Category Archives: Background Check

Expungement a Step toward Re-Employment

Along with ban-the-box legislation that removed the check box asking if the applicant has a criminal record, expungement of a criminal record is the best way to achieve gainful employment. If a person has a criminal record on file but has satisfied all the court ordered requirements and sentence they may be eligible for expungement of their criminal record. Some general conditions for expungement eligibility are, the seriousness of the offense, satisfactory completion of the terms of previous sentences, the number of past incidents on file, completion of all probation requirements, satisfying a certain waiting period between incident and expungement, and there cannot be any incidents that interfere or intersect with the criminal record in question and there cannot be ongoing or pending criminal investigations. Currently only a United States Judge can grant an expungement. For a person that has only committed one crime and has paid their dues for it, filing for an expungement of their criminal record is the best course of action they can take to assist with re-employment. When a criminal background record is expunged it is as if the person never committed the crime as the criminal offense is either sealed or destroyed thus not visible to the law. Once the record is expunged the person can say that they have no criminal history if asked by an employer. When a criminal background check is placed on this person after the record is expunged it should come back clean, stating No Criminal Records Found. To read more about this subject read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com  Press Release

Caregiver Background Checks to Protect the Elderly

With a large part of the population getting older, caring for the elderly is a booming industry. However, whenever you leave people unsupervised with at risk populations like the elderly there leaves room for malfeasance and abuse. Before hiring a caregiver to protect a loved one it is important that they undergo a thorough caregiver background check that includes a criminal background check, sex offender registry search and reference checks like education and employment verification. Understanding a caregivers past can shed light on their character and whether or not they have a propensity for crime including abuse and neglect.

An aging population means home health aides and caregivers are in high demand. Which makes it even more important to properly vet these people prior to letting them into the homes of the elderly unsupervised. With such high demand the temptation to forgo a background check by a home health agency is strong in order to have enough staff to meet current and ongoing demands. However, it is wise to conduct a thorough caregiver background check prior to sending them out to spend unsupervised time with the elderly. To learn more about caregiver background checks and why they should go through a thorough background screening process read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-12-20-Caregivers-for-the-Elderly-A-Difficult-Challenge.html

 

Why Perform Volunteer Background Checks

In many volunteer positions across the country it doesn’t make sense to run criminal background checks on some of these types of volunteers. Where it does make sense is for volunteer positions where time is spent with at-risk populations like children and the elderly. Across the country more and more organizations are requiring criminal background checks including sex offender checks on volunteers. This is most prevalent within the education sector where school districts are adopting background screening policies for volunteers even if they are parents to children in the school.

The current debate going on within the K-12 education system is that schools already have enough difficulty getting parents to volunteer for much needed help already. The fear is that with mandated volunteer background checks less and less parents will be willing to participate at all and therefore will not volunteer for much needed positions. Making these types of volunteers go through a criminal background check can be viewed as intrusive and information required to run the background check is private and sensitive. However, the current trend in the country is to implement an employment screening system for volunteer checks most especially for those volunteers that will have access to children, the disabled or the elderly. To learn more about volunteer background checks and why should background screening be conducted on volunteers read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2104-10-21-Volunteer-Checks-A-Critical-Tool-in-All-Areas-of-Volunteering.html

 

Employer Beware of Diploma Mills

With the high costs and long time commitment of getting a respectable bachelor’s degree many people are taking shortcuts by using Diploma Mills to get quick and cheap degrees.  The problem is that these unaccredited institutes of higher learning are just in the business of making quick money and not adequately providing the education expected in a bachelor’s degree.  Throughout the USA employers are catching on to these false degrees from diploma mills and are starting to conduct education verifications prior to hiring to make sure the job candidate has a reputable degree.  An education verification can be conducted through a third party background screening company like CriminalBackgroundRecords.com and verifies an applicant’s school, dates of attendance and degree or certificate earned, and if asked for will also get the GPA.   To learn more about education verifications and the risks of diploma mills to employer’s read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-8-22-Diploma-Mills-The-Scourge-of-Employers-and-Education-Verification.html

What Reports are allowed for Employment Screening?

