Florida Level 2 Background Screening: The Five-Year Rescreening Clock

If you came to this page because a rescreen date is near, or has already gone by, do these three things first. Everything else on the page can wait until they are done.

1. Look the date up. Do not compute it. Open the Clearinghouse Results Website at https://crw.flclearinghouse.com, open the person's profile, and read the retained prints expiration date. A hire date or a remembered screening month will not give you this number. If nobody at your agency has a CRW login yet, start there instead. See Getting access below, and allow 1 to 2 business days for licensure access.
2. If that date is in the future, renew inside the 60 days before it. Work backwards from the expiration date, not forwards from the hire date. See The five-year clock below.
3. If that date has already passed, read the retained prints status on the same screen. If it reads "Prints Not Retained" the renewal is no longer available and a new screening is required. Initiate that new screening in the Clearinghouse under your own provider number before you send anyone to Livescan. Full steps in If the date has already passed.

Terms used on this page

• Level 2 screening. For AHCA providers the rule defines it as "an assessment of the criminal history record obtained through a fingerprint search through the FDLE and FBI to determine whether screened individuals have any disqualifying offenses pursuant to Section 435.04 or 408.809(4), F.S." (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(1)(g)).
• Livescan. Electronic fingerprint capture at an approved vendor. For AHCA providers the vendor must be "contracted through the Agency or approved through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement" (R. 59A-35.090(2)(b)). A photograph is taken at the same visit.
• Clearinghouse. The Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, the shared system in which screenings are initiated, results are posted and rosters are maintained (s. 435.12, F.S.).
• CRW. The Clearinghouse Results Website, at https://crw.flclearinghouse.com. This is where you read profiles and initiate renewals.
• Retained prints, or RP. Fingerprints held by FDLE. "Fingerprints are retained for a period of 5 years by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). If the applicant does not have retained prints with FDLE the status will read 'Prints Not Retained'" (Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide, 11/06/2025, p. 27).
• Eligibility determination. AHCA's posted decision that a person is eligible, issued for a named screening category. It carries its own date, which is not the retained prints expiration date and can sit years away from it. Keep the two in separate fields in your tracker.
• Clearinghouse Renewal. The transaction that resends the prints FDLE already holds to the FBI, with no new fingerprinting, and extends the retained prints expiration by another five years.
• Resubmission. The new national criminal history check run against retained prints after a lapse in employment of more than 90 days. It is not a renewal, and it does not move your renewal deadline. AHCA states that "[t]he resubmission screening does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (Clearinghouse Renewals FAQ 10, fetched 2026-09-09), and that the retained prints expiration date "can only be changed by either a Clearinghouse Renewal or a brand-new screening" (FAQ 9).
• Rap Back. Shorthand for the FBI's national retained print arrest notification program, which s. 435.12(2)(a)2., F.S. ties to FDLE beginning participation.
• Specified agency. A defined term in s. 435.02(7), F.S. that the 90-day break in service rule turns on. See Breaks in service below.
• Exemption from disqualification. A decision by the agency head under s. 435.07, F.S. allowing a disqualified person to work. Only the agency grants it. You cannot grant one, waive one, or accept one provisionally.
• Nolo contendere. A no-contest plea. It counts the same as a guilty plea under the level 2 standard (s. 435.04(2), F.S.).

The rest of this guide is organized by duty: the short answer on the five-year date, then who must be screened, what level 2 contains, the Clearinghouse and your roster, the five-year clock, breaks in service, arrests and attestations, disqualification and exemptions, fees, survey proof, the common failures, the differences between the AHCA and DCF lanes, and finally what this guide could not confirm.

Scope tags in the checklist. Every checklist row carries one tag. AHCA means providers licensed under part II of chapter 408. DCF means substance use providers licensed under chapter 397. Both means the row applies to you either way. Where a row states recommended practice rather than a legal duty, the item itself says so in the words "recommended practice, not law."

Florida requires a Level 2 rescreen on a five-year cycle. For an AHCA licensee the statute reads: "Every 5 years following his or her licensure, employment, or entry into a contract in a capacity that under subsection (1) would require level 2 background screening under chapter 435, each such person must submit to level 2 background rescreening as a condition of retaining such license or continuing in such employment or contractual status" (s. 408.809(2), F.S.). A chapter 397 provider owes a re-screen "within five (5) years from the date of their last screening results and every five (5) years thereafter" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)3.). In practice AHCA runs the renewal off a third date, the retained prints expiration date on the Clearinghouse person profile, and it is often, though not always, the first of the three to arrive.

Five things to act on:

• Read the retained prints expiration date; do not compute it. AHCA states it "is the date used in determining when a new screening is required" and that it can differ from the eligibility determination date "by as much as 5 years" (AHCA, Clearinghouse Renewals FAQ 9, fetched 2026-10-13). AHCA states it "is located on the Person Profile page above the Eligibility section" in the Clearinghouse Results Website (FAQ 3, same page).
• The renewal window opens 60 days before that date and must be used before it. "Providers may initiate a Clearinghouse Renewal 60 days before the Retained Prints Expiration Date is reached. If the Clearinghouse Renewal is not initiated before the retained prints expiration date a new screening will need to be initiated in the Clearinghouse and the employee will have to be fingerprinted again" (AHCA, Clearinghouse Renewals, fetched 2026-10-13). AHCA states the system sends provider renewal notifications at 60, 30 and 21 days before the date, but only for a person carried on the Employee/Contractor Roster without an end date (FAQ 6, same page).
• There is no grace period. "Once the prints have been purged, there is no grace period, and the employee will have to have a whole new screening" (FAQ 3, same page). The 60 days sit before the expiration date, not after it.
• A renewal costs less than a lapse. On 2026-10-13 AHCA's page put a Clearinghouse Renewal at $43.25 and the average new screening at $75.00; the state Clearinghouse education site listed $42 for a renewal and $60 plus the Livescan fee for a new screening on the same day. Confirm the figure at checkout in the Clearinghouse Results Website, and see Fees, who pays, and where the money goes below.
• A break of more than 90 days buys a new national check, not a new five years. Until the person's fingerprints are enrolled in the FBI's national retained print arrest notification program, a person with a break in service of more than 90 days from a position that requires screening by a specified agency must submit to a national screening if the person returns to such a position (s. 435.12(2)(b)1., F.S.). For a person with retained prints that runs as a resubmission, and "[t]he resubmission screening does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (FAQ 10, same page). The original renewal deadline still stands.

The clocks side by side

Keep every row that applies to your license in the tracker and act on the earliest date. Where prints were captured before the hire date and every renewal has posted on time, the first row fires first. After a late brand-new screening the second row can come first instead; worked example two below shows that case.

The derivation of each date, two dated worked examples and the eight-step path for a date that has already passed are in The five-year clock below.

Chapter 435 does not decide who gets screened. It supplies the standards and leaves the question of who to the statute that licenses you. Its definition is deliberately circular: "'Employee' means any person required by law to be screened pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, persons who are contractors, licensees, or volunteers" (s. 435.02(3), F.S.).

Read that carefully. It means a contractor or volunteer is treated as an employee for screening purposes when some other law puts that person in a screened role. It is not an instruction to screen every contractor and every volunteer.

If you are AHCA-licensed under part II of chapter 408, the who is s. 408.809(1), F.S.: "Level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435 must be conducted through the agency on each of the following persons, who are considered employees for the purposes of conducting screening under chapter 435." Five categories follow. Three of them are worth quoting because titles vary and because one is easy to skip:

• "The licensee, if an individual" (s. 408.809(1)(a), F.S.). If you are a sole proprietor, you are a screened person in your own right, not only as an owner.
• "The administrator or a similarly titled person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the provider" (s. 408.809(1)(b), F.S.). An executive director or agency director who runs operations is caught even if nobody's badge says administrator.
• "The financial officer or similarly titled individual who is responsible for the financial operation of the licensee or provider" (s. 408.809(1)(c), F.S.).

The employee and contractor category in s. 408.809(1)(e), F.S. applies as required by the provider's authorizing statute. For a home health agency, nurse registry, or companion and homemaker service, the authorizing statute is s. 400.512, F.S., which adopts the paragraph without narrowing it: "The agency, registry, or service shall require level 2 background screening for employees or contractors as required in s. 408.809(1)(e) pursuant to chapter 435 and s. 408.809." Providers under other chapter 408 part II authorizing statutes should check their own.

Within that category, contractors are two separate tests, not one. The statute reaches a contractor whose responsibilities require personal care or personal services directly to clients regardless of hours, and separately reaches a contractor "contracting with a licensee or provider to work 20 hours a week or more who will have access to client funds, personal property, or living areas" (s. 408.809(1)(e), F.S.). A surveyor may ask which branch you applied and why. The same paragraph adds that "Evidence of contractor screening may be retained by the contractor's employer or the licensee."

If you are DCF-licensed under chapter 397, the who is s. 397.4073(1)(a), F.S. Subparagraph 1. reaches owners, directors, chief financial officers and clinical supervisors. Subparagraph 2. is narrower than people expect: "All service provider personnel who have direct contact with children receiving services or with adults who are developmentally disabled receiving services are subject to level 2 background screening as provided under s. 408.809 and chapter 435" (s. 397.4073(1)(a)2., F.S.).

Subparagraph 3. then adds a population that is easy to miss and common in substance use programs: "All peer specialists who have direct contact with individuals receiving services are subject to a background screening as provided in s. 397.417 (4)" (s. 397.4073(1)(a)3., F.S.). The DCF rule states the same duty independently: "Providers shall ensure that peer specialists are screened in accordance with Section 397.417, F.S." (Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)2.). Note that this is a different standard from the ordinary chapter 435 level 2 route. Section 397.417(4), F.S. provides that a peer specialist, or an individual working toward certification and providing recovery support services, "must have completed or have been lawfully released from confinement, supervision, or any nonmonetary condition imposed by the court for any felony and must undergo a background screening as a condition of initial and continued employment." Record which standard you applied for each peer specialist.

That is the central divergence between the two lanes. By subparagraph 2., chapter 397 does not reach a counselor or technician whose only direct contact is with non-disabled adults in substance use treatment, unless that person is a peer specialist, who is screened under s. 397.417(4), F.S. instead. AHCA's test reaches any person providing personal care or services directly to clients, regardless of client age or disability. If you hold both licenses, screen to the broader AHCA standard for the AHCA-licensed service.

Applying the tests to a home health roster

The following is an application of the statutory tests to common roles, not law, and your own analysis governs. Record the reasoning for each role in your policy.

The access branch is the one that catches people out. A back-office role that handles patient funds or enters homes is not automatically outside screening because the job title sounds administrative.

Carve-outs to document rather than assume. For chapter 397 providers, a volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for fewer than 40 hours per month and is under direct and constant supervision by persons who meet all personnel requirements of that chapter is not subject to screening under that section (s. 397.4073(1)(c), F.S.). Note the third condition. The supervising person must themselves meet the chapter's personnel requirements, so an unscreened volunteer watched by another unscreened person is outside the carve-out. Also for chapter 397 only, a physician licensed under chapter 458 or 459, or a nurse licensed under chapter 464, who was DOH-screened at initial licensure or renewal "and who has an active and unencumbered license, is not subject to background screening pursuant to this section" (s. 397.4073(1)(i), F.S.). That exemption is conditional and section-scoped. The day the license lapses or becomes encumbered it stops, and it does not carry over to an AHCA-licensed position, because s. 408.809 contains no equivalent.

