Review the Disqualifying List of Crimes and Negative Actions to see if you have criminal history information that appears on the program list that applies to your background check. If you have criminal history information under the applicable list, including negative administrative actions reported by state programs or agencies such as the Department of Health - DOH, Adult Protective Services - APS, or Child Protective Services - CPS, you may also be disqualified. All findings or negative actions must be addressed directly with the reporting source, like DOH or CPS. If a program is reporting a finding for you, the program’s contact information will be on your background check results. If you are still unsure why you are disqualified, you may contact BCCU.
Applicant Frequently Asked Questions
There may be different reasons why the documents you provided to clarify a crime did not change the results:
- The clarifying documents may still list the crime as being on the applicable Disqualifying List of Crimes and Negative Actions.
- BCCU did not receive enough information, such as the specific month, date, and year of the crime, charge and/or degree of the crime, or other details.
- The clarifying documents did not match the background check information BCCU received from a reporting source, such as the dates, details, degree, crime(s), and state the crime was committed. If the documents do not match, the differences will be interpreted as a separate crime.
BCCU may ask you for more information before completing your background check. If we cannot accurately determine a result (no record, record, or disqualify) from the criminal history information that is provided to us, the background check will stay in incomplete status until more information is provided.
This information is frequently used to clarify or to provide context to the crime. Although each additional information request is different, some of the common requests are:
- For Theft, Larceny, Shoplifting, & Embezzlement charges: What property/services/items were stolen? What was the dollar value of the goods stolen?
- For Assault, Domestic Violence, & Battery charges: Who was the victim(s)? What injuries did the victim sustain? What weapon(s), if any, were used?
- For Burglary, Residential Burglary, & Robbery charges: What type of structure was burglarized? Were any weapons used? Did any assaults occur during the crime or while leaving the crime?
- For Drug related charges: Explanation of circumstances including actions that led to the arrest, the nature of the substance, the purpose of the possession (personal use, sales, delivery, cultivation, manufacture).
BCCU's goal is to complete a review of submitted court documents and applicant affidavits and respond to the requestor within five working days of receipt. However, the processing time will vary depending upon staff availability. Please refer to our Turnaround Times page.
After reviewing the information submitted, BCCU will contact the applicant to let them know whether or not the result notification will be updated. If the result notification is updated, BCCU will send out an updated notification to the entity.
Additional Information Packets are sent to applicants and must be returned by mail, fax, or attached in an email. Information cannot be provided over the phone.
An Applicant Affidavit is a legal form used to provide additional information regarding crimes, negative actions, and applicant self-disclosures. All required fields must be filled out and the form needs to be signed. If an Applicant Affidavit is electronically signed, a photo ID must be attached. View our YouTube tutorial on completing an Additional Information request.
If you have not received your Additional Information Needed packet, please fill out the Applicant Request for a Copy of Background Check Information Form. If you have any questions about the information BCCU is requesting, please call BCCU Processing Staff at (360) 902-7538 or email BCCUprocessing@dshs.wa.gov.
On the Background Check Authorization form, enter an email address where result notifications may be received, and check the box indicating approval for receiving emailed results. If allowed by the DSHS program, once the background check has been completed and if there is reported criminal history, you will receive an email from the Background Check System with a secure link for result letter retrieval. If results are not retrieved in three days, results will be mailed to the address on file. Please note that No Record and Interim Fingerprint Result letters are not automatically sent out as No Record indicates there is no CHRI reported by our data sources and the Interim Fingerprint Result isn’t a completed background check result letter.