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The 12th Annual Child & Youth Protection Catholic Leadership Conference (“CYPCLC”), to be held next month in Savannah, Georgia, promises to provide more than 200 church leaders with a thought-provoking and inspiring list of speakers and activities, and once again SELECTiON.COM® is a proud co-sponsor.
A nationwide provider of pre-employment and background checks, SELECTiON.COM® is a faith-based company committed to making dioceses across the nation safer.
“As a lifelong member of the Catholic Church, especially, it is a thrill being associated with a group that does such important work,” said Wayne Jung, SELECTiON.COM® Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We feel a deep sense of obligation to keeping children and families safe, and we are proud to support the CYPCLC.”
This year over 160 diocesan representatives from around the country are scheduled to attend the Savannah conference, which runs from February 26 through March 1, 2017.
The CYPCLC is the nation’s leading conference on child and family safety.
SELECTiON.COM® is one of three companies also participating in the 2017 CYPCLC scholarship program. With their support, three underfunded dioceses previously not scheduled to attend are afforded the opportunity to travel to and participate in the conference.
ABOUT SELECTiON.COM®
SELECTiON.COM® is a nationwide provider of criminal and pre-employment background screenings, also referred to as a Consumer Reporting Agency. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, SELECTiON.COM® is a veteran-owned company that has been in business since 1991 and offers more than 21 background and data collection services. www.selection.com
About CYPCLC
Formerly known as the National Safe Environment and Victim Assistance Coordinators Leadership Conference (NSECVAC), the Child & Youth Protection Catholic Leadership Conference (CYPCLC) is an annual forum for all Catholic leadership to share and receive resources and suggest best practices with the Secretariat of Child & Youth Protection for carrying out the mission of protecting children and youth and fulfilling outreach to survivors of abuse. The 2017 Conference will take place in Savannah, Georgia at the Hilton Savannah Desoto Hotel located in Savannah’s beautiful Historic District. The event is inclusive of all individuals regardless of job title who work diligently to keep the promise to protect and the pledge to heal. http://cypclc.wixsite.com/2017savannah
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CINCINNATI, OH – Although it is a leading technology and information-based company that usually LOOKS FORWARD to the latest innovations and integrations to better serve its customer base, once again this holiday season SELECTiON.COM® took time to GIVE BACK to the local community in which it is headquartered.
Photo: Pressley Ridge Ornament on the SELECTiON.COM® Giving Tree
A faith-based organization, SELECTiON.COM® regularly gives thanks for its many blessings, the greatest of which is its thoughtful and caring staff. For Christmas 2016, the company embraced an initiative first suggested by a few employees who arranged a “giving tree” partnership with a local charity and the children they serve.
Pressley Ridge is a national non-profit that provides educational opportunities, foster care connections, residential options, and community-based support for children and their families. The Pressley Ridge of Southwest Ohio Chapter hosts a giving tree event every year, where individuals or companies can donate toys to children.
As part of this tradition, SELECTiON.COM® set up a Christmas Tree in the lobby of their Tri-County offices upon which were placed custom Pressley Ridge ornaments. Each ornament provided detailed information about a child, including name, age, interests, hobbies and their Christmas wish list.
Pressley Ridge coordinated the project from start to finish, even sending additional ornaments as the demand grew.
As a result, SELECTiON.COM® helped make Christmas a little bit more magical for 28 local children. Additionally, the team collected spare change during the season and raised nearly $500 in gift cards to purchase additional gifts for the children at Pressley Ridge.
For more information about the Pressley Ridge Giving Tree program visit http://www.pressleyridge.org/.
Photo: SELECTiON.COM® Verification Specialist JoAnna Edwards as Santa’s Helper
ABOUT PRESSLEY RIDGE
Pressley Ridge provides services in Education, Treatment Foster Care, Residential, and Community-based programs to over 5,400 children and families annually, in six states as well as internationally in Portugal and Hungary. For almost two centuries Pressley Ridge has served society by caring for its most vulnerable members with a basic philosophy that aspires “to change the world one child at a time”. www.pressleyridge.org
ABOUT SELECTiON.COM®
SELECTiON.COM® is a nationwide provider of criminal and pre-employment background screenings, also referred to as a Consumer Reporting Agency. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, SELECTiON.COM® is a veteran-owned company that has been in business since 1991 and offers more than 21 background and data collection services. www.selection.com
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In today’s world, where information is extremely important, how do you know you’re getting the correct information? Especially when you are making hiring decisions based off of this information. 
One major component is to make sure you’re entering and providing the most accurate information possible. A single typo can throw off the whole background screening process.
So, how do you know you have the correct information on an individual? Some rely solely on trusting the applicant, while others check photo ID’s to confirm the information. However, retrieving the correct information is only the first step. The second step is making sure to enter the correct information.
