The worst time to find out a caregiver's CPR card expired is when the client's daughter asks to see it. The second worst is during a state survey. Both happen after the first shift, which is the whole problem.
Most agencies know what they're supposed to check. What goes wrong is the order. There's a client start date on Monday, a caregiver who interviewed well on Thursday, and a background check that's "probably fine, it'll come back next week". So she starts, and the paperwork catches up. Usually.
Why before, not after
Once someone's on shift, every check gets awkward. If the registry search turns something up in week two, you're not declining an applicant any more. You're pulling a caregiver off a client who's got used to her, and explaining why to a family. That's a much harder conversation than "we can't move forward", and you chose to have it by starting early.
In some states it isn't just awkward. Agencies in Texas, for example, run the registry and criminal history checks before a caregiver has contact with a client, not after. So "she'll start Monday and we'll sort the paperwork" can be a compliance problem, not only a practical one. Check your state's current rule.
The fix is mostly sequencing. Start the checks the day you make the offer, not the day before the shift, and don't put anyone on the schedule until the list is done.
The pre-first-shift checklist
This is the list most independent agencies are already working from in some form. The details vary by state. The shape doesn't.
State registry check
Whatever registry your state keeps for caregivers, nurse aides or employee misconduct. Search it, and write down the date you searched and what came back, because "we checked" isn't much use to a surveyor without a date.
Criminal background check
The method varies a lot between states. Know which one yours requires for this kind of role, because a cheaper or narrower check than the rule asks for isn't really a check.
TB test
Most agencies want a current TB test or screening before a caregiver goes into a client's home. It's a medical question, so it comes up once there's an offer, not on the application. First Shift is built that way: it doesn't ask for a TB date until a candidate reaches the offer stage.
CPR and first aid
Check the card, and check the expiry date on it. It's one of the few things on this list that's a genuine yes or no. If an applicant gives First Shift a CPR expiry that's already passed and the job needs it current, that gets flagged before you've even called her.
Driver's license and insurance
If the role involves driving to clients, or driving clients anywhere, you want a valid license and proof of insurance on the car she'll actually use. Take a copy of both, and note the insurance renewal date, because it'll lapse at some point and nobody will tell you.
I-9 and work authorization
The I-9 is the federal one, so it's the same in every state. Complete it for every hire, on the government's timeline, not whenever someone gets round to the file.
Training hours
Plenty of states mandate training hours for home care aides, some before the first shift and some within the first few months. Know which yours is, and keep the certificate or sign-off, not just a note that it happened.
Orientation
Not a legal box in most places, but it's the one that decides whether the first shift goes well. Who to call, where to park, the client's care plan, what to do if nobody answers the door. Twenty minutes the day before saves a lot of Monday.
What agencies in Texas, California and Florida already check
A few examples, written as what agencies there already do rather than as a legal summary. Rules and registries change, so check your state's current rule before relying on any of it.
In Texas, agencies check the Nurse Aide Registry, the Employee Misconduct Registry and criminal history before a caregiver's first contact with a client, and re-check every year.
In California, it's a Live Scan check through the Department of Justice, a clearance from the Department of Social Services (CDSS), and a listing on the Home Care Aide Registry.
In Florida, caregivers go through an AHCA Level 2 background screening.
That's three states out of fifty. The caregiver credential requirements by state guide goes state by state, with the registry, background check, TB, CPR and training rules for each, and where to look them up.
Keeping the dates straight after the first shift
Checking before the first shift is half of it. Then the dates start running. TB re-screens, CPR renewals, yearly registry re-checks in the states that want them, insurance renewals. With 25 caregivers that's something like a hundred dates, and a spreadsheet only works if someone updates it every week.
The caregiver credential tracker is that spreadsheet done properly: a row per caregiver, a date per check, and it turns red at 90, 60 and 30 days out. There's a state-survey export tab too, so when the surveyor asks you're not rebuilding it from the filing cabinet.
Where First Shift fits, and where it doesn't
First Shift sits before all of this. It reads each application and shows you what the caregiver has and hasn't told you... registry number, background check date, CPR expiry, license and an insured car. Anything she didn't mention shows as not stated, confirm at interview. It doesn't mark her down for that, because not stated isn't the same as not qualified.
It doesn't run a single one of these checks itself, and it isn't going to pretend to. The registry search, the background check, the TB result, the I-9... those are still yours. It just means you find out what to ask on the phone call, not on day three of the job. The home care page has the rest.