On the AHCA side, published agency guidance answers two recurring volunteer questions. "Volunteers working in a Hospice are considered employees and are required to undergo Level 2 screening," and at community mental health, crisis stabilization, residential treatment and short term residential treatment providers the table "[i]ncludes volunteers unless they work less than 10 hours/month as long as the volunteer is within the line of sight of an employee that has successfully completed a Level 2" (AHCA, Who is Required to be Screened?, fetched 2026-09-09). Both conditions are required. Neither AHCA's table nor s. 397.4073(1)(c), F.S. requires an hours log, but you carry the burden of showing the condition was met, so keeping one is recommended practice. Do not carry that mental health carve-out into a chapter 397 substance abuse program. Age is not a factor: AHCA states "The law does not change based on the age of the employee/contractor."

Two populations this guide cannot resolve for you. Students and interns on clinical rotation are not addressed by any statute or rule reviewed here. Whether a nursing or counseling student is a person "required by law to be screened" turns on the role the student actually fills. If the rotation puts the student in personal care or services directly to clients at an AHCA licensee, or in direct contact with children or developmentally disabled adults at a chapter 397 provider, the screened-role tests in s. 408.809(1)(e) and s. 397.4073(1)(a)2., F.S. are written functionally and do not carve out students. Confirm with AHCA's Background Screening Unit or your DCF regional office and record the answer with the date you asked, rather than relying on the school's affiliation agreement. Separately, volunteers at AHCA provider types other than hospice and the listed mental health types are governed by each authorizing statute and are not answered by AHCA's published table. Ask the same question for your license type.

One ownership trap, and one definition that is wider than it looks. AHCA licensees must ensure "that no person holds any ownership interest, either directly or indirectly, regardless of ownership structure, who: (a) Has a disqualifying offense pursuant to s. 408.809" (s. 408.810(12), F.S.). That bar has no percentage floor.

The owners actually fingerprinted are the controlling interests, and a controlling interest is not only an owner. Section 408.803(7), F.S. defines the term in three independent prongs: the applicant or licensee itself; "A person or entity that serves as an officer of, is on the board of directors of, or has a 5-percent or greater ownership interest in the applicant or licensee"; or a person or entity in those same three relationships to "the management company or other entity, related or unrelated, with which the applicant or licensee contracts to manage the provider." The subsection closes: "The term does not include a voluntary board member."

Read what that sweeps in. A chief executive or corporate officer who owns nothing is a controlling interest and must be screened. So is a board member who is not a voluntary board member. So are the officers, directors and 5-percent owners of a management company you contract with. A 3 percent member of your LLC who holds no office and sits on no board is not a controlling interest and is not fingerprinted as one, but that same person can still put the license in violation under s. 408.810(12), F.S. if they have a disqualifying offense. No source reviewed for this guide defines "voluntary board member," so if you have uncompensated directors at a nonprofit licensee, put the question to AHCA's Background Screening Unit in writing and keep the answer with the date.

For an AHCA licensee the rule states the substance directly. Level 2 screening means "an assessment of the criminal history record obtained through a fingerprint search through the FDLE and FBI to determine whether screened individuals have any disqualifying offenses pursuant to Section 435.04 or 408.809(4), F.S.", and "An analysis and review of court dispositions and arrest reports may be required to make a final determination" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(1)(g)). So it is not always a clean automated pass or fail.

The multi-state element people forget. Section 435.04(1)(a), F.S. provides that a security background investigation under that section "also includes a search of the sexual predator and sexual offender registries of any state in which the current or prospective employee resided during the immediate preceding 5 years." Collect a five-year residence history on your application so that search can be scoped and evidenced. Note that this five years is a residency lookback. It is not the rescreen clock, and confusing the two is a common error.

Local checks are part of level 2, not an add-on. Section 435.04(1)(a), F.S. describes the investigation as one that "includes, but is not limited to, fingerprinting for statewide criminal history records checks through the Department of Law Enforcement, national criminal history records checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies."

Offenses under "similar law of another jurisdiction" count as well, in both the main list at s. 435.04(2), F.S. and the domestic violence provision at s. 435.04(3), F.S.

Submission must be electronic. "Fingerprints submitted pursuant to this section must be submitted electronically to the Department of Law Enforcement" (s. 435.04(1)(b), F.S.). For AHCA licensees, "All fingerprints must be provided in electronic format" (s. 408.809(3), F.S.). AHCA's Livescan page opens with the same rule: "All Level 2 screening requests must be submitted electronically." A photograph is taken at the same time, because prints must be "[s]ubmitted with a photograph of the person taken at the time the fingerprints are submitted" (s. 435.12(2)(a)5., F.S.). In practice that means an in-person visit to a Livescan Service Provider contracted through the Agency or approved by FDLE (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(b)).

Two offense lists apply to every AHCA provider, and a third applies for Medicaid purposes. AHCA's rule defines "'Disqualifying Offense' means any criminal offense prohibited in Section 435.04 or 408.809(4), F.S." (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(1)(c)). The s. 408.809(4) list is heavily financial: Medicaid provider fraud, Medicaid fraud, patient brokering, forgery and uttering, money laundering, criminal use of personal identification information and credit card offenses, plus domestic violence and battery where the victim is a vulnerable adult or a patient or resident of a chapter 395, 400 or 429 facility. Several entries are felony-qualified. A person with a clean s. 435.04(2) record can still be disqualified here. That list also disqualifies a person with an arrest awaiting final disposition for a listed offense.

The third list sits in s. 435.04(4), F.S. and applies "For the purpose of screening applicability to participate in the Medicaid program." It covers offenses relating to the delivery of goods or services under Medicaid or Medicare, neglect or abuse of a patient in connection with the delivery of a health care good or service, unlawful controlled-substance activity, fraud, theft, embezzlement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other financial misconduct, moral turpitude punishable by imprisonment of a year or more, and interference with or obstruction of an investigation into any of those offenses, plus seven named public-corruption and public-record statutes (ss. 817.569, 838.016, 838.021, 838.022, 838.22, 839.13 and 839.26, F.S.). This list is scoped to Medicaid applicability; it is not part of the general chapter 435 bar. It is why an eligibility issued in one Clearinghouse category is not an eligibility in another. Nothing in s. 435.04(4) sets an enrollment or revalidation deadline; those duties sit in s. 409.907, F.S., which was not reviewed for this guide.

A pending arrest counts. The investigation "must ensure that persons subject to this section have not been arrested for and are awaiting final disposition of; have not been found guilty of, regardless of adjudication" a listed offense (s. 435.04(2), F.S.). Domestic violence is freestanding at s. 435.04(3), F.S. with no felony or misdemeanor qualifier, and it reaches an offense "whether such act was committed in this state or in another jurisdiction." Because domestic violence takes its meaning from s. 741.28, F.S., the relationship element matters: the offense must be between family or household members, so a battery on a stranger is not disqualifying under (3), though it may be under the main list.

A level 1 check is not a substitute. Level 1 is name-based: "employment history checks and statewide criminal correspondence checks through the Department of Law Enforcement, and a check of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, and may include local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies" (s. 435.03(1), F.S.). Note the word may: local checks are permissive at level 1 and mandatory at level 2. Level 1 requires no fingerprints; the fingerprint and FBI elements appear in s. 435.04, F.S., not in s. 435.03. The offense list is largely the same, because s. 435.03(2), F.S. applies the s. 435.04(2) offenses, but one difference matters: the level 1 domestic violence provision at s. 435.03(3), F.S. omits the pending-arrest trigger that s. 435.04(3), F.S. contains. A prior employer's level 1 check does not carry over to a level 2 position.

Know what AHCA means when it asks for documents. "'Arrest Report' means the detailed narrative written by the arresting law enforcement officer explaining the circumstances of the arrest" (R. 59A-35.090(1)(a)), and "'Disposition' means the sentencing or other final settlement of a criminal case which shall include, regardless of adjudication, a plea of nolo contendere or guilty, or a conviction by a judge or jury" (R. 59A-35.090(1)(b)). A clerk's docket printout is often not the arrest narrative, and a certified disposition is the safer document to obtain, though the rule does not require certification.

The employer has a front-end deadline too, and it is short. Chapter 435 puts a clock on you, not only on the applicant. "For level 2 screening, the employer or agency must submit the information necessary for screening to the Department of Law Enforcement within 5 working days after receiving it," and the employer or agency "must inform the employee whether screening has revealed disqualifying information" (s. 435.05(1)(c), F.S.). The person's own duty is to submit "a complete set of information necessary to conduct a screening under this chapter" (s. 435.05(1)(a), F.S.). Note the statute's term: working days, not business days. No source reviewed for this guide reconciles that five-working-day duty with the Clearinghouse route, in which you initiate the check in the Clearinghouse and the person then carries their own prints to a Livescan vendor. Do not let a candidate's information sit while you decide. Record the date you received it and the date you initiated, and if you need the two reconciled for your policy, ask AHCA's Background Screening Unit or your DCF regional office and keep the answer.

On the back end, the person has 30 days to supply missing criminal or other necessary information after receiving the request (s. 435.05(1)(d), F.S.), and AHCA's rule directs that information to the Agency within 30 days of the Agency's request (R. 59A-35.090(3)(b)). For anything else requested under that rule, "Unless otherwise specified, information requested pursuant to this section must be filed with the Agency within 21 days of the Agency's request" (R. 59A-35.090(5)).

Plan lead time. AHCA publishes averages, not guarantees: "it can take between 24 to 72 business hours for the Livescan service vendor to transmit the fingerprints" to FDLE, and "the Background Screening Units average processing times for reviewing these screenings is 5 to 7 business days once the results are received from FDLE." The state Clearinghouse education site says the full process typically takes 7 to 10 business days. AHCA also notes that where additional information is needed it contacts the person by certified mail, which delays processing. Do not promise a start date off any of these figures.

The Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse is where the screening lives, and several of the failures listed later under "Where screening compliance breaks down" trace back to a step done out of order in it.

Order of operations. "An employer . . . must register with and initiate all criminal history checks through the clearinghouse before referring an employee or potential employee . . . for electronic fingerprint submission to the Department of Law Enforcement" (s. 435.12(2)(d), F.S.). AHCA restates the identical duty for its licensees: providers "must register and initiate all criminal history checks through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse before referring an employee or potential employee for electronic fingerprint submission to the Department of Law Enforcement" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(a)). The Department of Children and Families is named among the specified agencies in s. 435.02(7), F.S., so chapter 397 providers sit inside the same regime.

AHCA describes the whole sequence in three bullets: "A Level 2 fingerprint-based background check initiated through the Clearinghouse." "Submitting fingerprints and having a photo taken by an approved Livescan service provider." "Receiving an eligibility determination before starting employment in a regulated facility." Three documents, three dates, in that order. A Livescan receipt that predates the Clearinghouse request is a sign the screening was not initiated correctly.

Registration data. "The registration must include the person's full first name, middle initial, and last name; social security number; date of birth; mailing address; sex; and race" (s. 435.12(2)(d), F.S.). The same paragraph substitutes an individual taxpayer identification number for those who cannot legally obtain a social security number. Type these carefully.

