With the immense popularity of online social networking gathering spots such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, companies that feature background check services should follow suit and make their own websites more interactive, user-friendly, and "social" to attract online customers.

A monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at the top online properties for March 2009 by comScore, Inc. and Media Metrix service revealed that Twitter.com more than doubled its visitor base to over 9 million and ranked as the top-gaining web property for the month. Meanwhile, Facebook.com moved up one spot in the ranking to #9 this month with 61.2 million visitors.

Members of these fast-growing social networking sites should consider ordering "personal" background checks for themselves. Why? Because they will need background checks as jobseekers, students, tenants, volunteers, home help, contractors, dates, and online "friends." Even if they are just concerned individuals interested in preventing identity theft and keeping their personal information secure and accurate, an individual background check is a good idea.

With the number of individual background checks on the rise, MyBackgroundCheck.com – a leading provider of consumer-requested and applicant-supplied background checks worldwide – has re-designed its website to include some exciting new features, resources, and interactivity.

New Features:

• Access common features through the My Account dashboard.
• Invite others to view your investigative background check reports.
• Share your background check reports with users in your network.
• Access your recent activity panel quickly and easily.
• Share your public profile or view other public profiles.
• Search for other MyBackgroundCheck.com users.
• Send messages to others within your own network.

New Resources: 

• Background checks and the law.
• Frequently asked questions about background checks.

New Interactivity:

• Contact Preferences: Stay up to date with background check news, industry tips, and receive special offers for MyBackgroundCheck.com products and services.
• Public Profile: Your public profile is displayed when other MyBackgroundCheck.com users search our network.
• Feedback: Your feedback is of great value to MyBackgroundCheck.com. Our goal is to empower you to share ideas and to make suggestions for how we may improve your user experience. We will make every effort to accommodate your requests and serve your needs.

With a MyBackgroundCheck.com Account, members can order customized background checks, share the results with anyone, and control their information. For more information, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

While the vast majority of schools currently run background checks on teachers, they aren’t the only people who work closely – in some cases, too closely – with students. The following two cases from the Southern California area will show why schools should have the same standards for criminal background checks on volunteers and contractors as they do for teachers.

In the first case, San Diego-area school officials were forced to review their policies for background checks on volunteers after they learned an un-registered 63-year-old sex offender had worked with students for several months as a volunteer music coach. The man was arrested recently on suspicion of failing to register as a sex offender and was taken into custody. Sex-crimes detectives were then notified about possible inappropriate conduct between the man and a student at the school where he worked once a week after regular classes ended.

A background check was never done on the volunteer, admitted a spokesman for the School District, since the district's policy leaves it up to school principals to order background checks on volunteers “when appropriate.” However, there are no clear guidelines to determine when a background check is appropriate. State education law requires schools to do background checks only on employees, not volunteers, unless the school makes a specific request.

This was not the first time the man had been accused of failing to register as a sex offender, as that was among the charges facing him in 1999 in connection with the molestation of two teenage boys. He pleaded guilty in June of that year to two counts of child molestation.

The second case concerned an outside contractor for a school in the San Gabriel area who put on an astronomy program at an elementary school. Although he had a criminal record that included a felony and a lewd conduct conviction, the contractor passed a background check conducted by a company that books sub-contractors to put on educational presentations at schools around the country. Background checks were done on all contractors by a background screening service and the contractor's name came back clear. However, this particular background screening service had been reported by consumers for delivering incomplete background checks.

The contractor was arrested a day after the assembly and was later tried on charges of inappropriately touching five girls during the presentation (he was later acquitted on three of the four charges, with the fourth ending in a deadlocked jury). At his trial, prosecutors said the accused man's criminal history included a 1996 arrest for lewd conduct while parked in front of a playground, a felony count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell that same year, and a two year prison sentence, according to court records.

Protecting children and teenagers from the unthinkable should be the top priority for schools, and their background check policies must extend beyond teachers to include volunteers and contractors. MyBackgroundCheck.com – a member of the Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – has performed background check services on volunteers and contractors for the American Red Cross as well as many other non-profit and volunteer organizations. To learn more about MyBackgroundCheck.com’s background check services for volunteers and contractors, please visit www.MyBackgroundCheck.com, email  info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com

MyBackgroundCheck.com – an exclusive background screening vendor to several national volunteer organizations and member of the Pre-Employ.com Family of Companies – hosted a complimentary webinar “Preventing the Unthinkable: An Integrated Approach to Protecting Campers and Staff” on January 27, 2009.

Participants in the webinar learned how MyBackgroundCheck.com developed a comprehensive Volunteer Tracking System (VTS) to meet the specific requirements for volunteer screening. The webinar also explained how VTS screening tracks volunteer applicants within an organization for effective risk management at the local, regional, and national levels, while also significantly reducing volunteer screening costs and protecting volunteers, communities, and organizations.

