Apr
30
Check me out
Filed Under Background checks | Leave a Comment
Many of the stories I see about background checks have a familiar theme. “Background checks are a good idea, but I don’t want you to check on me.” That’s why a story out of Rapid City, South Dakota stands out.
The headline reads: “Ice cream vendors embrace background checks.” Here’s the lead.
Details of Rapid City’s proposed […]
Apr
29
Check ‘em all
Filed Under Criminal checks | Leave a Comment
A story in the Muskogee Phoenix headlined: “Wanted: Students, not felons” describes how some colleges are now including criminal background checks in their application process. Here’s an excerpt.
Along with their grades and residence status, high school seniors face another important question on their college applications: ‘Have you ever been convicted of a felony?’ And many […]
Apr
17
Watching out for the weasel words
Filed Under Employment screening, Criminal checks, Privacy | Leave a Comment
“Oh, the irony of the background check!” was the headline on a story in the Pocono Record in February. One of their readers offered the following.
A few months ago, I applied for a job at the new distribution center in Gouldsboro. I had the interview, got hired, passed the urine test, then they do a […]
Apr
15
To background check, or not, is online love’s latest question, at least according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The course of true love has never run smooth, but who ever thought it would come to this?
There have been plenty of stories lately about men and women using background check services like SentryLink to check out […]
Apr
8
Beware the thumb drive
Filed Under Privacy | Leave a Comment
Several newspapers recently carried the story of an outside firm doing background checks for the Nevada Department of Public safety lost the personal data of over one hundred applicants. It seems that an employee of the firm had the data on a thumb drive and lost the device.
“Thumb drive” is the name given to little […]
Apr
4
One more way applicants can slip through the cracks
Filed Under Criminal checks, Background checks | 1 Comment
An article in the Colorado Springs Gazette outlines how deferred sentences can let someone convicted of a crime pass your background check. Here’s what happened in Colorado.
Robert Lawrence Psaty worked as a mental health clinician at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. A waiter noticed him slip a pill into his companion’s drink while having dinner. […]
Apr
2
How a church uses background checks
Filed Under Background checks | 1 Comment
Seems like lately we’ve seen story after story about how one church or another didn’t do background checks that should have been done. So it was great to see the story in Christianity Today about how one church uses background checks and other tactics to preserve the safety of the children in its care.
The article […]
Apr
1
Bad communication can wreck a good policy decision
Filed Under Employment screening | Leave a Comment
The headline pretty much said it all: “CMS: ‘We blew it’ on staff memo.” CMS? That’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Here’s the story of what happened.
The school system has been doing criminal background checks on new hires for years. When a teacher was caught shooting heroin on school property and when it turned out that same teacher […]



