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Foiled Kidnapping Plot Shows Importance of Background Checks for Home Help

October 5, 2009 13:53 by Tom Ahearn

A troubling story out of Charlotte, North Carolina shows the importance of background checks for home help – also known as “in-house” services workers – and how performing these background checks on painters, landscapers, builders, and anyone else working in and around one’s home  can help protect one’s family.

A report from WCNC News Channel 36 in Charlotte, NC revealed that Ruben Garcia-Rosario, 25, an illegal immigrant, was recently arrested and is accused of plotting to kidnap two area girls from a bus stop for ransom money. Garcia-Rosario had apparently done some painting at the girls’ home nearly a year ago, News Channel 36 reported.

According to News Channel 36, after the girls – aged 7 and 9 – saw a suspicious man in a dark car with tinted windows watching them at their bus stop, they told a parent who was later able to write down the car's license plate number and call police about the incident.

Officials say this incident underscores the importance of protecting yourself with background checks when you hire people and let them into or near your home, News Channel 36 reported, and that  people who hire home help should not be afraid to ask for proof of a background check and should look elsewhere if the company or person can't provide it.

Another solution is to have to home help workers perform background checks on themselves with a reputable company that provides “personal” background check services for painters, contractors, landscapers, babysitters, and other in-house workers. MyBackgroundCheck.com – a pioneer in consumer requested background checks – helps individuals screen home help workers through a unique and innovative “applicant supplied” background check system where the jobseeker foots the bill.

For more information on MyBackgroundCheck.com’s Home Help Background Check service, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

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GA Bill Would Require In-Home Services Workers to Have Background Checks

September 22, 2009 10:02 by Tom Ahearn

A story from Macon.com tells of a bill currently pending in the Georgia state Legislature that would require employees who work inside the homes of other people – also known as “In-Home Services” workers – to have pre-employment background checks performed on them by their employers.

According to Georgia General Assembly web site, House Bill 263 provides that “any person offering in-home services shall conduct a criminal background investigation of each employee” and that “such persons shall not employ individuals who have been convicted of certain crimes” that would include rape and murder uncovered through the required background checks.

The bill requiring employers to perform background checks on people who work inside other people’s homes was prompted by a 2008 sexual assault of a nanny who was watching a 3-year-old girl at the time of the attack, according to the Macon.com report, and that the accused rapist – Rudolph Valentino Smith, 44, who was released from prison in 2006 after serving 12 years for fatally stabbing a man – worked for a house cleaning company that cleaned many homes in the central Georgia neighborhood, including the one where the alleged crime took place. The nanny escaped further harm by locking herself and the toddler she was watching in a bedroom closet, Macon.com reported, and Smith was later arrested by police and charged with rape.

The bill requiring background checks for workers who enter the homes of others tries to strike a delicate balance between allowing rehabilitated criminals to re-enter the workplace while at the same time protecting the safety of residents through background checks of in-home services workers, Macon.com reported.

MyBackgroundCheck.com is a leading supplier of consumer requested and applicant supplied “personal” background checks for individuals, including background checks for In-Home Services workers. For more information about background checks, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

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Elder Care Worker's Theft Shows Need For Home Help Background Checks

August 10, 2009 15:06 by Tom Ahearn

An article in The Marion (OH) Star shows the need for background checks on "home help" workers helping inside the house, especially if it involves caring for an elderly person. In the story, the daughter of an elderly mother said her family was devastated when a home health care worker stole more than $3,000 from the 93-year-old woman and wants to make sure this type of elder abuse doesn't happen to anyone else.

According to the article, the home help worker, Lora Huffine, 40, who cashed a check for $3,774.84 sent to the mother's home and took the money, was banned from working in home health care anywhere as part of her punishment, which also includes 20 days in jail and two years of community sanctions. The article reports that Huffine had committed crimes before, and once pleaded guilty to four counts of forgery, and – after violating her sanctions – was sentenced to two years in prison in 2004.

The article reports that the daughter hired Huffine – who wasn't a licensed worker and was found through an advertisement collected from an agency – after interviewing her once for the job of taking care of her mother at the mother's home on weekends, and also that the daughter wishes that she had completed a thorough background check and verified references. An extensive background check can raise "red flags" – like a forgery conviction – that will warn people about possibly hiring criminals as home help care.

While most background check companies focus on large corporations, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers individuals comprehensive Home Help Background Checks to ensure family security and provide protection from people hired to work inside a home, including: Babysitters/Nannies, House Cleaners, Tutors, Contractors, and Home Help Workers, among others.

