EmployeeScreenIQ

The State of Texas is amid a broad effort to conduct criminal background checks, including fingerprints, on teachers, substitutes and classroom aides.

Senate Bill 9, passed in 2007, required all new hires of non-certified employees to undergo fingerprint checks beginning in January 2008. That law further required all certified educators, substitute teachers and classroom aides to have background checks before 2011, regardless of when they were hired.

Texas has been administering fingerprint-based checks for all newly-certified teachers since 2003. Those teachers will not be required by the state to undergo fingerprint checks again, but school districts can require another check.

According to an article by the Star-Telegram, about 12,500 of the 164,000 checks already administered, or about 8 percent, have come back with some sort of hit, which could be an arrest or conviction. Of those results, more than 1,000, or about 9 percent, were for felony crimes.

Doug Phillips, director of investigations and fingerprinting for the Texas Education Agency, said the agency has opened 168 investigations since January of last year. The agency does not keep data on how many cases result in the loss of teaching certification.

"We don't know how many people we've convinced not to teach in Texas or to leave Texas because they've had that criminal history and they don't want to be found," Phillips said in the article. "There's no doubt people left the state or they left teaching because they knew they were going to get nailed."

Many schools in Tarrant County are now getting their turn to administer criminal checks. Grapevine-Colleyville, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw and Crowley were among the districts expected to start administering the checks this summer. The state is sending e-mails to affected employees alerting them they have 80 days to have the checks done.

This upcoming fall, Fort Worth, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Arlington, Keller and Birdville school districts will have their own teachers undergo background checks as well.

Labels: Criminal background checks

Some people are praying for more background checks in churches after the results of a recent study were released.

One agency recently conducted a slew of background checks by way of LifeWay Christian Resources. The 5,000 background checks for 450 churches found serious felonies in 80 cases and more than 600 people who had some type of criminal history that could disqualify them from working at a church.

Of course, those in favor of more background checks in churches say this study's results show the need for an increased effort in order to keep everyone safe.

In an article by The Birmingham News, Christa Brown, Baptist Outreach Director of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said many evangelical churches, including Southern Baptists, still do not keep records of abuse allegations against clergy and church workers, and many don't have objective professional panels to review allegations.

"We're still looking at a small percentage of churches that are even doing minimal bare-bones background checks," she said.

Brown also said the problem could be worse than reported in the study, citing a 2007 Associated Press report that stated three major insurers of Protestant churches had about 260 reports a year for the past 15 years of claims of minors being abused by clergy, staff or other church workers.

That's higher than the average of 228 credible accusations against Catholic priests per year reported in a 2004 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Today, however, most Catholic and Protestant churches have formal panels and reviews for claims of abuse.

Labels: Background checks

The State of Michigan is doing its part to help the elderly by requiring those who work with them to undergo background checks.

As of April, Michigan has required any newly-hired employee who works with older adults in long-term care to complete criminal background checks, according to an article by Advanceweb.

The measure was implemented in response to a rising problem the state is facing with healthcare abuse. A recent study by Michigan State University found that 40 percent of people in long-term care facilities experience some sort of abuse, including physical, verbal or emotional.

Prior to the new law, Michigan only conducted background checks on employees who worked directly with people in nursing homes, county medical care facilities, homes for the elderly and adult foster care facilities. The new law requires background checks for anyone in the field, adding those in psychiatric hospitals, hospices, home-health programs and long-term care facilities.

The law sets a timetable for which people will have to wait to work in the field in case they've been found guilty of committing a crime. For example, anyone guilty of larceny, retail fraud in the second or third degree would face a one-year penalty. In comparison, anyone who commits Medicaid fraud or drug dealing would face a lifetime ban.

Within the first four weeks after the law was passed, 70 prospective employees were found to have criminal pasts.

Supporters of the new law say background checks are critical in order to keep the elderly safe, but some naysayers believe the new law will diminish the number of people who want to work in the long-term elderly care field.

In January 2005, Michigan received federal approval as one of seven states selected to participate in the federal background check pilot program. Other funded states include Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

Labels: Background checks

A proposed bill in California would stop people with a criminal past from conducting criminal background checks at certain agencies.

Following signing the state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now has more than 100 new bills to look at. Among them is Senate Bill 447, which would prohibit those with criminal records from conducting background checks for prospective employees and members at agencies.

Sen. Leland Yee, of San Francisco, sponsored the bill and said the loophole could lead to an ex-con supervising an organization's background check process without any other agency members knowing.

The bill would require the state Department of Justice to review the criminal past of potential record custodians to confirm whether they are suited for the position.

According to an article by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, lawmakers expect the bill to reach Schwarzenegger within the next week. Once the bill is sent, he will have 12 days to sign it. The Assembly already signed the bill in July after it was approved by the Senate in May.

"It's a great, great idea," Susan Warren, co-founder and co-director of Project Think, a summer program for those in preschool through eighth grade, said in the article. "I don't think we can be too careful checking the backgrounds of individuals who are going to be working with children, or checking those supervising children, who are our most important resources for the future."

There are currently 36,000 youth organizations in California that require criminal background checks for prospective members. However, the person conducting the background checks also can review his or her own past.

There are 36,000 youth organizations in California that require criminal background checks for prospective members. But the person conducting the background checks can also review his or her own past.

"We can't take that chance because that could ruin a child's life," Warren said.

Labels: Background checks