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Home care staff requirements in Iowa

Iowa's health care background check law applies to in-home service providers, including homemaker-home health aide and home care aide providers, hospices and waiver providers, that are regulated by the state or get state or federal funds. Before hire, the provider must run a state criminal history check and child and dependent adult abuse registry checks, and provisional employment is allowed in limited cases. Homemaker-home health aides are mandatory reporters who need dependent adult abuse training within six months of hire and every three years.

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Licenses

Iowa's background check law applies to homemaker-home health aide, home care aide, adult day and other in-home service providers, hospices, and home and community-based waiver providers that are regulated by the state or receive state or federal funding (Iowa Code 135C.33(5)(a)).

Background checks

Before employment, the provider must have the Department of Public Safety run a criminal history check and have the state record check evaluation system run child and dependent adult abuse registry checks, or use the state's single contact repository (Iowa Code 135C.33(1)(b); 135C.33(5)(b)).
Providers using the single contact repository may provisionally employ a person after a third-party preliminary background check finds no felony, no listed serious crime and no founded abuse record (Iowa Code 135C.33(1)(c)).
Job applications must ask whether the applicant has a founded child or dependent adult abuse record or a non-traffic criminal conviction, and the applicant must sign an acknowledgment of the checks (Iowa Code 135C.33(1)(d)).
A person with a criminal or founded abuse record may not be employed until the state record check evaluation system evaluates the record, except in limited cases (Iowa Code 135C.33(4)(a)).
For a minor alcohol offense or first OWI, the provider may employ the person for up to 60 calendar days while the evaluation is pending (Iowa Code 135C.33(2)(b)).
Employees must tell the employer within 48 hours of a new conviction or founded abuse record, and the employer must verify it within seven calendar days (Iowa Code 135C.33(8)(a)).
Temporary staffing agency workers placed with covered providers must be checked the same way before employment (Iowa Code 135C.33(6)).

Training and competency

In-home homemaker-home health aides are mandatory reporters of dependent adult abuse (Iowa Code 235B.3(2)(c)).
Mandatory reporters must complete the state core dependent adult abuse training within six months of starting work and repeat it every three years (Iowa Code 235B.16(5)(b)).
Within one month of starting, a mandatory reporter must get a statement of abuse reporting duties from the employer (Iowa Code 235B.16(5)(b)).
For unlicensed mandatory reporters who work for a state-licensed, registered or approved program, the state agency must check training compliance when the program renews (Iowa Code 235B.16(5)(f)).

Common questions

What background checks do home care aides need in Iowa?

Before employment, the provider must have the Department of Public Safety run a criminal history check and have the state record check evaluation system run child and dependent adult abuse registry checks, or use the state's single contact repository (Iowa Code 135C.33(1)(b); 135C.33(5)(b)).

How much training do home care aides need in Iowa?

In-home homemaker-home health aides are mandatory reporters of dependent adult abuse (Iowa Code 235B.3(2)(c)).

Which license does a home care agency need in Iowa?

Iowa's background check law applies to homemaker-home health aide, home care aide, adult day and other in-home service providers, hospices, and home and community-based waiver providers that are regulated by the state or receive state or federal funding (Iowa Code 135C.33(5)(a)).

Some rules for Iowa weren't confirmed from an official source. Check with the state before relying on this page.

Sources

This page summarizes state licensing rules in plain words, with links to the rules themselves. It is not legal advice, rules change, and your license type decides what applies: check the linked source and your licensing agency. Medicare-certified home health agencies also follow 42 CFR 484.80. Checked October 2026.

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