State Boards and Criminal Record Checks

Most state massage boards are now requiring criminal record checks and fingerprints from their applicants; some have been doing it for years, so it’s not exactly news. Some therapists are resentful of this, mainly due to the extra expense, and some view it as unfair, especially if there are other licensed occupations in their states that are not subject to the same rule.

There are a couple of bigger issues here: most of those boards don’t have a procedure in place that would allow a potential massage student to submit their criminal record to the board for a review before they spend the time and money to attend school.

Even worse, schools frequently make light of the criminal record of an applicant; they’re looking at the bottom line and nothing else. As a member of our state board, I hear that all the time when someone comes to appeal the decision not to give them a license: “But my school director said that wasn’t going to be a problem!” In the case of our community colleges, they’re not allowed to turn someone down because of a criminal record. Read More.....