MyBackgroundCheck.com provides "personal" background checks for millions of individuals to use as jobseekers, renters, volunteers, students, or consumers. For more information on Home Help Background Checks, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

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Building Personal Background Checks a “Do-It-Yourself” Project

April 20, 2009 16:12 by Tom Ahearn

With winter nearly over, now is the time to start thinking about “Spring cleaning” and other “do-it-yourself” projects. One such "do-it-yourself" project that you might consider is building your own Personal Background Check.

Who needs to have a personal background check? Most everyone these days. Companies use your personal identifying information to access various public and private sources to determine if any criminal, credit, employment, or other records exist. A personal background check is the virtually same report except it is requested and paid for by the individual subject of the report.

Why would individuals consider supplying their own "do-it-yourself" personal background checks? To get what they want, of course:

  • Jobseekers want employers to know their past employment isn't falsified;
  • Tenants want landlords to see that they have never been evicted or sued;
  • Students want their school records available for school admission boards;
  • Volunteers want non-profit organizations to know they’re safe to work with;
  • Nannies/babysitters want parents to see they are qualified child care givers;
  • Teachers/tutors want their education references verified for their students;
  • Contractors/vendors want their licensure up-to-date and past work reviewed;
  • "Friends" on social networking sites want other "friends" to know they're safe;
  • Individual consumers want control of their own sensitive personal information;
  • And all of the above want to show that they have clean criminal backgrounds.

The number of consumer-requested and applicant-supplied background checks is on the rise. Unfortunately, many background check companies only focus on employers and corporations. MyBackgroundCheck.com is a pioneer in consumer-requested background checks and a leading provider of applicant-supplied background checks for employers, landlords, schools, volunteer organizations, families, and individuals worldwide. With an account from MyBackgroundCheck.com, members can order their own customized background checks, share the results with anyone they want, and protect themselves from identity theft by taking control of their own personal information.

MyBackgroundCheck.com has also undergone a major facelift and now offers exciting new features. Users can:

  • Invite others to get a background check and share the results!
  • Share public profiles or view other public profiles!
  • Access recent messages and requests to connect, and share results and recent orders through the Recent Activity panel!
  • Search for other MyBackgroundCheck.com users, connect, and share results or send messages!
  • Build a network and easily share results and view public profiles!
  • Review current, pending, and/or expired orders with a click of a button!

To create your own "do-it-yourself" personal background check to fit your individual needs, please visit us at www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com

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A Background Check can Protect You, Your Family, during Economic Crime Spree…

December 31, 2008 11:49 by Desiree Bryant

A sociologist from University of Missouri, Richard Rosenfeld, said to the New York Times, "Every recession since the late '50s has been associated with an increase in crime and, in particular, property crime and robbery, which would be most responsive to changes in economic conditions. There is a year lag between the economic change and crime rates."

An accurate prediction, stories are now sweeping across the country noting incidents of repair fraud and theft. Imposters may be knocking on your door, offering electric repairs or services you really don’t need and others may just be sneaking in to your home and stealing anything they deem valuable.

If you hire a service worker, nanny or babysitter, contractor or subcontractor, or even go on a date during this time it is highly recommended that you obtain a background check on anyone you don’t know as an added security. But also watch out for those you do know as economic recessions are notorious for creating first-time offenders.

Not sure how to get a background check on these people?

The most accurate background check you can obtain via the internet is “applicant supplied” and one that searches criminal history at the county level, previous employment, and professional licenses. However, stay away from the “instant background check,” as these services do not contain accurate information.

What is an “applicant supplied” background check? The person who desires to work for you or date you obtains the background check on their own and provides you, an employer, a landlord, etc. with access to the background check. This system is intended to allow job seekers and all other consumers to control their personal information and verify the accuracy of credit and criminal background checks before others view them. However, it comes in handy for consumers in common, informal situations with others who pose a risk or threat.

Here at MyBackgroundCheck.com, we have special programs that protect you, the consumer. We provide one of the only “applicant supplied” background check portals on the web and it’s simple to use. You ask the person to go to the website and order the specific background check package you want to review. Once they place their order and the background check is complete, they will receive a special code to give you. You use the code to access the background check via the web on our secure server. These background checks cannot be altered and they are the most current and accurate in the industry.

If the person doesn’t agree to get a background check, take my advice and send them on their way.

Call our customer service department for more personalized information about applicant-supplied background checks at 800-300-1821 or visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com .

 

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