EmployeeScreenIQ

While criminal background checks have become commonplace for most school employees, the cost of those checks seems to be continually increasing.

While most residents, employees and officials agree on the importance of background checks in schools, many are taking issue with the rising costs of completing those checks, including employees who have to foot the bill themselves and taxpayers who live in districts where the school provides the checks.

Most recently, those in York County, S.C., learned that background checks for volunteers tripled in cost this year. While the fee for background checks usually comes in at $8, the price increased to $25 this year.

Those checks include reports provided by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division listing any arrests or charges made in state against people applying for school positions, including tutors, chaperones, teachers aides and coaches.

Despite some complaints and the fact that schools aren't required by law to obtain criminal background checks on volunteers, many officials say they aren't willing to skip the procedure and put children's lives in danger.

"We want to know for sure these volunteers have the best interests in mind for our students," Beckye Partlow, executive director of personnel for Rock Hill Schools, told The Herald. "We do not plan to stop doing SLED checks."

While state rules don't allow SLED to charge school districts for background checks of teachers and substitute teachers, the agency is required to charge $8 for checks of mentors and bus drivers and now $25 for all other school volunteers.

"There's been a lot of confusion and inconsistencies among schools on how much they're supposed to pay," SLED's Capt. Andy Jordan told The State. "Some (schools) were doing all checks for free. Some were paying $8 for everyone. Some were paying $25. It was all over the gamut. What we're trying to do is get everyone to follow statute."

While the focus on enforcing state rules will ultimately help many schools, most will be faced with an increase in costs.

Labels: Criminal background checks

Officials in Charlotte, N.C., are changing the city's background check (Click here) policies.

The city currently conducts nationwide criminal background checks on all of its public safety, professional and technical workers. However, Charlotte had only been completing local checks covering the past seven years for non-skilled laborers.

According to an article by FOX Charlotte, the changes came about after Royce Mitchell, a street maintenance worker for the city and convicted felon, was brought into Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department on rape allegations in connection with a teenager's death.

"We had this one small gap that we're going to close." Tim Mayes, human resources director for the city, said in the article.

Charlotte currently spends about $250,000 per year on background checks for employees. Police and fire department employee checks cost between $200 and $300 each, while checks for maintenance workers cost only about $40. The new change in policy will add about $5,000 in costs.

"We knew it was there but we just didn't think it made business sense to be paying the expense of going through a process that we didn't need to have ... and you have an occurrence like this," Mayes said.

Some residents and officials, however, are worried that convicted felons could still make their way onto city payroll regardless of the new background check policy.

"If it's been years ago, and based on the work the person is doing, and the kind of work record they've had since that occurrence, its possible we may hire them in some of our positions, just not for police and fire," Mayes added.

Labels: Background check

If you're a business owner in the process of hiring new employees or scouting out potential business partners, it's important to know that you're making the right decision, and conducting a background check can help you do just that.

Background checks can reveal things about a potential hire or partner that could negatively affect their work ability. These can include such things as whether the person has a criminal record, if they have a drug or alcohol problem, if they've been involved in business failures, if they really graduated from the school they claim or if they've been in charge before.

Many portions of a background check can be completed by providing a background check company with the person's name, social security number and date of birth, as well as education and employment history.

You can gather this information simply by asking the applicant or potential partner. Federal law requires employers to inform job seekers that they plan to conduct a background check on them before the actual check is completed.

The top 10 elements to include in a background check, according to IntegraScan, are:

1. criminal records - state, federal and sex offender
2. driving records - DWIs or DUIs
3. credit report - credit worthiness
4. bankruptcies
5. tax liens
6. judgments and civil litigation
7. defaults
8. UCC filings
9. education and previous employment verification
10. professional licenses

Completing these checks and finding out any negative information associated with them can save yourself and your business from problems that could be caused by a bad hire or potential business partner.

Labels: Background checks

Journalists who want to accompany U.S. forces involved in Afghanistan military operations could soon have to undergo background checks.

The Pentagon has contracted The Rendon Group, a controversial public relations firm, to determine whether or not journalists' past coverage has portrayed the American military in a positive way.

The reason the firm is controversial is because its work helped create the Iraqi National Congress in 2003, which reportedly supplied much of the information about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

According to an article by Stars and Stripes, any journalist hoping to embed with U.S. forces is subject to a background check by Rendon. The company examines reporters' recent work and determines whether the coverage was positive, negative or neutral compared to mission objectives.

"We have not denied access to anyone because of what may or may not come out of their biography," Air Force Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a public affairs officer with U.S. Forces Afghanistan in Kabul, said. "It's so we know with whom we're working."

Mathias said Rendon reports are generated only after a reporter has been assigned to cover a unit and are done on an ad hoc basis, mainly for lesser-known journalists and those new to covering the war in Afghanistan.

The reports can be useful for familiarizing commanders with topics journalists could address and for facilitating coverage specific to a journalist's interests. Mathias also said the Pentagon has begun shifting away from the positive-negative-neutral scale and is now evaluating news coverage more for its accuracy.

A recent report stated there were 60 media outlets, excluding Afghan media, on the ground with American and NATO forces, a significant increase compared to a few months ago.

However, many professional groups representing journalists are speaking out against the Pentagon's screening of reporters.

"That's the government doing things to put out the message they want to hear and that's not the way journalism is meant to work in this country," Amy Mitchell, deputy director for Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, said.

"The whole concept of doing profiles on reporters who are going to embed with the military is alarming," Ron Martz, president of the Military Reporters and Editors association, said. "It speaks to this whole issue of trying to shape the message and that's not something the military should be involved with."

Labels: Background checks