Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program Employment Verification FAQs

What is Employment Verification?

Employment Verification is the process the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Loan Repayment Program uses to obtain information from approved program practice site(s).

It helps determine if an applicant or current participant's employment, service, and practice requirements meet the guidelines of their specific program.

Who completes the Employment Verification?

Your site point of contact (POC) completes the electronic Employment Verification through the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) Program Portal ("Portal") for Site Administrators.

They will receive an email saying that a new activity awaits their attention on the Portal.

What is the Employment Verification process?

To send your Employment Verification to the site POC(s):

• Select "Initiate" next to the site name.
• Your site's POC(s) will receive a message to log into the Program Portal for Site Administrators and complete the online form.
• You will receive an email once the Employment Verification status is "Complete" that will enable you to submit your STAR Loan Repayment Program online application.

If your employment verification status is "Returned Unverified" you may need to follow up with your site POC(s). This status means they have indicated that you are not currently employed by that site or that your start work date is beyond the allotted timeframe. Learn how to request that your facility POC complete and submit your Employment Verification.

My site has a POC, but they are not familiar with my employment. Can I add another person as a site POC?

Existing site POCs can log into their account on the Portal and add others to the list of Points of Contact for that site. Please instruct the existing site POC to log into the Program Portal for Site Administrators to add the new point of contact.

What if I work at more than one site that is administered by the same person?

If you are employed by different sites within the same network, you must submit an Employment Verification for each physical site you work at regardless of whether the same person completes it. You must complete an Employment Verification for each site selected on the Employment Section of your STAR Loan Repayment Program online application.

Am I able to cancel the Employment Verification once it has been initiated?

Yes, select "Cancel" next to the site name on the Employment Verification page. The employment verification will be cancelled and the site POC(s) will be notified through their Portal accounts.

How can I remove a site from the Employment Verification page?

To remove the site from the Employment Verification page of the STAR Loan Repayment Program online application you must navigate back to the Employment section of the application and delete the site.

What if my site does not complete the Employment Verification and the application cycle closes?

Unfortunately, you cannot submit your STAR Loan Repayment Program online application if your Employment Verification is not complete.

The site POC will receive reminders every 72 hours to complete your Employment Verification; however, it is your responsibility as the applicant to ensure your site POC's timely completion of the Employment Verification by the deadline.

How do I know if my site has a POC or if the POC has an active Portal account?

There are a couple of ways to determine if your site has a STAR Loan Repayment Program site point of contact.

One way is to select your site name on the Employment Verification page of the online application to see the Point of Contact(s) name, email, phone number, and if they have a registered Portal account.

Another way is to go to the Health Workforce Connector, navigate to your site's landing page, "About this Site," where there is a list of Points of Contacts. If a POC exists, but they have not set up their Portal account, you must encourage the POC to create the account and complete your Employment Verification on the Program Portal for Site Administrators.

Will I be able to see the information my site enters on my Employment Verification?

Once you submit your STAR Loan Repayment Program online application, you may view your application, which will include the Employment Verification that your POC submitted.

What if my site does not have a site POC or the site POC no longer works at my site?

If your site does not have a POC or the identified POC no longer works at the site, follow these steps:

1. Identify the person at your site who is responsible for the relationship with the STAR Loan Repayment Program or familiar with your employment details to answer questions regarding start dates, hours, and professional credentials. Program will follow up with this person later in the process.
2. Provide the following information to the candidate site POC so that your site information can be added to the system.
   
   Notes:
   • Please be sure the site name and address that you provide are written exactly as they appear on the Employment Section of the online application.
   • The candidate POC that you selected to be added must submit the request. Applicants may not send the request. Doing so will cause the submission to be rejected.
3. Once we add the POC to the system, the POC can log onto the BHW SIte Points of Contact Page and complete the Employment Verification as part of your STAR Loan Repayment Program application.

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