Some background checks run on Name and Date of Birth or through Social Security Numbers. If one letter or number is incorrect, it could possibly skew the results in their entirety. This could be the difference between a great hire and risky hire that could potentially be a liability to the company.
Since there is no way to tell if the information provided is inaccurate, the system is going to run the full background check report with the name and information you provided. If a typo is missed or you enter the wrong data, we have to start the request over from the beginning. Both scenarios cost additional time and money to correct.
At SELECTiON.COM® we stress the importance of reviewing this vital information. Before you can submit an applicant for screening you should check the review page to make sure everything has been entered correctly. It’s important for both applicants and employers to understand how important correct information can be.
We do this because the correct information is so vital to complete an accurate background check. Always remember, the information you receive is only as good as the information you provide.
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Employers, and subsequently Human Resources personnel, are constantly seeking to recruit and hire the best applicants available. With a large applicant pool it can be difficult to differentiate one qualified applicant from another. Effective pre-employment assessments can certainly identify the skill set of each applicant to help narrow the field but there is more to be considered.
Every employer wants to build from a base of trust with each employee and verifying the information that an applicant provides is essential to a solid relationship. Beyond the trust factor is the duty of an employer to provide a safe environment for employees and ultimately the market that they serve.
Without a sufficient background check the employer runs the risk of being held negligent for any problems that the employee causes in the performance of their duties. Due diligence in the form of a pre-employment background check can identify a foreseeable risk that can mean the difference between a valuable resource or a liability for the employer.
Components of the Background Check
- Social Security Number Check and Validation: A Social Security Number is unique to each individual. The Social Security Number Check provides information about the names and addresses associated with a given Social Security Number. In addition to providing name and address information for comparison against what is provided on the application, a Social Security Number Check is used to derive addresses in order to conduct the personal history information search. Social Security Number Validation does not tie the Social Security Number to the applicant. It only provides an indication that the number may be accurate.
- Criminal Court Record History: There are two entirely separate court systems in the United States – federal courts and county courts – and a search of one system does not include a search of the other. Each system operates under its own set of rules and has its own courthouses, clerks’ offices, indexes, and judges. As such, criminal history records are contained as follows:
- Local/County Court: Also, known as a “court record search,” this search requires a direct examination of the digital records of a county courthouse to determine if the applicant has a record at that court. Most often a court record search requires physical access to obtain information or simply to obtain copies of dispositions for review.
- Statewide Criminal History Information: There are two varieties of statewide information. The first is a state repository managed by a division of state law enforcement. The second is actual court data from a statewide case management system. Even when available both types of sources have limitations and advantages. The advantages are a single point of access for an entire state with one search. If that state has many courts with statutory access fees, a single access fee may be less expensive than a search of indicated counties separately. A disadvantage, with respect to a case management system, is that not all counties may have become activated on the system at the same time and there may be inconsistencies in how the system is used from county to county. Many law enforcement repositories have been shown to lack current case updates or dispositions. Both types may suffer from delays in entering information, high access fees, or very long turnaround times for results. Additionally, it may not be clear what data is included and what is not.
The site may provide conviction records only or may provide non-conviction records as well. In response to increased use and heightened privacy concerns, many records will not be publicly available if mandated internal documentation is missing, and useful identifiers, such as a date of birth, a driver’s license number, and a Social Security number, are often redacted rendering the data useful only as an initial index search. The most accurate, current, and reliable criminal history information is found at the court of origin, not in any repository.
Nevertheless, statewide criminal history information may have a place in an employer’s background program. (Florida, for example, provides an employer a measure of protection against negligent hiring lawsuits if that employer specifically included a check of the state repository as one element of a background screen.) As with all aspects of pre-employment background screening, the decision to use statewide criminal history information should be considered in the context of an employer’s complete pre-employment background screening program and the advice of counsel.
- Federal Court (District, Nationwide): This is a search for a record of a federal offense in one or more of 94 U.S. federal district courts. Federal offenses include crimes committed on federal property (government office, national park, etc.) and violations of the US Federal Criminal Statutes. It is imperative the user obtain additional identifiers on the result prior to making any decision. Additional identifiers are found on a Judgment and Conviction page. If the federal offense did not result in a conviction, there will be no identifiers, and the result should not be used.
- Propriety databases: These databases are offered and run by specific Consumer Reporting Agencies and contain negative history information about subjects. Data may include State Sex Offender registries, corrections records and assorted criminal records. The sites may not have complete identifiers and caution should be taken to verify the match with the applicant. In addition, although these services are marketed as “National Criminal Files” they are not comprehensive in any state and should not be used as a standalone for criminal research.
