When you entrust your child into the hands of educators, you probably assume those employees are upstanding citizens without criminal histories.  If your child goes to school in Kansas though, you could be wrong.  Although high standards for education and background checking has been initiated for teachers in most states these days as a result of No Child Left Behind, teachers who were already in the education industry were grandfathered into the system with the earlier, less strict requirements.  That means they have not undergone any kind of background investigation to make sure they haven’t committed any crimes, including crimes against children. 

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that approximately 40,000 teachers in Kansas have not been checked.  Due to increasing sex abuse crimes in schools, parents and state education board members are concerned about this number. The Director of Teacher Education and Licensure is pushing for the fingerprinting of all teachers.  Additionally, she would like to see teachers getting background checks every time their teaching license is renewed, which is every five years.  Some are unhappy about the proposal, claiming it to be an invasion of privacy, but because it deals with the safety of children, it’s likely to pass.

While fingerprinting might be a good first step, it doesn’t necessarily catch potential all threats.  Most people are fingerprinted when they are arrested, and the FBI database then relies on the court to provide updates as the case moves forward. But those updates are not guaranteed, and neither is the timing of those updates leaving questions about conviction or dismissal status.  Organizations like schools, that have such important jobs, should make sure they’re using criminal databases that are extensive and constantly updated and can automatically be monitored for updates. After all, if catching criminals before they affect children in schools is really a priority, why wait to check backgrounds every five years, when Ongoing Criminal Monitoring can be performed by background check companies who could then alert them immediately of any criminal activity among their teachers?

backgroundchecks.com has access to  more than 355 million records across 600 criminal conviction sources, including sex offender registries.  We also employ a skilled data acquisition team that keeps our records up to date to ensure the highest accuracy possible.   With experience and resources like this, backgroundchecks.com could help schools keep an eye on their teachers, which could alleviate the fears of parents and State Education Board members.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source:  http://cjonline.com/news/2011-04-13/criminal-teachers-focus-initiative

In a surprising decision to those who believe anyone who works around children in schools should have background checks done, the Marlboro, NJ school board voted 5-2 to not require student observers to have background checks. Student observers are those who are attending college to become a teacher. They are typically in a classroom for less than 20 hours and are not the same as a student teacher, who takes on a more active role in interacting with students. A student observer, however, is in the classroom and has access to children.

Though these student observers are not actively teaching, their access to the students have some parents and community members concerned. The school board says that student observers are not left in the classrooms alone with students, others say that it happens often. For a teacher, a student observer can act like an assistant. Though they are not supposed to be teaching or spending time alone with kids, many of them are invited by the teachers to actively interact with the class.

One of the main reasons that student observers are not required to go through background checks are cost and time. The policy of the Marlboro school board is to require those who have contact with students, like teachers, volunteer and staff, to go through a criminal background check and to be fingerprinted.  Though it has been suggested that the student observers or university be required to pay for the fingerprints and background checks, the school board still states that it will take extra time and paperwork for the district and it may not be worth it for a person who will only be in a classroom for less than 20 hours.

If it is found that any student observer who may have a criminal record and who was not background checked had been allowed in a classroom, the distinct could be in legal hot water. This is important to remember for all companies who may perform background checks on some employees, but not all employees. This is especially true for schools or any company that caters to children, the elderly or other service organizations.

Companies like backgroundchecks.com offer excellent products that will allow companies to get a complete criminal background check on their employees. One of these products is called US OneSEARCH and it will pull criminal records from all 50 states. Using companies like these can help protect the reputation of a company and make a company safer for all.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://nt.gmnews.com/news/2012-01-25/Front_Page/No_criminal_check_for_student_observers.html

In Oklahoma, paramedics who are employed by the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) are only known by name to the organization. They know nothing about their employee’s backgrounds. The reason they don’t know is because the organization doesn’t directly hire their employees, the employees are hired through a separate organization called Paramedic’s Plus who does all of the hiring, maintains records and also performs the background checks on these EMT’s. EMSA has no access to any of these documents at this time.

After a fatal car accident in Oklahoma City involving an ambulance in which one of the employees of EMSA was found at fault, questions began being asked and requests were sent by The Tulsa World newspaper to the EMSA and Paramedic’s Plus for answers on felony convictions of their employees.

Paramedic’s Plus, according to their records, checks several elements in a potential employees background, including a pre-employment license verification, a check of motor vehicle records and of course, a criminal background investigation. Company policy allows employees with certain misdemeanors to be hired but not those with felony convictions.

The response to the The Tulsa World  record request was a listing of all of their employee names, hire dates and license numbers, but no additional information was provided to the newspaper. Both organizations refused to give out any other personal information on their employees. The Tulsa World used state public records from the State’s department of Corrections to search for possible matches and found 109 hits.

A similar search is available for employers at backgroundchecks.com using the Single State US OneSEARCH option which contains records from various reporting agencies throughout  a single state. Examples of such sources that may contribute  data are Department of Corrections, Administration of Courts, County Courts and offender registries in a state.

It should be noted, however, that many of these names are very common and without other identifying information, it cannot be determined if, for example, the John Smith who was found to have a felony record in Oklahoma was the same John Smith who works for EMSA. However, some names were very unique, leaving the The Tulsa World to ponder if all current EMSA employees are in compliance with the organizations policy of not employing Paramedics who lack a clean motor vehicle and criminal record.

The question of private personal identifiable information for public employees and who has access to them is a sticky one. Companies who do background checks do it to protect their employees and customers, but for some professions The Tulsa World thinks that it may be necessary for the public to be aware of the results of these background checks. In the case of EMSA and Paramedic’s Plus, Paramedic’s Plus protected the information and EMSA was given the option to reveal the information to the public.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120108_11_A17_Thenam235988

In the state of New Jersey background checks became mandatory for all school board members. The new law, which was passed in May, 2011, gave until December 31, 2011 for the checks to be completed. After a New Year’s Eve deadline, 350 New Jersey school administrators had not turned in all of their information in order to get felony background checks done. The new law, meant to keep kids safe from felons and those who may put them in danger, requires that those who are responsible for making decisions in the school system be screened and fingerprinted.

Out of the 5299 school trustees in the state of New Jersey, 12 have been removed from their positions due to the results of the background checks, and it is possible that 350 more could be joining their ranks. Some of the crimes that would disqualify someone from being an administrator in New Jersey include murder, luring a child, robbery, assault and drug possession. There are some exceptions that take into consideration the type of crime, how long ago the crime was committed and the type of rehabilitation that was done. It is still unclear as to why so many administrators have not had their checks done.

These types of background checks can be extremely important when it comes to giving some teeth to policies meant to keep our children safe while ensuring that they are in an environment that is conducive to learning. No matter what type of organization you may be involved in, from a school to a financial institution, there is significant value in knowing the backgrounds of your employees and the risk you might take by hiring a potential employee who may have a criminal background.

backgrondchecks.com offers a fast and easy way for employers to carry out similar searches like a Federal Criminal Search to uncover kidnapping and drug trafficking crimes or a broad search at the national level with the US OneSEARCH that uses backgroundchecks.com instant criminal database.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Deadline_passes_for_NJ_school_board_background_check_filings.html