Getting access. AHCA states that a provider needing a screening for its initial Medicaid Provider Enrollment application "must first submit their application and receive their Application Tracking Number (ATN) before they can gain access to the Clearinghouse," and describes a comparable sequence for initial facility licensure through the licensure unit. Plan on getting your application number before you can screen anyone, including your own administrator. The account steps run through the AHCA Portal: create a user account, "Request program access to Background Screening Clearinghouse - Agency for Health Care Administration and generate user agreement," submit the signed agreement, then add employment history. AHCA states approval or denial arrives within 1 to 2 business days for licensure access and within 3 to 5 business days for Medicaid access, and that "Each individual requiring a background screening does NOT need to create an account." Budget that time.

The roster is a legal duty, not a convenience. "An employer of persons subject to screening or a qualified entity participating in the clearinghouse must register with the clearinghouse and maintain the employment or affiliation status of all persons included in the clearinghouse" (s. 435.12(2)(c), F.S.). All persons. A roster with gaps is itself the violation.

Five business days, not ten. "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" (s. 435.12(2)(c)2., F.S.). The 10-business-day figure in s. 435.12(2)(c)1., F.S. is the pre-2024 rule and is no longer operative, though it remained on AHCA's Screening Information page during source review on 2026-09-09. Write your policy to five business days. Terminations are status changes.

Why the roster controls every notification you get. AHCA states that "The Clearinghouse system will notify the employer of upcoming expirations of retained prints only for those employees that are listed on the Employee/Contractor Roster," and adds that adding all current employees is what brings arrest notifications and expiring retained print notifications. The Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide is blunter: "The provider must have a current employment history record entered in the Clearinghouse results website for the applicant to view this information" (11/06/2025, p. 27), and "The employment history records must be completed if users with access to the provider's record are to receive updates such as subsequent arrest notifications" (p. 29).

So a person who was screened perfectly but never attached to your roster generates no expiration warning and no arrest alert. The lapse is silent until survey.

Initiate under your own provider number. AHCA states that "By initiating screenings you not only will receive email notifications once the results are available, but you will also be notified if the applicant is subsequently arrested and/or has an eligibility status change." If another provider initiated the screening and you merely viewed the result, those alerts go to them. Initiate under your number and add the roster record; you need both.

Eligibility is category-specific. "The Agency for Health Care Administration's eligibility results are displayed by type according to the reason for screening" (Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide, p. 28). Categories include employment at a Medicaid or Medicare participating provider, employment at a non-participating provider, Medicaid provider enrollment, and AHCA provider or facility licensure. As a practical consequence, an eligibility for one category is not an eligibility for another, so a person eligible for employment is not thereby cleared as a controlling interest. The offense standard can differ by category as well, because s. 435.04(4), F.S. adds its own list for Medicaid participation purposes.

Renewals and resubmissions are separate transactions in this system. A Clearinghouse Renewal extends the retained prints expiration by another five years. A resubmission, which is what a lapse in employment of more than 90 days calls for, does not: AHCA states that "[t]he resubmission screening does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (Clearinghouse Renewals FAQ 10, fetched 2026-09-09), and that the retained prints expiration date "can only be changed by either a Clearinghouse Renewal or a brand-new screening" (FAQ 9). Track the two on separate reminders. See Breaks in service below.

Practical housekeeping. The Determinations Made list clears after seven days: "A request will remain on the list for 7 days once a determination is made" (p. 34). The determination stays retrievable from the person profile, but saving a PDF at determination is a cheap habit. AHCA also recommends, without making it a rule, that "We recommend that you frequently review employee eligibility on the website. Daily updates to the website might change an individual's eligibility to work for a health care provider." Pick a cadence and document it. Finally, AHCA states that "Level 2 screening records are confidential and may not be shared with anyone other than the individual that was screened," which bears on who in your office can open the file. Read literally, that sentence sits awkwardly with Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(3)(c), which requires the provider to keep the eligibility results in the employee's personnel file, a step somebody other than the screened individual necessarily performs. No statute in this guide's source set imposes a confidentiality standard on these records. Treat AHCA's sentence as a direction to restrict access, not as a defined legal standard, and confirm your own handling rule with the Background Screening Unit if the point is contested at survey. The results website itself "can be accessed at https://crw.flclearinghouse.com."

This is the section to get right, because the reason providers miss rescreens is not that they forget the five years. It is that nobody tells them which five years.

There are three statutory anchors and one operational one. This guide names them the same way every time.

1. Fingerprint resubmission. Prints must be "[r]esubmitted for a Federal Bureau of Investigation national criminal history check every 5 years until such time as the fingerprints are retained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation" (s. 435.12(2)(a)3., F.S.). Read the subparagraph closely: it sets a five-year cycle but names no date for the five years to run from. Retention itself is separately "[s]ubject to retention on a 5-year renewal basis with fees collected at the time of initial submission or resubmission of fingerprints" (s. 435.12(2)(a)4., F.S.).

1. The AHCA employment-side rescreen. "Every 5 years following his or her licensure, employment, or entry into a contract" in a capacity requiring level 2 screening, "each such person must submit to level 2 background rescreening as a condition of retaining such license or continuing in such employment or contractual status" (s. 408.809(2), F.S.). That last clause matters. A lapsed rescreen is a continuing-eligibility failure, not a missing piece of paper.

1. The DCF rescreen. "Individuals subject to screening in this subsection shall be re-screened within five (5) years from the date of their last screening results and every five (5) years thereafter" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)3.). That subsection is not limited to the roles most people think of. It reaches peer specialists too: "Providers shall ensure that peer specialists are screened in accordance with Section 397.417, F.S." (R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)2.), and s. 397.4073(1)(a)3., F.S. subjects all peer specialists who have direct contact with individuals receiving services to background screening as provided in s. 397.417(4), F.S. If you employ peer specialists, they belong on the five-year tracker with everyone else. Personnel of DOC and DMS inmate substance abuse programs and DJJ commitment programs and detention facilities are exempt from that subparagraph unless they have direct contact with unmarried inmates under 18 or intellectually disabled inmates (R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)4.).

1. The retained prints expiration date, which AHCA actually administers. AHCA states that "Florida Statute requires care providers (to include employees, substitutes and household members) to undergo another criminal history check once every five years from the date of the retention of their fingerprints. The process of extending the retention is called a 'Clearinghouse Renewal.'" (Clearinghouse Renewals Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ 1, fetched 2026-09-09). And on which date governs: "The RP expiration date can only be changed by either a Clearinghouse Renewal or a brand-new screening and is the date used in determining when a new screening is required" (FAQ 9, same document). Take that sentence at face value. A resubmission after a break in service is neither a renewal nor a brand-new screening, and AHCA says elsewhere in the same document that it "does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (FAQ 10). AHCA also warns in FAQ 9 that the eligibility determination date and the retained prints expiration date "can differ by as much as 5 years, depending on the volume of screenings or interest a person carries."

So AHCA guidance and the statute describe different starting points for the same five years. Do not pick one. Record every date that applies to you and act on the earliest.

Read the retained prints date, do not compute it. The Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide states that "Fingerprints are retained for a period of 5 years by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). If the applicant does not have retained prints with FDLE the status will read 'Prints Not Retained'" (11/06/2025, p. 27). The date is displayed on the person profile.

Worked example one: a date still in the future

Maria is a home health aide at an AHCA-licensed agency in Broward County.

Step 1, the lookup. Open her person profile in CRW. It shows a retained prints expiration date of 12 February 2027, an eligibility determination dated 3 March 2022, and a current Clearinghouse status. Everything else you need comes from your own records, not the screen.

Step 2, your own records. Her prints were captured at a Livescan vendor on 12 February 2022. Her screening results came back dated 18 February 2022. She was hired on 1 August 2023.

Step 3, the candidate dates for an AHCA employer. There are two, and each has a provision behind it.

• 12 February 2027 is the retained prints expiration date on the profile. It falls five years after her prints were captured, which is consistent with FDLE's five-year retention period (CRW Instruction Guide, 11/06/2025, p. 27), but read it off the profile rather than deriving it. The FBI resubmission duty in s. 435.12(2)(a)3., F.S. also runs on a five-year cycle, but the subparagraph does not say what date the five years run from, so this guide does not compute a separate date for it. In the Clearinghouse the renewal transaction is what discharges it.
• 1 August 2028 is five years from employment under s. 408.809(2), F.S.

The eligibility determination date of 3 March 2022 is not itself an anchor for an AHCA employer. No AHCA provision runs five years from the determination. The DCF anchor is the date of the last screening results, which is a different field again, and it does not apply to this employer.

The earliest date is 12 February 2027. That is the one that will fire first here, because it is the day FDLE purges the prints.

For an AHCA-only employer, the retained prints expiration date will be earlier than the s. 408.809(2) anniversary whenever the person was screened shortly before being hired and the screening has been renewed on time, which is the normal case. Store the employment date anyway. Worked example two shows the case where it is the employment anniversary that fires first.

Step 4, work backwards. AHCA states that "Providers may initiate a Clearinghouse Renewal starting 60 days before the Retained Prints Expiration Date is reached. If the Clearinghouse Renewal is not initiated before the retained prints expiration date a new screening will need to be initiated in the Clearinghouse and [the employee] will have to be fingerprinted again" (Clearinghouse Renewals Frequently Asked Questions, "When can I initiate a Clearinghouse Renewal?", fetched 2026-09-09; the brackets replace the source's compound phrase "the employee/substitute/household member"). Sixty days before 12 February 2027 is 14 December 2026, so Maria's window opens 14 December 2026.

Do not aim at the last day of that window. AHCA states only that the renewal must be initiated before the retained prints expiration date, and publishes no closing edge inside the window. An older AHCA instruction guide described the window as closing 14 days before the expiration date, and this guide could not confirm which applies today. Put the reminder in the first week of the window, mid-December 2026, and confirm the closing edge with the AHCA Background Screening Unit (850-412-4503, bgscreen@ahca.myflorida.com) before relying on any later date.

That window belongs on the reminder ladder alongside the 1 August employment anniversary, not instead of it. For Maria the retained prints date fires first, but that is not a rule. The retained prints date moves every time a renewal or a brand-new screening posts, while the s. 408.809(2) anniversary never moves. Keep both fields and act on whichever comes first.

AHCA also populates a dashboard list on the same schedule: "starting 60 days from an employee's RP expiration date, a record will appear in the provider's RP expiration table on the home page in CRW that shows their expiration date" (Clearinghouse Renewals FAQ 6), and the instruction guide notes that "A list of Employees with Expiring retained prints can be found in the dashboard with a renewal link" (p. 16). Useful, but the dashboard only shows people on your roster.

If Maria worked at a DCF chapter 397 program instead, R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)3. would add a date five years from "the date of their last screening results." On the facts above that is 18 February 2022, giving 18 February 2027. Two cautions. First, that is a fourth date, and it is not the eligibility determination date of 3 March 2022. The rule says "screening results," and this guide has no source equating the two, so do not substitute one for the other. Second, the rule does not say which field on the Clearinghouse profile the phrase maps to. If your own records do not separate the two dates, ask your DCF regional office which date it scores against, record the answer and the date you asked, and calendar the earlier candidate in the meantime. Section 397.4073(1)(a), F.S. also routes chapter 397 personnel through s. 408.809 and chapter 435, so track those dates as well and act on the earliest. She would also owe a fresh CF 1649 attestation with the re-screening.

