Praise for background checks
Yvonne Mintz, managing editor of The Facts, a newspaper in Brazoria Country, Texas wrote an insightful editorial titled: "BISD made right decision [budgeting money for quality background checks] for our children." Here's the core of her argument. Sad as it is for a school district to have to pay big bucks for advanced background checks on potential and current employees, as well as volunteers, there is no question about the need for a thorough system for vetting people who work with our children — or our money. That’s why Brazosport ISD’s school board made the right decision in voting to [...]
Look, I’ve got my background check right here
WBNS-TV10 in Central Ohio reports on a really horrific story. It involves an unusual twist on the issue of criminal background checks as part of hiring. Here's how it goes. Karen Carter applied for and got a job as business office manager at a nursing home called the Sanctuary at Tuttle Crossing in Central Ohio. According to the station, "Carter's state criminal records background check was forged." She also lied on her application and said she had no criminal record. In fact, Ms Carter has quite a record. She's on probation for theft. She was already set to appear in [...]
Expediency is no excuse
Under the headline, "Officials mandate screening staffers", Florida Today reports the following. "Effective today, no employee will be hired by the city without undergoing a criminal background check." Here's the background. On January 15, the City Council of West Melbourne voted to hire Doug Wyckoff to a three-year contract as city attorney for more than $100,000 per year, even though he had not cleared a criminal background check. The majority of the Council probably figured that Wyckoff was an honest looking fellow and there was no need to wait. Well, you know that if we're writing about this, that all [...]
Red-faced in Florida
Boy, are they red-faced at the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). That's the state agency responsible for making sure that children in the care of the state are treated properly. The agency has been in the headlines before for a variety of problems. Now the Orlando Sentinel reports that "Florida DCF to screen employees' backgrounds." What's involved is a review of the records of all the 13,000 plus agency employees to make sure that every one has been fingerprinted and every one has had a criminal background check. Why would they do that? The situation is a bit [...]
New background check policy
The Parthenon, the student newspaper of Marshall University, reports on the adoption of a background check policy by the University. Here's the lead. Employees who apply for jobs at Marshall University or Marshall Community and Technical College must now undergo background checks. The Board of Governors passed the background check provision, Policy No. HR-14, during its Oct. 16 meeting, marking the first time the university has required background checks campuswide, the policy said. The story gives us a look at many issues that have to be considered when an organization that hasn't mandated background checks before makes them a requirement. [...]
If one background check is good…
The Houston Chronicle recently ran an editorial about background checks for taxi drivers in that city. Here's the gist. By April, taxi drivers who wish to pick up or drop off passengers at Bush Intercontinental Airport will have to pass a background check by the Transportation Security Administration. The cabbies, 80 percent of whom came here from African nations such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia, protest that the background checks are redundant and discriminatory. They are right about the redundancy. Houston taxi drivers must undergo an FBI background check before they receive an operator's license. If that screening is meaningful, [...]