Administrative – Disqualification from Direct Care 

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, March 22, 2010
By admin
Tags: Administrative

Where petitioner was convicted of a felony forgery in 1999 and a felony issuance of a dishonored check in 2004; petitioner sought reconsideration on the grounds that she posed no risk of harm because her work involved caring for her son, who is physically but not mentally impaired, and she would not steal from him; check forgery and issuance of a dishonored check are among felonies that require a fifteen-year disqualification; less than five years had elapsed from the 2004 conviction to the commissioner’s determination; petitioner did not provide evidence of rehabilitation after the offenses; and although petitioner’s employer provided a letter of support, the record does not demonstrate that the employer knew the details of petitioner’s convictions; we conclude that the commissioner properly sustained petitioner’s disqualification from employment as a personal-care attendant providing direct-contact care, but we note that petitioner could seek a variance that would allow her to provide direct care limited only to her son.

Affirmed.

Dissenting, Randall, J. “Although the decision to affirm the commissioner of human services ‘may be legal,’ it is an unjust result. I would reverse and remand to the commissioner to work out a limited license for [petitioner] to allow her to continue as a personal care attendant for her son.”