Worked example two: when the employment anniversary fires first

David is an aide at the same agency, hired on 1 January 2020 and screened shortly before he started. The agency missed his renewal, FDLE purged his prints, and he took a brand-new screening in June 2025. That reset his retained prints expiration date to June 2030.

It did not reset his employment anniversary. Section 408.809(2), F.S. runs "[e]very 5 years following his or her licensure, employment, or entry into a contract," which for David means 1 January 2025, then 1 January 2030, and so on. That is roughly six months before his retained prints date.

So for David the statutory anniversary is the earlier of the two, and it is the one the statute writes as a condition of "continuing in such employment or contractual status." Any time a brand-new screening posts later than the engagement date, the order of the two dates can flip. That is why the tracker carries both fields and the reminder is set off the earlier one, not off a fixed rule about which type of date wins.

A fifth date, for Department of Health licensees

A nurse, physician or other Department of Health licensee on your payroll is still inside s. 408.809(1) and (2), F.S., and you still owe the employer-side screening and rescreen for the position. But that person separately maintains her own fingerprint retention through the applicant-initiated CHAI system, and DOH publishes a different window: "The window to retain fingerprints opens 75 days prior to the expiration date and closes 15 days prior to expiration, allowing 60 days to complete retention" (FL HealthSource background screening FAQ, fetched 2026-09-09). The same page states that "The Department cannot extend your retention window."

Two duties, two dates, and the DOH one closes fifteen days earlier than you would expect from the AHCA process. Do not carry the AHCA renewal timing across to a DOH licensee's personal retention deadline.

If the date has already passed

Suppose you find someone screened in 2021 and never renewed. There is a defined path, and panic is not part of it.

1. Look at the profile and print it. Open the person profile in CRW and record the Clearinghouse status and the retained prints status with today's date. If the prints have been purged, the status reads "Prints Not Retained" (instruction guide, p. 27).

2. Understand what has happened. AHCA states that "Prints are retained for 5 years unless they are renewed or purged. Once the prints have been purged, there is no grace period, and [the employee] will have to have a whole new screening" (Clearinghouse Renewals FAQ 3, fetched 2026-09-09), and that where the employer does not initiate a renewal the prints are no longer retained, "[the employee's] eligibility determination will expire, and [the employee] will have to be re-fingerprinted at a Livescan Service Provider at an increased cost." A purged record cannot be renewed. The renewal transaction is no longer available to you.

3. Initiate a brand-new screening under your own provider number, in the Clearinghouse, before sending the person anywhere (s. 435.12(2)(d), F.S.; R. 59A-35.090(2)(a)). Initiating under your own number is what routes the result and any later arrest or eligibility-change notification to you.

4. Send the person for new fingerprints and a photograph at a Livescan Service Provider contracted through the Agency or approved by FDLE (R. 59A-35.090(2)(b)), and plan for AHCA's published averages rather than a same-week answer: 24 to 72 business hours for the vendor to transmit, then an average of 5 to 7 business days for AHCA's review once FDLE results arrive.

5. If the person refuses to be reprinted. The statute leaves no discretion here. An employee "who refuses to cooperate in such screening or refuses to timely submit the information necessary to complete the screening, including fingerprints if required, must be disqualified for employment in such position or, if employed, must be dismissed" (s. 435.06(3), F.S.). Reassignment to a position for which screening is not required remains available under s. 435.06(2)(c), F.S., subject to the same practical limits described in the exemptions section. Document the request, the date, the refusal and the action taken. The same problem arises on a rehire, so apply this step there too.

6. Decide the assignment question, in writing, on your facts. This guide will not tell you whether the person may keep seeing patients while the new screening runs, because no source it could verify answers that question. What it can tell you is where the tension sits. Section 408.809(2), F.S. makes the rescreen "a condition of retaining such license or continuing in such employment or contractual status." The contact bar in s. 435.06(2)(a), F.S. is written for a screening that "shows any grounds for the denial or termination of employment," and an expired determination is not the same thing as a disqualifying result. The conservative reading is to keep the person out of the screened role until the new determination posts. Call the AHCA Background Screening Unit at 850-412-4503 or bgscreen@ahca.myflorida.com, get counsel on your facts, then document the date you discovered the lapse, the decision you made, who made it and why, and the date the new determination posted.

7. If you are a DCF chapter 397 provider, the re-screening also carries a fresh Attestation of Good Moral Character, form CF 1649 (June 2025), because R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)3. requires it "[a]t the time of the initial screening, and with every re-screening."

8. Fix the cause, not just the case. A lapse that ran for months almost always means the person was tracked off the wrong date or was never on the roster. Reconcile the whole roster against payroll before you close the item.

What a renewal is, and what happens if you miss it

A Clearinghouse Renewal is not a new Livescan. AHCA describes it on the Clearinghouse Renewals page as a process in which "the current fingerprints retained on file at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be resent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation allowing for an updated criminal history to be processed by the Clearinghouse." There is no need to wait for the employee to be fingerprinted again, and AHCA states it will "[e]xtend the retained prints expiration by another 5 years."

The employee does not re-sign paperwork at a renewal. AHCA states "No, [the employee] does not have to resubmit either the Privacy Policy or the Attestation of Compliance," and that "The Privacy Policy only needs to be signed the first time [the employee] receives a Clearinghouse screening and stored in the [employee's] personnel file" (Clearinghouse Renewals FAQ 11, fetched 2026-09-09; brackets replace the source's compound phrase). Note that AHCA's FAQ cites a rule subparagraph that does not exist in the adopted rule text, though the substance, that the attestation is completed upon hire, is in Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(d). Re-collecting the attestation at renewal is harmless, but it is not required by the AHCA rule. It is required at every re-screening for DCF providers.

What FBI retained prints would change

Bottom line first: nothing you do today changes. AHCA still requires and prices Clearinghouse Renewals, and DCF's rule sets a flat five-year re-screen with no retained-print carve-out. Plan on the five-year cycle.

The reason is that every carve-out in this area is conditional. Prints are to be "[r]etained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the national retained print arrest notification program as soon as the Department of Law Enforcement begins participation in such program" (s. 435.12(2)(a)2., F.S.). Section 408.809(2), F.S. says fingerprints "shall be retained . . . and enrolled in the national retained print arrest notification program when the Department of Law Enforcement begins participation in the program," and at rescreen the agency requests the FBI check "unless the person's fingerprints are enrolled in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's national retained print arrest notification program." Enrollment would end the five-year FBI resubmission in s. 435.12(2)(a)3., F.S. and the 90-day break in service national screening in s. 435.12(2)(b), F.S. It would not end the rescreen itself under s. 408.809(2), F.S., which excuses only the FBI submission step. And s. 435.12(2)(a)4., F.S., unlike s. 435.12(2)(a)3., carries no FBI-retention condition on its face, so the five-year renewal basis is at least not expressly switched off by FBI enrollment. Whether it survives in practice is not something this guide could source. Whether FDLE has begun participating is listed in What this guide could not confirm below.

What retained prints do give you today is state-level arrest monitoring. FDLE holds the prints "and the Department of Law Enforcement must report the results of searching those fingerprints against state incoming arrest fingerprint submissions to the Agency for Health Care Administration for inclusion in the clearinghouse" (s. 435.12(2)(a)1., F.S.). Note the words: state incoming arrest fingerprint submissions. An arrest in Georgia does not surface through this mechanism. That is precisely why the employee's own reporting duty still carries weight.

The 90-day figure gets quoted constantly and almost always without its conditions.

The rule and its opening clause. Section 435.12(2)(b), F.S. opens: "Until such time as the fingerprints are enrolled in the national retained print arrest notification program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation:". Under that opening, subparagraph 1. requires a new national screening for a person with a break in service of more than 90 days from a position that requires screening by a specified agency.

Three details do the work:

• It is more than 90 days, not 90.
• It is measured from a position that requires screening by a specified agency, not from your agency and not from employment generally. A person who left your agency and worked for another provider screened by a specified agency in the interim has not had a break in service.
• The whole subsection is conditional on FBI enrollment, which has not been confirmed to have occurred, so treat the rule as live.

What "specified agency" means, and how to apply it in an interview. The term is defined in s. 435.02(7), F.S., which names a list of agencies as the specified agencies "when these agencies are conducting state and national criminal history background screening on persons who work with children or persons who are elderly or disabled." The Department of Children and Families is one of them, which is why chapter 397 providers sit inside this regime alongside AHCA licensees. If you need the complete list, read the subsection itself rather than relying on a summary.

In practice, two questions settle most cases. First, which agency licensed or regulated the prior employer. Second, did the prior role itself require level 2 screening, or was it a job at a licensed provider that carried no screening duty. A nursing home aide position is the first kind. A front-desk job at a chiropractic office is very likely the second. Time in an unscreened job is not itself a break in service, but it does not stop the clock either, so the months spent at that front desk do not interrupt the 90 days running from the aide job that came before it. Where an applicant cannot say, record the inquiry you made and what they told you, and treat the break as unbroken unless you can evidence otherwise. That last step is conservative practice, not a rule.

Where the AHCA attestation differs from the statute. AHCA's rule has the individual attest, among other things, that they have not been unemployed for more than 90 days from a position that requires Level 2 screening (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(d), as restated in the 3/26/2026 technical correction). That is worded as unemployment, which is not identical to the statute's break-from-a-screened-position test. Where the AHCA attestation form and s. 435.12(2)(b)1., F.S. diverge, apply the statute and note the difference in your file. If you are a chapter 397 provider, run the s. 397.4073(3)(a) test as well, set out below, because that provision is also worded as unemployment and can give a different answer.

What a post-break screening looks like mechanically. For a person already in the Clearinghouse with retained prints, a full new Livescan is usually unnecessary. The Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide states: "If there has been a 90-day lapse in employment, these applicants would only require a new national criminal history check - a resubmission of the retained fingerprints" (11/06/2025, p. 48), and that a new state criminal history search is also conducted at no additional charge. The state Clearinghouse education site listed "Resubmission: $12. Required after a 90 day break in employment" when fetched on 2026-09-09.

One caution, and AHCA answers it directly. A Clearinghouse Renewal extends the retained prints expiration by another five years. A resubmission does not. AHCA states: "A resubmission is the process of running a new national criminal history check for the purpose of having an updated screening for those individuals with a lapse of employment greater than 90 days. The resubmission screening does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (Clearinghouse Renewals Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ 10, fetched 2026-09-09). The same document adds that the RP expiration date "can only be changed by either a Clearinghouse Renewal or a brand-new screening" (FAQ 9). So a rehire can come back with a fresh national criminal history check and prints that still expire on the original date, possibly within months. Run the resubmission because the break requires it, keep the renewal on its own separate reminder, and read the retained prints expiration date off the person profile afterwards so you know exactly how long you have. This turns on the lapse in employment, not on the role: a returning administrator or chief financial officer needs the resubmission too.

The 90-day condition in s. 408.809(2) is a different rule entirely. People cite s. 408.809(2)(b), F.S. as the AHCA break in service rule. It is not. Paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) hang off an opening clause permitting the agency to accept proof of level 2 compliance submitted within the previous 5 years to meet Department of Financial Services licensure requirements for an applicant for a certificate of authority or provisional certificate of authority to operate a continuing care retirement community under chapter 651. For an ordinary home health hire, that paragraph does not apply.

