Audit Report: Wash. could improve public safety through automatic background checks

SEATTLE — A new state audit is calling for automatic notifications when someone like a foster parent or childcare worker is suspected of committing a crime any time after they've already passed an initial background check.

The automatic checks are being recommended to improve public safety. State Auditor Troy Kelley says this kind of check-back service is being developed or is already in use in 37 other states.

The recommendation announced Tuesday comes from a follow-up investigation after a state audit released last August found 28 sex offenders lived in state-regulated or subsidized child care or foster care homes between 2002 and 2012.

For Tuesday's report, state auditors looked at childcare workers and nursing home aides and found that hundreds of employees could have triggered what is known as a "rap back" notification.

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