One more way applicants can slip through the cracks
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. The waiter, smart fellow, took the drink from the table and called police. Psaty was arrested. It turns out that he's been in trouble before, in 1994 and again in 2002. In both cases he received a "deferred sentence." Here's what that means according [...]
How a church uses background checks
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 is titled "Playing It Safe." It's about how they handle background checks and other security at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. You should read this piece whether you're a church or a business or a day care center or any other [...]
Bad communication can wreck a good policy decision
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 had a history of drug abuse, the school system decided that they ought to check out current employees, too. So far, so good. The idea was to take steps so that students and teachers in the system were kept safe. Background checks for current [...]
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 [...]