Portability, stated precisely. The Clearinghouse "must allow the results of criminal history checks provided to the specified agencies . . . to be shared among the specified agencies and qualified entities when a person has applied to volunteer, be employed, be licensed, enter into a contract . . ." (s. 435.12(1), F.S.). Sharing is real, and it is why a person already screened and active elsewhere may not need new prints. Sharing is not the whole of your duty. You must still register with the clearinghouse and attach a current employment record for that person to your roster (s. 435.12(2)(c), F.S.). Eligibility results in the Clearinghouse are displayed by type according to the reason for screening (Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide, 11/06/2025, p. 28), so check that the determination on the profile matches the capacity you are hiring into, and confirm with your licensure unit if it does not. Whether your own agency must issue a fresh determination in that category is not answered by any source this guide verified. And exemptions do not travel the way results do.

The DCF refingerprinting exemptions, in order. Chapter 397 providers have a second 90-day provision, and it is worded as unemployment. Section 397.4073(3)(a), F.S. exempts from refingerprinting service provider personnel previously fingerprinted or background-checked under chapter 393, chapter 394, chapter 402 or chapter 409, or under s. 397.4073 itself, and teachers fingerprinted under chapter 1012, "who have not been unemployed for more than 90 days thereafter and who, under the penalty of perjury, attest to the completion of such fingerprinting or background checks and to compliance with the provisions of this section and the standards contained in chapter 435 and this section." Those personnel "are not required to be refingerprinted or rechecked."

Three conditions, all of them yours to evidence: the prior screening was under one of those chapters, the unemployment gap did not exceed 90 days, and you hold the signed attestation. The attestation is a condition of the exemption, not paperwork you can gather afterwards. Note the differences from s. 435.12(2)(b)1., F.S.: this one is measured from unemployment rather than from a screened position, it lists specific prior-screening chapters, it requires a sworn attestation, and what it excuses is refingerprinting, not the national screening. Apply both tests to a chapter 397 hire and document which one you relied on. Two practical cautions. No rule identifies form CF 1649 as the vehicle for this attestation, so take a separate written attestation and keep the evidence of the prior qualifying screening with it. And this guide has no source stating whether a peer specialist screened under s. 397.417(4), F.S. falls inside paragraph (a)'s list of prior screenings, so confirm that case with your DCF regional office rather than assuming it.

A DCF-only portability route for the executive tier. Section 397.4073(3)(b), F.S. addresses "Service provider owners, directors, chief financial officers, or clinical supervisors who are not covered by paragraph (a) who provide proof of compliance with the level 2 background screening requirements which has been submitted within the previous 5 years in compliance with any other state health care licensure requirements are not required to be refingerprinted or rechecked." Paragraph (a) is the provision described just above, so this route is for the executive tier whose facts do not fit the 90-day unemployment test. This paragraph carries no 90-day condition and no offense-equivalence test, but the prior screening must have been submitted in compliance with another state health care licensure requirement, so a screening obtained for some other purpose does not qualify. Do not read it as slack in any event. The DCF five-year re-screen still runs from the date of the last screening result, so a four-year-old screening buys you one year, not five.

Out-of-state hires do not need to fly in. AHCA states that "There are multiple Livescan Service Providers located outside the state of Florida with Livescan and photo capability to have the screening entered into the Clearinghouse," and directs providers to initiate the screening through the Clearinghouse and choose the applicant's state when searching for a vendor.

The employee's side. "Every employee must attest, subject to penalty of perjury, to meeting the requirements for qualifying for employment pursuant to this chapter and agreeing to inform the employer immediately if arrested for any of the disqualifying offenses while employed" (s. 435.05(2), F.S.).

Each lane has its own instrument.

• AHCA providers use Attestation of Compliance with Background Screening Requirements, AHCA Form 3100-0008, July 2024, which under Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(d) must be completed by the individual and retained by the provider upon hire. The form is four pages because pages 1 to 3 reproduce the s. 435.04 and s. 408.809(4) offense lists the person is swearing against, so hand staff the whole form. The attestation page reads: "Under penalty of perjury, I,, hereby swear or affirm that I meet the requirements for qualifying for employment in regards to the background screening standards set forth in Chapter 435 and section 408.809, F.S." It then adds a promise that is broader than the statute in two ways: "In addition, I agree to immediately inform my employer if arrested or convicted of any of the disqualifying offenses while employed by any health care provider licensed pursuant to Chapter 408, Part II F.S." That covers convictions as well as arrests, and it runs to any chapter 408 part II employer, not only yours. The form itself states: "This form must be maintained in the employee's personnel file."
• DCF chapter 397 providers use Attestation of Good Moral Character, form CF 1649 (June 2025), "[a]t the time of the initial screening, and with every re-screening" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)3.). That is a different cadence from AHCA's. CF 1649 is tied to the screening event, so it recurs; AHCA's 3100-0008 is tied to hire. A dual-licensed provider needs both.

Your side. "If an employer becomes aware that an employee has been arrested for a disqualifying offense, the employer must remove the employee from contact with any vulnerable person that places the employee in a role that requires background screening . . ." until the arrest is resolved in a way that the employer determines leaves the person eligible (s. 435.06(2)(b), F.S.).

Five points administrators get wrong here:

• The trigger is awareness of an arrest for a disqualifying offense, from any source. The employee's self-report, a Clearinghouse arrest notification, a news item, a colleague. An employee who never reports does not suspend your duty.
• No conviction, adjudication or agency letter is needed.
• This is removal from contact, not a firing mandate. Reassignment out of the screened role is permitted. Termination is governed separately by s. 435.06(2)(c), F.S.
• There is no numeric deadline in the statute, and no waiting period is authorized either. Act on the day you learn, and document the date you learned, the action taken, and the schedule change.
• An arrest for something not on the list does not trigger this duty. Section 435.06(2)(b), F.S. is keyed to an arrest "for a disqualifying offense." Check the charge against both s. 435.04(2)-(3) and, for AHCA licensees, s. 408.809(4) before you pull anyone off the schedule, and remember that several entries are felony-qualified and that the s. 435.04(3) domestic violence bar turns on the family or household relationship in s. 741.28, F.S. Where the charge is not listed, the removal duty in this subsection does not apply, and any action you take rests on your own policy rather than on chapter 435. Two cautions: the charge as booked can be amended, so re-check at disposition; and where the person later seeks an exemption, s. 435.07(3)(b), F.S. lets the agency weigh an arrest or conviction "even if that crime is not a disqualifying offense."

One interaction to keep straight: where the arrest is for an offense on the level 2 list, the arrest is itself disqualifying (s. 435.04(2), F.S.; s. 408.809(4), F.S.), so your own "still eligible" determination cannot put the person back into screened work before disposition, and if the disposition is disqualifying, an exemption is required.

Notification mechanics have a hole in them. As noted above, FDLE retained-print reporting reaches only state incoming arrest fingerprint submissions (s. 435.12(2)(a)1., F.S.). What the FBI national program would produce, when FDLE participates, is described in s. 435.12(2)(a)2., F.S.: arrest prints searched against retained prints at the FBI, with notification forwarded to FDLE and reported to AHCA for inclusion in the Clearinghouse. That is an arrest notice delivered through the Clearinghouse, not a fresh eligibility determination. Either way, notifications only reach an employer carrying the person on its roster.

You are protected when you act. Section 435.06(4), F.S. removes reemployment assistance liability and any cause of action for damages against an employer that, upon notice of a conviction or arrest for a disqualifying offense listed under chapter 435, terminates the person, regardless of whether that person has filed for an exemption. For AHCA licensees s. 408.809(8), F.S. gives substantially the same protection with slightly different wording, covering "an employer that, upon notice of a disqualifying offense listed under chapter 435 or this section, terminates the person against whom the report was issued, whether or not that person has filed for an exemption." This is a description of the statute, not advice about any particular termination, and it does not displace other employment law.

The employer's own sworn filing. Separate from the employee attestation, "Each employer licensed or registered with an agency must conduct level 2 background screening and must submit to the agency annually or at the time of license renewal, under penalty of perjury, a signed attestation attesting to compliance" with chapter 435 (s. 435.05(3), F.S.). That is your signature on the compliance of your whole screened population, which is a good reason to reconcile the roster before you sign rather than after. Do not use AHCA Form 3100-0008 for this. Despite its title, that form is the individual's hire-time attestation. Whether AHCA collects the employer attestation through the licensure renewal packet or by separate filing was not verified for this guide, so confirm the vehicle with your licensure unit or with the AHCA Background Screening Unit, which publishes a single channel: phone 850-412-4503, email bgscreen@ahca.myflorida.com, fax (850) 487-0470, with the warning that "Calling other AHCA numbers or areas not listed above may delay providing you with a response."

What you may and may not argue. "It is the responsibility of the affected employee to contest his or her disqualification or to request exemption from disqualification. The only basis for contesting the disqualification is proof of mistaken identity" (s. 435.06(1), F.S.). The same subsection requires you to notify the person in writing, stating the specific record that shows noncompliance, when you have reasonable cause to believe grounds exist. Arguing that the offense was minor or misreported is not a contest. It is an exemption request, and employers waste weeks on this distinction.

No work in the screened role while the exemption is pending, as a general rule. Where the screening shows grounds for denial or termination, "the employer may not hire, select, or otherwise allow the employee to have contact with any vulnerable person that would place the employee in a role that requires background screening unless the employee is granted an exemption" by the agency under s. 435.07 (s. 435.06(2)(a), F.S.).

There are three routes, and which ones you have depends on your license and your population:

• AHCA, rescreen only. Where a currently employed or contracted person who was screened and qualified under s. 435.04 is caught by an offense that was not disqualifying at the last screening, is disqualifying now, and was committed before that screening, then "he or she may apply for an exemption from the appropriate licensing agency and, if agreed to by the employer, may continue to perform his or her duties until the licensing agency renders a decision on the application for exemption" (s. 408.809(4), F.S., closing paragraph). The window closes fast: the continued-work allowance applies only "if the person is eligible to apply for an exemption and the exemption request is received by the agency no later than 30 days after receipt of the rescreening results by the person." Received by the agency, not postmarked, and the clock runs from the person's receipt, so date-stamp the day you hand over the result. Missing the 30 days forfeits the continued-work window, not the right to apply. A new hire gets none of this.
• DCF, adults only, supervised. Where at least 5 years, or 3 for a certified peer specialist or an individual seeking certification under s. 397.417, have elapsed since completion of or lawful release from the sanction for the most recent disqualifying offense, "the applicant may work with adults with substance use disorders, mental health disorders, or co-occurring disorders under the supervision of persons who meet all personnel requirements of this chapter for up to 180 days" (s. 397.4073(1)(g), F.S.), or until DCF makes a final determination, whichever is earlier. The 180 days runs from the date of the disqualification notice, not from the date of filing, and ends earlier if DCF decides the request. The paragraph assumes a request is coming, and s. 397.4073(1)(f), F.S. gives the person 30 days from notice to file one, but it states no filing precondition to the supervised-work period. Keep a written supervision plan and a calendared stop date.
• Treatment providers serving adolescents 13 and older. For eight named offenses (s. 796.07(2)(e), s. 810.02(4), s. 812.014(2)(c), s. 817.563, s. 831.01, s. 831.02, s. 893.13, s. 893.147, and related attempt, solicitation or conspiracy under s. 777.04), personnel "Shall be exempted from disqualification from employment for such offenses" where at least 5 years, or 3 for an individual seeking peer specialist certification under s. 397.417, have elapsed since completion of or lawful release from the sanction for the most recent disqualifying offense under that paragraph, and the applicant "has not been arrested for any offense" during that same period (s. 397.4073(4)(b)1., F.S.). The same personnel "May be exempted . . . without a waiting period as provided under s. 435.07(2)" (s. 397.4073(4)(b)2., F.S.). Section 435.07(2) sits in chapter 435 and its trigger is functional, a treatment provider that treats adolescents 13 years of age and older, rather than licensure-based, so check it against your actual population rather than your license type.

