December 21, 2025
Matthias Zomer/Pexels
More than a quarter of staff screened at 12 New Jersey nursing homes lacked proper background checks, a federal inspector general report found.
The New Jersey Department of Health failed to ensure workers at some nursing homes underwent background checks needed to ensure they did not have criminal records that disqualified them from the job, according to the federal inspector general.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found that more than a quarter of the staff screened at 12 New Jersey nursing homes began working before they had a background check, never had one, or could not be shown to have one.
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"These deficiencies and potential deficiencies occurred because New Jersey's sampling of employees during its nursing home recertification surveys did not provide adequate coverage. Also, nursing homes did not have sufficient procedures to ensure that background checks were properly conducted for all staff members," a new inspector general's report says. "This put residents at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment."
Though federal law does not explicitly require nursing home workers to undergo criminal background checks, it bars nursing homes from employing individuals convicted of or disciplined for abusing residents.
The audit examined how 12 nursing homes conducted background checks of their employees in 2022. The probe examined checks for 10 workers at each nursing home. The audit notes that the chosen nursing homes are not representative of the industry statewide.
Nine nursing homes allowed 17 individuals to begin working before their background checks were completed, and four nursing homes did not conduct any background checks for six employees, the audit found. Another nursing home did not provide any documentation detailing background checks to federal authorities.
None of the employees missing background checks had histories that would have disqualified them, state officials said in a response to federal investigators.
The inspector general said New Jersey's auditing process for nursing home workers was insufficient. The state surveyed five workers hired over the past four months at overseen sites to check their backgrounds and licensure.
Those processes have improved since. The state Department of Health told the inspector general it began screening all workers hired since its last inspection at a given site in June 2023 and would increase educational outreach to nursing homes in a further bid to boost compliance.
Acting New Jersey Health Commissioner Jeffrey Brown in a letter said the department did not have the authority to run criminal background checks on its own.
"If the NJDOH had authority to run background checks through the state police and FBI, NJDOH would have full compliance, and currently, NJDOH does not have that authority," he said.
A report issued last week by acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh found different deficiencies at two South Jersey nursing homes, including an alleged $100 million-plus Medicaid scheme and chronic understaffing that led to widespread neglect, thousands of calls to police, two sexual assaults, and a death.
The findings followed reports in December 2024 and March 2023 that found other deficiencies at New Jersey nursing homes.
"Vulnerable people suffered unnecessarily because the owners decided to put the money in their pockets instead of paying for the staff to care for them," Walsh said in a statement last week.
New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com.
