Each year hundreds of thousands of American kids are packed off to summer camp.  How much do you know about those to whom you’ve entrusted your children? Probably very little.

Earlier this summer, for example, a 19-year-old camp counselor from Oregon was charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct involving a girl at a camp in northern Minnesota. The Brainerd Daily Dispatch reported that a camp counselor, Spencer Krum, lured two girls, ages 14 and 16, from their cabins after dark to meet him at a camp building. There, he allegedly “asked the girls about their sexual fantasies and then engaged in sexual conduct with the younger girl.”

The state of Ohio is having difficulty passing a bill requiring background checks on volunteers and camp counselors at residential camps (see full article here) – a bill sparked by the sexual molestation of two boys by counselor Timothy Keil at a camp last year.

Camp counselors and volunteers can present a particular challenge. Firstly, background checks on young people may come up empty. As in Krum’s case, there was no prior criminal history and juvenile convictions may not have been public record, therefore, not reportable. Secondly, some states don't require background checks on volunteers. In Keil’s case, a background check was never required.

Parents and camp organizers now have easily accessible and affordable options that can help protect children, regardless of legislation.

MyBackgroundCheck.com’s Volunteer Tracking System (VTS) is a unique way to monitor volunteers and employees within non-profit organizations. Krum may not have had a reportable criminal history, but he may have had other camps within the organization that found him unsuitable for volunteering. This information would have been reportable through the VTS. National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) has partnered with MyBackgroundCheck.com as preferred vendor for volunteer and employee screening.

MyBackgroundCheck.com is also a consumer/applicant supplied background check portal where volunteers and employees of nonprofit organizations can obtain their own background check that can be viewed by parents and organizations over secure servers on the website.

Parents can request counselors and volunteers caring for their children obtain a background check at www.MyBackgroundCheck.com or request the organization join the VTS.

For more information about VTS, please visit www.VolunteerTracking.com and fill out a request for information form.

Get a background check from your locksmith.

News that a registered sex offender is working as a locksmith in Shelbyville, Kentucky, understandably has some local residents on edge, reports WHAS 11 news (see story here).

Charles Lee Raisor was convicted in 2003 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy.  There are few jobs in Kentucky that a registered sex offender can’t have, the TV station reported. These include working at schools and day care centers. However, sex offenders can be locksmiths and background checks are not required for contract workers that could be entering your home.

Sex offenders generally do not serve lifetime prison terms and must be integrated into society once released. There is much controversy over the issues of where they live, the age of the people they are around, what types of jobs they can have. 

Do you know anything about the backgrounds of the plumbers, electricians, carpet cleaners or handymen you let into your home? Today, it is easy to request a background check from anyone with online background check services. 

Sex offenders are everywhere and the background check technology is available now to prevent them from preying on you or your children.

Even if your service company does not conduct background checks on employees because it is not required by the laws in your state, you can request that anyone contracted to work in your home get a personal background check from MyBackgroundCheck.com. The service provider orders their own background check and, when completed, you can view it online with a special code over the website’s secure network. These background checks are comprehensive and cannot be altered by anyone.

Visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com for more information on personal background checks.

A story featured in the L.A. Times (July 16, 2008) should be a wake up call to all employers who do not conduct background checks on current employees.

Sixteen employees were suspended from Martin Luther King Jr. – Harbor hospital when county officials found they had serious criminal histories. The criminal backgrounds were discovered last year, but the employees were not disciplined or relieved from duty by the hospital.

This leaves a serious question to be answered by employers, particularly those who have employees working closely with the community. Background checks need to be conducted before hire and periodically throughout employment. Failure to do so could cause harm to other employees and customers…and the bad publicity could result in the demise of your organization.

Click here to read our full article on current background check issues...