Health committee reviews bill to extend background‑check certificates to three years, seeks annual RAPBACK checks and vendor transparency

The House of Representatives Health Committee on April 9 took testimony on Proyecto de la Cámara 350, a bill that would amend Law 300 to change the validity period for background‑check certifications issued to people who provide services to children, older adults and persons with disabilities from one year to three.

Committee members heard legal and operational testimony from the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and the Defensoría de las Personas con Impedimento and pressed officials for safeguards, including the use of RAPBACK (continuous monitoring) in the second and third years of any extended certificate and for documentation about a Justice Department contract with a private vendor.

The bill seeks to reduce recurring costs and administrative burdens for providers and employers who must obtain the certification required by Law 300 (Ley de Verificación de Credenciales e Historial Delictivo de Proveedores a Niños, Personas con Impedimentos y Profesionales de la Salud). Viviana Cábala, an attorney with the Department of Justice, told the committee that the proposal “propone enmendar ... establecer una vigencia de tres años para las certificaciones” and described the federal National Background Check Program and related federal requirements that motivated…