The result is that the same person can lawfully keep working in a chapter 397 program and be barred from an AHCA-licensed service on the same day.

Who decides. "The head of the appropriate agency or qualified entity may grant to any employee or person with an affiliation otherwise disqualified from employment an exemption from disqualification" (s. 435.07(1)(a), F.S.). Note "may," not "shall," outside the mandatory adolescent-provider route described above. You as the employer cannot grant, waive or provisionally accept one.

For AHCA-regulated positions the route splits by license. AHCA may grant the exemption where the person does not have an active professional license or certification from the Department of Health, or has one but is not providing a service within its scope (s. 408.809(6)(a), F.S.). Where the person holds a DOH license or certification and is practicing within that scope, "the appropriate regulatory board within the Department of Health, or the department itself if there is no board, may grant an exemption from disqualification to a person who is subject to this section" (s. 408.809(6)(b), F.S.). AHCA's rule says the same and directs DOH-licensed or certified individuals to their board unless they will be working in a position other than the one for which they are licensed (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(4)(b)). This is why a registered nurse and a home health aide at the same agency can face different filing routes and different timelines.

How to file with AHCA. "Requests for an exemption from disqualification shall be submitted in writing to the Agency using the Background Screening Application for Exemption, AHCA Form 3110-0019, July 2024" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(4)(a)). Two gating rules: an application deemed incomplete after 30 days of receipt by the Agency will be closed, and "An Application for Exemption will not be considered if the applicant has not had a Level 2 Screening as defined in paragraph 59A-35.090(1)(g), F.A.C., within 6 months from their application date" (R. 59A-35.090(4)(d)). A disqualified person with a stale screening must be re-printed before applying. AHCA publishes no processing time for an exemption decision, and this guide will not invent one.

How to file with DCF. "Service provider personnel who request an exemption from disqualification must submit the request within 30 days after being notified of the disqualification. The department shall grant or deny the request within 60 days after receipt of a complete application" (s. 397.4073(1)(f), F.S.). That is a firmer timeline in both directions than the AHCA lane. Note that 60 days runs from a complete application.

Eligibility gates. Section 435.07(1)(a)1., F.S. allows exemption for "Felonies for which at least 2 years have elapsed since the applicant for the exemption has completed or been lawfully released from confinement, supervision, or nonmonetary condition imposed by the court for the disqualifying felony." The clock runs from completion or release, not from the offense, arrest or conviction date, so long probation pushes eligibility out. Misdemeanors under (1)(a)2. and offenses that were felonies when committed but are now misdemeanors under (1)(a)3. carry no added waiting period once the sentence is complete. Findings of delinquency for offenses that would be felonies for an adult carry at least three years and only where the record is not sealed or expunged (s. 435.07(1)(a)4., F.S.). Under s. 435.07(1)(b), F.S. the applicant must also have paid in full any court-ordered amounts imposed as part of the judgment and sentence for the disqualifying felony or misdemeanor. That limit matters: unrelated civil debt or an old traffic judgment is outside it.

One carve-out changes the arithmetic for adolescent programs. Where a person is employed by, or applying to, a treatment provider that treats adolescents 13 years of age and older and is disqualified solely because of one of the eight offenses listed under "Treatment providers serving adolescents 13 and older" above, or a related attempt, solicitation or conspiracy under s. 777.04, the exemption may be granted "without application of the waiting period in subparagraph (1)(a)1." (s. 435.07(2), F.S.). On the DCF side the same offense list is stronger still: s. 397.4073(4)(b)1., F.S. says such personnel "Shall be exempted" where at least 5 years, or 3 for a peer specialist or certification candidate, have elapsed since completion of or lawful release from the sanction for the most recent disqualifying offense under that paragraph and there has been no arrest for any offense in that period. Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(c) routes disqualified chapter 397 personnel to s. 435.07 "or, if applicable, Section 397.4073(4)(b), F.S."

AHCA's published summary tracks the general gates: at least 2 years elapsed for all disqualifying felonies, completion or lawful release for misdemeanors, and "The applicant has paid the court-ordered amount in full."

A pardon or restored civil rights is not a clearance. For any felony covered by s. 435.03 or s. 435.04, disqualification "may not be removed from, nor may an exemption be granted to" a person found guilty of, or who pleaded nolo contendere or guilty to, that felony "solely by reason of any pardon, executive clemency, or restoration of civil rights" (s. 435.07(4)(a), F.S.). The person still needs an exemption on the clear-and-convincing showing below. Keep the limiter in mind when you read the paragraph: by its terms it addresses felonies covered by s. 435.03 or s. 435.04. Applicants present clemency paperwork often, and it does not answer the screening question.

Absolute bars. No exemption may be granted, and a disqualification may not be removed, for a person who is a sexual predator designated under s. 775.21, a career offender under s. 775.261, or a sexual offender under s. 943.0435 unless the requirement to register has been removed under s. 943.04354 (s. 435.07(4)(b), F.S.). That last "unless" attaches only to the sexual offender prong; there is no equivalent escape for a designated sexual predator or career offender. AHCA states the same on its exemption page: "Persons designated as sexual predators, sexual offenders or career offenders are not eligible for an Exemption from Disqualification." This is also why the multi-state registry search in s. 435.04(1)(a), F.S. matters operationally rather than as a formality.

One caution about lists you may see reproduced elsewhere. The long permanent-bar list in s. 435.07(4)(c), F.S. applies by its own terms to child care personnel as defined in s. 402.302(3), F.S. It does not apply to home health or chapter 397 staff and should not be reproduced as though it did.

What the decision maker weighs. The burden is on the applicant: "the employee or person with an affiliation must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the employee or person with an affiliation should not be disqualified from employment" (s. 435.07(3)(a), F.S.). The statute names the circumstances of the incident, time elapsed, the nature of the harm to the victim, and the person's history since. Under s. 435.07(3)(b), F.S. the agency may also weigh a later arrest or conviction "even if that crime is not a disqualifying offense." AHCA's rule adds its own factor list: "the Agency shall consider factors such as the facts and circumstances surrounding the disqualifying offense(s), the nature of the harm to the victim, whether the individual is on probation or parole, whether restitution has been made" (R. 59A-35.090(4)(e)), and it also weighs the honesty and candor of the disqualified individual. Understating history is fatal. You cannot meet this burden on the employee's behalf.

What an exemption is and is not. AHCA states: "The granting of an exemption does not change an individual's criminal history. It only provides eligibility for employment in a health care setting." It is also bounded and revocable. "Any exemption granted by the Agency is limited to the information provided at the time of application and the disqualifying offense or offenses committed prior to the date of the request for exemption" (R. 59A-35.090(4)(f)), and "The Agency shall void any exemption granted to an individual when there is evidence that information which would adversely affect the decision was not made available at the time of the determination" or where there is an arrest or disposition of a new disqualifying offense since the grant (R. 59A-35.090(4)(g)). Check current Clearinghouse status, not just the old letter.

Cross-agency portability. "Exemptions granted by one agency shall be considered by subsequent agencies, but are not binding on the subsequent agency" (s. 435.07(5), F.S.). Obtain and submit the prior decision letter, because it must be considered, but do not treat it as clearance. DCF exemptions may also be scope-limited: DCF "may grant exemptions from disqualification for service provider personnel to work solely in substance use disorder treatment programs, facilities, or recovery residences or in programs or facilities that treat co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders," and may further limit them to working with adults (s. 397.4073(4)(c), F.S.).

If it is denied. "The decision of the head of an agency regarding an exemption may be contested through the hearing procedures set forth in chapter 120" (s. 435.07(3)(c), F.S.), and the standard of review by the administrative law judge is whether the agency's intended action is an abuse of discretion. That is deferential. It is not a fresh look at rehabilitation. The petition deadline comes from the agency's own notice of rights, not from s. 435.07, and it is a different deadline from the 30 days a DCF employee has to request the exemption in the first place.

And if the person will not cooperate. "Any employee who refuses to cooperate in such screening or refuses to timely submit the information necessary to complete the screening, including fingerprints if required, must be disqualified for employment in such position or, if employed, must be dismissed" (s. 435.06(3), F.S.). Read together with the 30 days allowed by s. 435.05(1)(d), F.S., a person who lets that period run without responding is in the same position. Where the outcome is noncompliance, "The employer must terminate the employment of any of its personnel found to be in noncompliance with the minimum standards of this chapter or place the employee in a position for which background screening is not required . . ." unless an exemption is granted (s. 435.06(2)(c), F.S.).

Reassignment is genuinely available on paper, but whether a non-screened position exists depends on your lane. For an AHCA licensee, s. 408.809(1)(e), F.S. reaches roles with access to client funds, personal property or living areas as well as direct personal care, so in a small home health agency there is often nowhere to put the person. For a chapter 397 provider the screened population is drawn from s. 397.4073(1)(a), F.S., and it has three subparagraphs, not two: subparagraph 1. reaches owners, directors, chief financial officers and clinical supervisors; subparagraph 2. reaches personnel with direct contact with children receiving services or with adults who are developmentally disabled receiving services; and subparagraph 3. reaches "All peer specialists who have direct contact with individuals receiving services," screened under s. 397.417(4), F.S. rather than the ordinary chapter 435 level 2 route (s. 397.4073(1)(a)3., F.S.; Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)2.). A program serving non-disabled adults may well have roles outside that description, but a peer specialist post is not one of them. Run the analysis for your own license rather than borrowing the other lane's answer, and where the reassignment question is close, confirm it with AHCA or DCF before you move the person.

Who bears the cost. For AHCA licensees, "The costs associated with obtaining the required screening must be borne by the licensee or the person subject to screening. Licensees may reimburse persons for these costs" (s. 408.809(5), F.S.). For chapter 397 providers, "The employing service provider or the personnel who are having their backgrounds checked are responsible for paying the costs of processing fingerprints and criminal records checks" (s. 397.4073(5), F.S.). Neither statute allocates the cost between the two, so decide your policy, write it down, and apply it consistently.

What the fee is attached to. Chapter 435 states no dollar amount. It does describe the retention component: prints are "[s]ubject to retention on a 5-year renewal basis with fees collected at the time of initial submission or resubmission of fingerprints" (s. 435.12(2)(a)4., F.S.). AHCA's rule says where the money changes hands: payment for screening services must be made to the Livescan Service Provider at the time of services or through a payment arrangement with that provider (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(b)).

Published figures conflicted on the review date. On 2026-09-09, AHCA's Clearinghouse Renewals page stated: "The current cost for a Clearinghouse Renewal is $43.25." The same page described $75.00 as the average cost of a new screening, and AHCA presents that figure as an average, with Livescan vendor prices varying. On the same day, the state's own Clearinghouse education site published a different schedule: a $60 new applicant screening plus Livescan fee, a $42 renewal screening, and a $12 resubmission.

