Appeals court overturns blanket ban on health aides with convictions

HARRISBURG>> A Pennsylvania appeals court has overturned a lifetime ban that kept health aides with criminal convictions from working with the elderly, sick and disabled.

A seven-judge Commonwealth Court panel ruled unanimously that the nearly 20-year-old ban included in the state’s Older Adults Protective Services Act was too broad and violated workers’ rights.

In ruling last week, Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt wrote that the ban “makes no provision for consideration of any other factor, such as the nature of the crime, the facts surrounding the conviction, the time elapsed since the conviction, evidence of the individual’s rehabilitation, and the nature and requirements of the job.”

The government had argued the plaintiffs couldn’t prove that every type of lifetime ban was unconstitutional and that a state Aging Department policy gave workers with convictions the ability to qualify for employment on a case-by-case basis.

A spokesman for Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday a decision has not been made about whether to appeal.

“The Wolf Administration is aware of the issues regarding employment bans, and all relevant state agencies are reviewing their statutes to identify methods for addressing these issues,” said Wolf press secretary Jeff Sheridan.

A 1997 amendment to the law imposed the employment ban for those convicted of felony drug offenses, murder, burglary, theft and many other types of crimes.

The case was brought by Resources for Human Development Inc., a nonprofit that operates facilities for the mentally ill and others, along with five people with criminal records that would preclude them working at residential facilities or as home health care aides.