According to the Florida Statute 943.0542, the VECHS or the Volunteer and Employee Criminal records History Check can be accessed by those entities that are in the ‘care placement’ business. The care provided should be for the elderly, the disabled or for children and these organizations are allowed access to the records even though this type of care is only a small part of their business. Being in the area of care for these specified cases makes them eligible to get copies of criminal checks or copies of court records in Florida of persons they are looking at for these jobs thanks to this VECHS program.
Any entity that is part of this program can ask for the Florida Criminal Records and history of any of the employees and volunteers they have – present as well as prospective. They can also ask for access to anyone they feel has unsupervised access to any of these vulnerable groups. The federal guidelines and the NCPA are very clear that these entities can exercise their rights when it comes to asking for criminal history and records. However, one must be clear what a ‘qualified entity’ is. According to a Florida and an NCPA statute, this term is used for an organization which provides either care or care placement services. The business could be private, public, non-profit or profit-making, even voluntary and it includes organizations that license and certify those who provide care as well. The term ‘care’ includes looking after, training, instruction, education, supervision and recreation for the elderly, the disabled and for children.
Only the entities that fall within these parameters can avail of the VECHS program in order to look for a person’s Florida Criminal Records and history. This program has voluntary participation. Those who cannot participate in this program can request a check on their employees at the state central depository. Since they have their own recourse through other channels, they cannot ask for the records through the VECHS program.