Two Florida state pages, two renewal fees, one day. Neither is presented here as authoritative. Confirm the amount shown at checkout in the Clearinghouse Results Website, and do not build a budget line off a web page without re-checking it.

Three cost events, not one. Providers routinely budget for a new screening and forget the other two.

1. A new screening at a Livescan Service Provider, with a fresh eligibility determination.
2. A Clearinghouse Renewal before the retained prints expiration date, which resends the retained prints to the FBI with no new fingerprinting and extends retention five years.
3. A resubmission for a person returning after a break of more than 90 days, which runs a new national check against the retained prints and, per the instruction guide, includes a new state search at no additional charge.

Budget the resubmission as an extra event, not as a substitute for the renewal. AHCA is explicit that the two are different transactions and that only one of them moves the date: "A resubmission is the process of running a new national criminal history check for the purpose of having an updated screening for those individuals with a lapse of employment greater than 90 days. The resubmission screening does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (AHCA, Clearinghouse Renewals Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ 10, fetched 2026-09-09). The same page adds that the retained prints expiration date "can only be changed by either a Clearinghouse Renewal or a brand-new screening and is the date used in determining when a new screening is required" (FAQ 9). So a rehire can cost you a resubmission in March and a renewal in June, and the second bill is not a duplicate of the first.

Decide, as policy, who pays for each of the three and record it, because the answer tends to drift when the bill arrives.

If the FBI rejects prints as illegible, the person must return to the same Livescan Service Provider for a second set (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(2)(c)). Going to a different vendor is not permitted by that rule.

On exemptions, AHCA's Exemption from Disqualification page publishes no processing time and this guide does not state a fee for it. If cost matters to your decision, confirm with the AHCA Background Screening Unit. AHCA directs screening questions to a single channel and warns that "Calling other AHCA numbers or areas not listed above may delay providing you with a response." As displayed on 2026-09-09 the channels are phone 850-412-4503, email bgscreen@ahca.myflorida.com, and fax (850) 487-0470.

The AHCA minimum is two documents. "The eligibility results of employee screening and the signed Attestation referenced in subsection 59A-35.090(2), F.A.C., must be in the employee's personnel file, maintained by the provider" (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(3)(c)). AHCA's Screening Information page adds: "Evidence of screening must be retained in the personnel files for those screened. Contractor screenings may be retained either by the employer or the licensee where the contractor provides contract services."

The DCF minimum is that screening documentation belongs in the personnel record (Fla. Admin. Code R. 65D-30.004(4)(a)6.), with the CF 1649 attestation refreshed at every re-screening.

A defensible file goes further. The following are recommended practice, not law, and should be labeled that way in your own policy:

• A dated printout of the Clearinghouse person profile showing the current retained prints expiration date and the eligibility category.
• The Livescan receipt or transaction record, dated on or after the Clearinghouse initiation record.
• The signed AHCA Privacy Policy, which AHCA says is signed once, at the first Clearinghouse screening, and stored in the personnel file. No statute or rule in this guide's source set imposes it; AHCA describes it as part of the Clearinghouse screening process.
• Any exemption application and decision letter, read for its stated scope, together with confirmation of current exemption status in the Clearinghouse.
• Any arrest notification received, with the dated record of what you did about it.
• For contractors, either the screening evidence itself or a contract clause obliging the staffing agency to produce it on demand. "Our vendor has it" is not an answer if the vendor cannot produce it that day.

What a surveyor tends to ask for. In practice: the roster, matched to your current staff list; the eligibility determination for each person and the category it was issued in; the signed attestation; the current retained prints expiration date and evidence that a renewal was initiated in time; contractor screening evidence; and, where anyone holds an exemption, the letter plus current status.

How long to keep it. No provision reviewed for this guide sets a retention period for screening records. Chapter 435 sets none; R. 59A-35.090(3)(c) requires the results and attestation to be "in the employee's personnel file, maintained by the provider" and stops; R. 65D-30.004(4)(a) requires that "Records on all personnel shall be maintained" and stops. The seven-year figure a DCF provider may have in mind is R. 65D-30.0041(2), and it applies to individual clinical records, not personnel records. Until you confirm a period with your licensure unit, retain screening records for the full period a survey or an audit could reach back, and do not purge on termination.

Store it with access control. AHCA states that "Level 2 screening records are confidential and may not be shared with anyone other than the individual that was screened." That bears directly on who in a small office can open the personnel file. Read literally, though, that sentence sits awkwardly with R. 59A-35.090(3)(c), which requires the provider to keep the eligibility results in the personnel file, which necessarily means someone other than the screened person handles them. No statute in this guide's source set imposes a confidentiality standard on these records. Treat AHCA's sentence as a direction to restrict access, not as a defined legal standard, and if you need a defensible written policy on who may open the file, confirm the standard with the AHCA Background Screening Unit.

For the rest of the personnel file, which is a much longer list than screening, see our companion guides: Florida home health personnel file requirements and Florida DCF 65D-30 personnel requirements.

The following is practitioner observation about where screening compliance breaks down, mapped to the duty each failure sits under. It is not a published finding about citation frequency, and this guide does not have data on how often each is cited.

1. An expired rescreen nobody saw coming. Almost always caused by tracking the wrong date. If your tracker holds only the hire date or only the eligibility determination date, it will not fire when the retained prints expire. Track all four anchors named in "The five-year clock": fingerprint resubmission, the AHCA employment-side rescreen, the DCF rescreen, and the retained prints expiration date. Act on the earliest date that applies to your license.

Keep both of the AHCA-side dates, not one of them. The anniversary in s. 408.809(2), F.S. runs from licensure, employment or entry into the contract and never moves. The retained prints expiration date resets every time a Clearinghouse Renewal or a brand new screening posts. For most people the retained prints date fires first, but after a new screening taken later than the hire date the employment anniversary is the earlier of the two, and it is the one the statute makes a condition of continuing in employment.

2. A person who was never added to the roster. They generate no expiring-print notice and no arrest notice, because notifications require a current employment record on the profile. Their screening looks perfectly valid in the system while the lapse runs silently. Reconcile the roster against payroll monthly.

3. Departed staff still attached. Terminations are status changes and owe the same five business days (s. 435.12(2)(c)2., F.S.). Leaving people on keeps you attached to individuals you no longer employ and makes the roster useless as a compliance instrument.

4. Screening under the wrong agency or the wrong provider number. If another provider initiated the screening and you only viewed the result, arrest and eligibility-change notifications go to them. Initiate under your own provider number and add the roster record. Both, not either.

5. Sending someone to Livescan first. The statute and the AHCA rule both require registration and initiation in the Clearinghouse before referral for fingerprinting. A Livescan receipt dated before the Clearinghouse request is exactly what a reviewer looks for.

6. Relying on a screening from a job the person left more than 90 days ago. More than 90 days from a position that requires screening by a specified agency triggers a new national screening. Document the analysis for every rehire and returning contractor rather than assuming.

Two things follow that providers routinely miss. First, where the person is already in the Clearinghouse with retained prints, that new national check runs as a resubmission of those prints, and a resubmission does not buy you time on the renewal. AHCA states: "A resubmission is the process of running a new national criminal history check for the purpose of having an updated screening for those individuals with a lapse of employment greater than 90 days. The resubmission screening does NOT extend the RP expiration date" (AHCA, Clearinghouse Renewals Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ 10, fetched 2026-09-09). So a rehire can come back with a fresh national check and prints that still expire on the original date, possibly within months. Run the resubmission because the break requires it, and keep the renewal on its own separate reminder. Second, if you are a chapter 397 provider you have a second and differently worded test in s. 397.4073(3)(a), F.S., measured from unemployment rather than from a screened position. Run both and write down which one you relied on.

7. Letting an unscreened new hire see patients under supervision. Section 435.06(2)(d), F.S. permits training and orientation only. Sending a not-yet-cleared aide to a home with a preceptor is a violation, not a workaround. And for an AHCA administrator or chief financial officer, even that window does not exist, because the rule requires screening and qualification prior to appointment.

8. Treating an old exemption letter as current, or as universal. AHCA voids an exemption on withheld information or a new disqualifying arrest or disposition, exemptions are limited to the offenses committed before the request, and an exemption from one agency does not bind another. Check status; read the scope.

9. Waiting for a conviction. A pending arrest awaiting final disposition disqualifies, and the removal-from-contact duty triggers on your awareness of the arrest.

10. Forgetting the employer's own annual attestation. Section 435.05(3), F.S. requires a signed attestation of compliance annually or at license renewal, under penalty of perjury. Reconcile before you sign.

11. Missing screening-adjacent change events. For home health, a change of administrator, alternate administrator, director of nursing or alternate director of nursing carries a notification duty and, in the rule's words, "Level 2 background screening compliance is required pursuant to Section 408.809, F.S., and Rule 59A-35.090, F.A.C." (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095(1)(b) and (2)(h)).

Screening the new person is only half of the duty. Report the change itself, on a deadline: "Unless otherwise specified in this part, authorizing statutes, or applicable rules, any information required to be reported to the agency must be submitted within 21 calendar days after the report period or effective date of the information, whichever is earlier, including, but not limited to, any change of: (a) Information contained in the most recent application for licensure" (s. 408.810(3), F.S.). A new administrator, a new financial officer or a new controlling interest is such a change. Two cautions on that sentence. The opening conditional matters: for home health, an administrator or director of nursing change runs on its own track under R. 59A-8.0095(1)(b) and (2)(h), so check the specific rule before defaulting to 21 days. And this 21 days is not the 21 days in R. 59A-35.090(5) for answering an Agency request. They are two different clocks and they are easy to conflate.

Remember who counts as a controlling interest on the AHCA side, because it is not only an owner. Section 408.803(7), F.S. reaches any person or entity that serves as an officer of, is on the board of directors of, or holds a 5 percent or greater ownership interest in the licensee, and the same three relationships to the management company the licensee contracts with, and it excludes only a voluntary board member. Appointing a new chief executive or seating a new paid director is a screening event even though no ownership changed hands.

For chapter 397 providers, a new chief executive officer triggers written notice to the regional office within 24 hours (R. 65D-30.004(3)(c)). An acquisition of a majority of the ownership interest requires a new application for each site affected, submitted at least 30 days before the change in controlling ownership of the provider or of the contractual management entity, on the "Application for Licensing to Provide Substance Abuse Treatment Services," CF-MH Form 4024, or the Department's online equivalent (R. 65D-30.0034(2)(b) and (2)(b)1.). And, easiest to miss of all, "A change in ownership of less than a majority of the ownership interest in a licensed entity only requires submittal of a Level 2 background check" (R. 65D-30.0034(2)).

Read that subsection to its last sentence, which is the operative one: "All owners shall be screened according to the level 2 screening requirements of Chapter 435, F.S." There is no percentage floor in the DCF lane at all, and the sentence is not limited to change-of-ownership events. Do not carry the AHCA controlling-interest analysis across to a chapter 397 program. The majority threshold itself comes from R. 65D-30.002(11), which also treats a sale or transfer "evidenced by a change in federal employer identification number or taxpayer identification number" as a change of ownership even without a majority transfer (R. 65D-30.002(11)(a)), and provides that a change solely in the management company or board of directors is not a change of ownership (R. 65D-30.002(11)(c)). A minority investor joining the cap table does not feel like an HR event, but it is a screening event. Put the ownership roster in the same tracker as the employee roster.