The webinar also showed how effective VTS screening exceeds typical background screening programs and can prevent exposure to volunteers with criminal pasts, provide fast and accurate screening reports on volunteer applicants, and be a low-cost comprehensive solution for all volunteer screening. Last year, over 1,000,000 volunteers were subjected to background screening services provided by MyBackgroundCheck.com.

In addition, the webinar explained how a “volunteer donation option” allows volunteers to pay for their own background screening, since statistics reveal that 20% of volunteers would pay for their screening if the money saved would benefit children. Combined with national pricing discounts, this could lead to significant savings in background screening costs.

The live webinar has ended, but an archived version of this webinar is available for viewing on demand at www.mybackgroundcheck.com/Business/Volunteer/Camp. To get more information on Volunteer Tracking System for screening volunteers, please visit www.volunteertracking.com or speak with a VTS representative at 1-800-503-2364.

Summer – and excited children heading off to summer camps for swimming, hiking, and boating – may be months away, but the hiring of camp staff and camp volunteers begins long before the temperatures start getting warmer. And while summer camp should be a time for fun, freedom, and frolicking, there are those criminals who would use this opportunity to prey upon the most innocent of victims in the most pleasant of surroundings.

According to the American Camp Association (ACA), more than 11 million children and adults attend approximately 12,000 camps throughout the United States every year. These camps use almost two million individuals as staff or volunteers to serve children, youth, and vulnerable adults – all potential victims of criminal activities. A recent ACA pilot program in which selected youth serving organizations had access to timely and inexpensive background checks on potential volunteers revealed some alarming criminal data.

Of the nearly 40,000 criminal background checks conducted on volunteers, 6.1% of all applicants were found to have criminal records that rendered them unfit to work with children. These criminal records included convictions of criminal sexual conduct with a child, aggravated criminal assault, rape, homicide, and other serious felonies. In addition, 40% of these individuals had a criminal record from other states – meaning that only a nationwide check would have uncovered that fact – and 26% of them showed a different name on their criminal record than the one they used to apply.

Protecting members from the unthinkable – and the criminals who commit those crimes – is the top priority of any organization, including non-profit and volunteer groups. Leading consumer background check provider MyBackgroundCheck.com – a member of the Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – is sponsoring a FREE webinar titled “Preventing the Unthinkable: An Integrated Approach to Protecting Campers and Staff” on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 from 1:00 PM to 1:40 PM PST to help camp owners keep their camps safe and protect their campers and volunteer staff from criminals. Campground decision makers and camp volunteers interested in joining the webinar may sign up at http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com/Business/Volunteer/Camp/.

Participants in this webinar will learn how to increase camper and camp volunteer staff safety by preventing exposure to sexual predators and other criminals, tracking camp job and volunteer applicants to see if they have ever been denied placement at camps before, and implementing a minimal-cost, comprehensive screening solution for camps on a local, regional, and national level.

How can criminals be prevented from being volunteers at camps? The answer is by using Mybackgroundcheck.com’s comprehensive Volunteer Tracking System (VTS), a unique volunteer screening program that tracks volunteer applicants within your organization for effective risk management at the local, regional, and national levels. VTS significantly reduces volunteer screening costs and protects volunteers, the community, and your organization.

To learn more about MyBackgroundCheck.com’s VTS, please visit www.volunteertracking.com or contact a VTS representative at 1-800-503-2364. To learn how to protect your camp or volunteer organization from criminals, or to sign up for the FREE webinar – “Preventing the Unthinkable: An Integrated Approach to Protecting Campers and Staff” – please visit http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com/Business/Volunteer/Camp/.

Pastor Pleads Guilty to Stealing 200K from Church…

Churches and all other nonprofit organizations need to take a closer look at the risks of hiring pastors, volunteers or anyone without conducting background checks.  In a recent case reported by Cleveland’s Newsnet5, a pastor took money from a fund for the poor, stole another church member’s identity, and took out loans against the church’s assets. This man, Donald Robinson, had already served time in a federal prison for real estate fraud in another state. A simple background check would have prevented him from victimizing this church and its members.

There are countless historical and recent incidents of pastors, priests, and other religious leaders taking advantage of their positions and financial contributions from members.  Affordable background checks are now readily available to help stop these individuals from infiltrating your organizations.

All nonprofit organizations seek to gain from background checks for many reasons other than embezzlement and identity theft.  Child sex abuse is a growing problem for religious organizations as well as other areas of society. The Baptist Press issued a press release last month on the initiative of the International Mission Board (IMB) to increase the use of background checks, mainly to protect children from sex abuse.

If your organization is concerned about affording background checks, the costs are far less than that of a catastrophic incident. MyBackgroundCheck.com offers a Volunteer Tracking System for Nonprofit organizations that encompasses an overall risk management program at minimal costs. This program is recommended by the National Council of Nonprofit Associations.

Please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com/Business/Volunteer/. for more information and resources.