A recent story from GreenwichTime.com, proves once again the importance of background checks when hiring a nanny, babysitter, au pair, or other live-in home help.

According to the report, a nanny in Connecticut allegedly stole checks from the homes of her employers – moving from job to job and committing a crime at each stop – and even showed up at a local day care to pick up a child after having been let go by the child’s parents months before. After the day care incident, police found the woman working as a nanny for another family and arrested her. She was charged with breach of peace, first-degree larceny, eight counts of third-degree forgery, and eight counts of fraudulent use of an ATM card.

According to police, the woman came to America from Brazil on a work permit and did so well on her interviews at the homes where she worked as a live-in nanny that most families never checked her references or ran a background check, which is how she managed to steal sensitive financial information from the people for whom she worked. In one instance, police said the nanny cashed forged checks worth $16,000.

This nanny is a prime example of how residents need to protect themselves when hiring an in-house employee, particularly one in charge of watching children like a nanny, babysitter, or au pair. When people allow someone into their house, they should know that person’s background. One way to find that information out is to run a background check on that individual.

For families that rely on full-time nannies, this nanny’s story may become more common, especially with the recent slump in the economy. As a result, police said it is vitally important for people to do thorough investigations of their prospective employees in the form of extensive background checks.

The most important steps in hiring a nanny or other live-in help are the interview and background check. The prospective help should fill out a form detailing their work history so references can be fact-checked to ensure they are legitimate. Background checks should be performed by a professional, accredited background check provider to ensure maximum efficiency.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – a leader in consumer-requested and applicant-supplied background checks – offers a comprehensive Home Help Screening service to protect families from the people they hire to work in their home. In many cases, the prospective employee will pay for the background check to help speed up the hiring process. For more information on background check services for live-in home help, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

With schools closing their doors for summer vacation soon, millions of children across the nation will be released for three whole months, leaving many overwhelmed and under-helped parents scrambling to find safe and trustworthy nannies and babysitters to assist with childcare.

One way to find a reliable and experienced nanny or babysitter is with a background check. Nannies and babysitters who are truly interested in the job and who have nothing to hide will not only submit to a background check, but may even help pay for a portion of the cost (or even all of it).

A nanny or babysitter background check is completed by verifying or uncovering background details about the caregiver to be hired such as: true identity (and any aliases used), age, date of birth, address history, phone numbers, criminal records, educational background, driving records, alcohol or drug problems, and credit problems.

If this sounds like too much information to ask for, then welcome to the modern age of being a nanny or babysitter, where even Mary Poppins herself would most likely undergo a thorough background check.

Why?

Because stories of inexperienced and neglectful nannies, babysitters, and au pairs have filled newspapers, televisions, and computer screens lately, the most recent one involving the arrest of a “Manhattan Manny.”

According to a New York Daily News article, parents in some of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods are panicking after a 21-year-old male live-in nanny who supposedly worked for celebrities and high profile families that he met by word of mouth – and possibly without proper background checks – was charged with molesting four boys.

Known as the “Manhattan Manny” on his website, the suspect also had access to hundreds of other young boys in recent years at private schools and summer camps, both in New York and beyond, in addition to his nanny jobs with families, according to a prosecutor in the case.

This is just one more example why parents need to run extensive background checks on a nanny, babysitter, or any person that they will allow to live and work inside their home. So where can parents find a fast, accurate, and thorough background check at a reasonable price?

While most background check providers concentrate on large companies, MyBackgroundCheck.com was a pioneer in "personal" background checks for individuals and has screened more than one million people, including jobseekers, students, tenants, volunteers, and nannies and babysitters.

For more information on MyBackgroundCheck.com’s personal background check services for individuals, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

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

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 .