12. Letting the roster go stale at a change of ownership or a closure. These are the two events at which an entire roster goes wrong at once, and neither arrives labeled as a screening task. Every person's employment record sits under the employer that entered it, because s. 435.12(2)(c), F.S. puts roster maintenance on "[a]n employer of persons subject to screening," not on the license. A buyer operating under a new provider number inherits nothing on its own roster: it must register, add each person to its own Employee/Contractor Roster, and confirm each person holds an eligibility determination in the right category. Until it does, it receives no arrest notification and no expiring-print notice for anyone on its payroll. A seller must end-date every record within 5 business days (s. 435.12(2)(c)2., F.S.). An AHCA licensee that is closing must also inform the agency "not less than 30 days prior to the discontinuance of operation" and, immediately upon discontinuance, surrender the license (s. 408.810(4)(a), F.S.).

If you hold one license, read only your column. If you hold both, every row applies to you, and the differences below are the ones that will trip you.

Two notes on the table. A dual-licensed provider carries both attestation forms, not one of them. And an exemption granted by either agency binds neither the other: "Exemptions granted by one agency shall be considered by subsequent agencies, but are not binding on the subsequent agency" (s. 435.07(5), F.S.).

A separate date, for Department of Health licensees on your payroll. A nurse, physician or other DOH licensee working for you is still inside s. 408.809(1) and (2), F.S., and you still owe the employer-side screening and rescreen for the position. Separately, that person maintains her own fingerprint retention through the applicant-initiated system, on a different window: "The window to retain fingerprints opens 75 days prior to the expiration date and closes 15 days prior to expiration, allowing 60 days to complete retention" (Florida Department of Health, FL HealthSource background screening FAQ, fetched 2026-09-09), and "The Department cannot extend your retention window." Two duties, two dates, two payers, and the DOH one closes fifteen days before the expiration date rather than on it. Do not carry the Clearinghouse renewal timing across to it, and do not let an employee assume your renewal covered her license.

What DCF providers can and cannot take from the AHCA renewal machinery. This matters, because the operational detail in this guide comes disproportionately from AHCA sources. What is clear is that chapter 397 providers sit inside the Clearinghouse regime: DCF is named among the specified agencies in s. 435.02(7), F.S., and the chapter 435 duties therefore apply to them, including registering and initiating before fingerprinting (s. 435.12(2)(d)), maintaining the roster and reporting status changes within 5 business days (s. 435.12(2)(c)), FDLE retention of prints and state arrest reporting (s. 435.12(2)(a)1.), the five-year FBI resubmission (s. 435.12(2)(a)3.), retention on a five-year renewal basis with fees (s. 435.12(2)(a)4.), and the photograph at submission (s. 435.12(2)(a)5.). So prints held for a DCF-screened person are retained on the same statutory five-year basis, and the roster duties are identical.

What this guide could not confirm for the DCF lane is the product-level detail: whether the Clearinghouse Renewal transaction, the 60-day initiation window, the retained prints expiration dashboard and the "no grace period" language apply the same way to a screening initiated by a chapter 397 provider, since every one of those statements is published by AHCA for its own licensees. Do not assume they do and do not assume they do not. Read the retained prints expiration date on the person profile, calendar the DCF five-year results-date anniversary independently, and confirm the renewal mechanics with your DCF regional office, which is the channel the rules use for provider notices.

What is universal. The definitions in s. 435.02, F.S.; the level 2 content in s. 435.04, F.S.; the submission and attestation duties in s. 435.05, F.S.; the notice, no-contact, arrest-removal, termination and refusal rules in s. 435.06, F.S.; the exemption framework in s. 435.07, F.S.; and the Clearinghouse registration, roster and retention rules in s. 435.12, F.S. Both lanes sit inside all of it.

Questions came up during source review that the sources consulted on 2026-09-09 did not answer. The ones that change what you should do are listed here, so you can resolve them for your own file rather than reading hedged language throughout the guide. This is not a complete map of everything the review left open, and an open question is not a reason to wait: where a question is unresolved, the provision that is in force by its own terms still binds you.

The five-year clock and the renewal

1. Has FDLE begun participating in the FBI national retained print arrest notification program? Sources checked: s. 435.12(2)(a)2. and s. 408.809(2), F.S., which both condition FBI retention on FDLE beginning participation, and AHCA's Clearinghouse Renewals page, which continued to require and price five-year renewals. Not answered. Until it is answered, the conditional provisions remain in force by their own terms and the five-year cycle is live. Resolve with the AHCA Background Screening Unit or FDLE.

2. Does the renewal window close on the retained prints expiration date, or some days before it? Sources checked: AHCA's Clearinghouse Renewals page and FAQ and the Clearinghouse Results Website Instruction Guide (11/06/2025), which give the 60-day opening edge and no closing edge other than the expiration date itself. An older AHCA guide is reported to have set the closing edge 14 days earlier. Not answered. Initiate the renewal when the window opens rather than on the last day this guide names, and do not build a policy around the final week.

3. Does a resubmission, or the retained prints expiration date itself, satisfy the separate five-year rescreen in s. 408.809(2), F.S.? A resubmission is a full new national criminal history check but does not move the retained prints date, and the statutory duty is an anniversary of licensure, employment or entry into the contract rather than a fingerprint-retention date. No source consulted reconciles them. Not answered. Track both dates and act on the earlier.

4. Which of the two dates does a surveyor score against? Whether an employee becomes noncompliant on the retained prints expiration date or on the five-year anniversary under s. 408.809(2), F.S. was not answered by any source consulted. Resolve with the AHCA Background Screening Unit and write down the answer with the date you asked and who you spoke to.

5. How are renewal and arrest notifications actually delivered? Which Clearinghouse Results Website user accounts receive them, whether they arrive by email or only inside the portal, and whether a provider can add a distribution address, were not confirmed. The entire roster mechanism described in this guide depends on a named person receiving those notices, so assign the mailbox, name a backup, and check the portal on a schedule rather than waiting to be told.

6. Does the employer-side Clearinghouse renewal also satisfy a DOH-licensed practitioner's own fingerprint retention under s. 456.0135, F.S.? The two processes have different windows, 60 days on the employer side and 75 to 15 days before expiration on the DOH side, and different payers. No source consulted says one satisfies the other. This guide addresses only the employer side. Assume both are owed until DOH or AHCA tells you otherwise.

Who is screened, and under which standard

7. Does the DCF five-year re-screen reach peer specialists? R. 65D-30.004(4)(b)3. applies to "[i]ndividuals subject to screening in this subsection," which appears to include the peer specialists named in the preceding subparagraph, but the CF 1649 sentence inside that same subparagraph is limited to "individuals who are subject to level 2 background screenings," and peer specialists are screened under s. 397.417(4), F.S. rather than the ordinary level 2 route. Not answered. Confirm with your DCF regional office. In the meantime, take the conservative course: re-screen them on the five-year cycle and collect the attestation.

8. Are students and interns on clinical rotation screened? No statute or rule reviewed here addresses them. The screened-role tests in s. 408.809(1)(e), F.S. and s. 397.4073(1)(a)2., F.S. are written functionally and carve out no students, so a rotation that puts a student in personal care or services directly to clients, or in direct contact with children or developmentally disabled adults, looks like a screened role. Confirm with AHCA's Background Screening Unit or your DCF regional office and record the answer, rather than relying on the school's affiliation agreement.

9. Are volunteers screened at AHCA provider types other than hospice and the listed mental health types? AHCA's published table answers those two and no others, and each authorizing statute governs its own provider type. Not answered for the rest. Ask the same question for your license type before you place an unscreened volunteer.

10. Who is a "voluntary board member" for the s. 408.803(7), F.S. exclusion? The definition of controlling interest reaches every officer and every board member of the licensee and of its management company, then excludes a voluntary board member without defining the term. Whether AHCA treats an uncompensated director of a nonprofit licensee as voluntary was not answered by any source reviewed. Screen the director, or get the answer from AHCA in writing before you decide not to.

Records, reporting and change of ownership

11. How is the employer's annual attestation of compliance under s. 435.05(3), F.S. actually filed? Sources checked: s. 435.05(3), F.S. and Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090 in full, neither of which names a form or a channel. Note that AHCA Form 3100-0008 is not it, despite its title. Resolve with your licensure unit or the AHCA Background Screening Unit at 850-412-4503 or bgscreen@ahca.myflorida.com.

12. How long must screening records be kept? No provision reviewed for this guide sets a retention period. Chapter 435 sets none. R. 59A-35.090(3)(c) requires the results and attestation to be in the employee's personnel file, maintained by the provider, and stops. R. 65D-30.004(4)(a) requires that records on all personnel be maintained, and stops. Until you confirm a period with your licensure unit, retain screening records for the full period a survey or an audit could reach back, and do not purge on termination.

13. How does the five-working-day submission duty in s. 435.05(1)(c), F.S. operate for an employer that initiates through the Clearinghouse and sends the person to a Livescan vendor? The statute puts the duty on the employer to submit the information necessary for screening to FDLE within 5 working days after receiving it, while the Clearinghouse process routes the fingerprints through the vendor. No reviewed source reconciles the two. Not answered. Do not sit on a candidate's screening information; move it the day you receive it.

14. Do existing screenings and eligibility determinations carry to a successor licensee's provider number? Section 408.807, F.S. on change of ownership was not reviewed for this guide, and no source consulted says whether a buyer may rely on the seller's screenings or must initiate new ones. Not answered. Confirm with AHCA before you close on a transaction, because the answer changes both the cost and the timeline of the deal.

15. Will AHCA accept a DCF-initiated or APD-initiated Clearinghouse screening for an AHCA hire without new fingerprints? Whether the free Agency Review route is available for every position type, and whether Medicaid enrollment forces a new screening, was not confirmed. Not answered. Ask before you tell a candidate she does not need to be reprinted.

Fees, timelines and links

16. Which published fee is current? Two Florida state sites published different Clearinghouse renewal figures on 2026-09-09, as set out in the fees section. Resolve at checkout in the Clearinghouse Results Website.

17. How long does AHCA take to decide an exemption? Sources checked: AHCA's Exemption from Disqualification page and Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-35.090(4), neither of which publishes a decision timeline. DCF's is set by statute at 60 days after receipt of a complete application (s. 397.4073(1)(f), F.S.). Not answered for AHCA, and this guide states no figure. Resolve with the AHCA Background Screening Unit.

18. Which AHCA path for the attestation form is canonical? The 3/26/2026 Notice of Correction to R. 59A-35.090(2)(d) replaced two URLs in that paragraph, the flrules.org gateway reference and the AHCA website path. Reviewers of this guide read the correction in opposite directions on which AHCA path it substituted in, so this guide does not state which. What is not in dispute is what the checks on 2026-09-09 returned: the health-quality-assurance path resolved with HTTP 200 and the health-care-policy-and-oversight path returned HTTP 404. Use the flrules.org gateway reference the rule incorporates, https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-17724, which is the more durable link, and confirm the current AHCA path with the Background Screening Unit before you put it in a policy document.

Do the same thing in your own compliance file: when an agency page and a statute disagree, or a source is silent, write down the question, the date you checked, and who you asked.