers and Medicaid enrollment; a DOH board decides for licensees working within their license (Rule 59A-35.090(4)(b)). There is no application fee. On AHCA Form 3110-0019 (July 2024), a person may apply once 2 years have passed since completing the sentence, supervision or court conditions for a disqualifying felony (a misdemeanor needs only completion), and court-ordered amounts are paid in full (s. 435.07); sexual predators, career offenders and registered sexual offenders cannot be exempted. AHCA won’t consider an application without a Level 2 screening from the 6 months before it (Rule 59A-35.090(4)(d)).

The applicant must show rehabilitation by “clear and convincing evidence”: arrest reports and court dispositions for every offense, 3 to 5 reference letters and proof of rehabilitation. AHCA decides within 30 days of a complete file and closes one still incomplete after 30 days; a denial can be contested within 21 days. A DOH or employment exemption alone does not cover Medicaid enrollment.

What does AHCA background screening cost?

The employer or the employee pays (s. 435.08); a licensee may reimburse employees (s. 408.809(5)), and a Medicaid provider bears its screening costs (s. 409.907(8)(d)).

Source: AHCA, Clearinghouse Renewals and Clearinghouse Results Website guide; s. 943.053(3)(e), F.S. Read Oct 20, 2026.

What you can do today

1. Register at the Clearinghouse Results Website as soon as you have the provider number or tracking number; access approval takes 1 to 2 business days, 3 to 5 for Medicaid.
2. Load the roster with every employee and contractor, hire dates included.
3. Set a reminder 60 days before each person’s retained-prints expiration date, when renewal opens.
4. Check each personnel file for the eligibility result and the signed Form 3100-0008.
5. Write “training and orientation only” into onboarding for anyone not yet eligible (s. 435.06(2)(d)), and calendar your own attestation at each license renewal (s. 435.05(3)).

Advixor’s HR and staff training service provides employee onboarding and orientation support and assists with HR compliance and personnel record organization.