With an evolving landscape into the proper use of background checks in the employment screening process, it is wise to work with a third party background screening company to help businesses and organizations stay compliant with current law. Looking at background reports from a criminal background check may not be allowed prior to making a hiring offer. Additionally it is important to know which criminal offenses may or may not be used to disqualify an individual from gainful employment. As local and State laws differ from one area in the USA to another it is important to know the laws in your jurisdiction as they apply to the proper use of background checks in the employment screening process. To learn more about the evolving landscape of background checks read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-7-25-The-Evolving-Landscape-of-Background-Checks.html

 

Why Criminal Background Checks Should be run Prior to Hiring

In recent news about the use of criminal background checks specifically in the ride-sharing and taxi industry show what the risk of such services bring to people especially at risk populations like children and the elderly. A recent Chicago Tribune investigation found that a new ride-sharing service did not conduct stringent criminal background checks and allowed their drivers to ferry passengers for months despite not knowing whether or not they had felony convictions. In related news the CBS Local discovered a Dallas car service company’s multi-state database it had used to perform criminal records checks on its drivers was missing conviction records.

Such companies often interact with children and the elderly and it is nationally agreed upon that such at-risk populations’ need the fullest protect the law has to offer and subjecting them to individuals responsible for their safety highlights the need for thorough criminal background checks prior to hiring. As the balancing act between civil liberties and public safety continue to evolve the use and depth of criminal record checks will continue to remain in the news. To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-4-23-Background-Checks-In-the-News.html

 

Don’t Forget to Background Check Santa

As the winter holiday season approaches part-time and seasonal employees especially those in contact with at risk populations like children should be background checked. A through criminal and sex offender background check should be conducted the same way as with full time employees. Those portraying Santa Claus and other holiday icons around children, the elderly and disabled should be vetted through various public records searches. Such background checks include criminal records checks, social security number trace, sex offender registry search and where applicable a driving records check. To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-11-15-Will-the-Mall-Santa-Pass-His-Background-Check.html

School District Fails to Screen Drivers

A Seattle public school failed to properly screen taxi cabs utilized to transport children to and from school. Many times these children include those with disabilities and could easily be at risk from drivers with either a criminal record or sex offender history. A driving record history check should also be a part of the vetting process. Background screening of drivers used to transport at risk populations like children should always take place before utilizing their service. A recent claim has also been made stating that taxi cabs used in Chicago to transport student do not all have permits and have not been thoroughly vetted. School districts are responsible for the safety of their students while at school and getting to and from school. All drivers involved in transporting students should be property screened which would include a criminal background check. To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-7-15-Taking-a-Taxi-or-Limo.html

Making Summer Camp Safe for Kids

There are a number of unknowns that a parent should look into before sending their child to a summer camp. In addition to the questions such as are the facilities safe and clean and the activities age appropriate they should also find out if the staff has been properly background checked. A national criminal background check along with a national sex offender search should be the minimum requirement for staff to have access to children. State licensed facilities must perform a background check on employees and in general background screening of counselors and leaders at summer camps is increasingly common as everyone agrees that children should be given the safest environments possible to live and play in. To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-6-21-Summer-Camps-and-Background-Checks.html

Should Fathers be Background Checked to go to Daughters Dance?

A new requirement at an elementary school had fathers get background checked before they could attend the annual father-daughter dance. Some parents took this in stride while others complained it was an invasion of their privacy. This might be too extreme of measures to try and protect children. Since the father lives with the daughter anyway what good is a criminal background check going to do to avoid harm to his daughter? Seems a bit ridiculous and also knowing how many people will be at the dance makes it even more difficult for any crime against children to be made at such an event. Volunteer background checks are a good idea but running a criminal background check on the father of an elementary school’s daughter to attend a dance is flat out ridiculous and too far the other way. To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-4-5-Dance-Dads-and-Background-Checks.html