Criminal History and identity verification should be considered as basic elements of your background check. The level of research should be determined by the risk associated with the given position. To avoid complications with equal employment opportunity, the same level of background check should be applied to all candidates for the same position.
Additionally, if the position requires handling cash, or goods that are easily convertible to cash, a Credit Report is advisable.
Similarly, if the position requires driving a company car, or the applicant’s own car on company business, a state Motor Vehicle Report is recommended.
There are still more options for creating a thorough pre-employment screening. Some of those include: A Prior Employment Verification, an Education / Degree Verification, a Professional License Certification, a Character Reference and a Drug Screening.
At SELECTiON.COM® we offer a la carte pricing on more than 25 different reports and bundled packages created by client specifically meeting the needs for the industry or the position being filled.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can take your employment background check process to the next level.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
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Virtually no HR manager or recruiter will claim that it’s getting easier to hire. In addition to a very competitive job market, qualified candidates seem to be harder to find, tougher to attract and they all seem to be more selective than ever. And that’s just the recruitment side of hiring!
Once a company has their list of candidates paired down, it is becoming increasingly more important to use pre-employment screenings and proper background check services to provide some measure of certainty that the “perfect” person for the job is just that.
HR managers across the country are turning to a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) with greater frequency for help in providing proper screening, but even with that assistance many companies are still making errors during this crucial stage.
It’s never a bad time to review your processes to make certain that your company isn’t making one or more of these top five background check mistakes.
Believing Everything Your Applicant Says
80% of all job seekers submit applications and resumes that contain intentionally misleading information.
In addition, according to a recent study by Hayes International, one out of every 38 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2014. On a per-case average, dishonest employees steal over 6 times the amount stolen by shoplifters ($825.36 vs $133.80).
With statistics like that, it’s important to get a clear picture of your applicant before hiring. Depending on the type of job a person is applying for, a credit report, criminal history, and even employment and education history are an important part of a solid background check.
Not Obtaining a Release Form
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates the practices of Consumer Reporting Agencies that collect and compile consumer information into reports for use by credit grantors, insurance companies, employers, landlords, and other entities who make eligibility decisions affecting consumers.
One of the most important regulations by the FCRA is to first obtain permission to run the background check.
Section 604(b)(2) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) specifically provides that “…a person may not procure a consumer report…for employment purposes with respect to any consumer, unless—
- a clear and conspicuous disclosure has been made in writing to the consumer at any time before the report is procured…in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes; and
- the consumer has authorized in writing…the procurement of the report by that person.”
Basically, you must have your applicant complete and sign a release giving permission to run a background check. In addition, the form should be provided to the applicant as a document separate from the application.
Running a Criminal Search Only In the Current County
Criminal records are tried at the county level and are not reported across county or state lines. If you’re only running a criminal history report in the county your company is in, or even the county the applicant currently lives in, you could be missing records. In order to get a clear picture of your applicant’s history, it’s recommended that you run a Social Security Number (SSN) Trace report to identify areas where a person has lived. From there, county criminal searches going back at least seven years should be initiated.
Only Running a National Criminal Database Search
Database searches can be a valuable tool in combination with other background check reports, but remember, they are not a true national criminal history report. If your current background check provider claims that their database has ALL counties in the United States, think again.
Not all counties are online. There is a great variance in the technology used in county courthouses. Some counties still have ledger books or microfilm for storage of court records. Although electronic records may be available they often require Clerk searches to provide details on the case.
State laws also vary. Federal regulations set the standard but several states have instituted restrictions that are different when it comes to reporting crimes. Other states have restrictions as to what can be released when a database is being created; full information is not made available for this purpose. Some repositories simply won’t release the information to be included in a database…period.
Not Taking the Position Into Account
Care must be taken when choosing not to hire based on background check results. The following states have “job relatedness” requirements for the use of criminal history: WI, NY, PA, HI, MO, KS, and Puerto Rico. Criminal histories must be shown to have a detrimental effect on an applicant’s ability to perform the job if they are used as a dis-qualifier.
The EEOC has given more detail about each factor to be considered when hiring based on a background check. The nature and gravity of the offense is to include the harm caused, the legal elements of the crime and the classification (misdemeanor vs. felony). Time since the conviction and / or completion of the sentence is to include evaluation of recidivism. The nature of the job is more than just job title; evaluation of specific duties, essential functions, and environment all need to be considered.
SELECTiON.COM® offers customized reports & solutions for all of our clients. Our staff will help you identify the reports you need to focus on, and develop a background check program that will work for you.
We have a specially-trained and dedicated staff who personally review all criminal records reported, to ensure you’re getting the most accurate information possible. Our knowledgeable customer satisfaction representatives have an average tenure more than 7 years. They can answer any questions you may have and will notify you if there are delays in any part of the reporting process.
Contact us today for your customized background screening solution.
