In the News: A 20-year-old day care worker, previously charged with five felonies for molesting young girls in his care, now faces a new charge alleging that he sexually assaulted a 3-year-old girl at a different day care facility. He has pleaded not guilty to the other felony charges accusing him of touching children in his care at the YMCA last year. The incidents involve four girls who were between the ages of 6 to 8 at the time. He is accused of touching the children either on a bus or while seated on a loveseat during ‘chill time’, court documents state.
Background Check Guidelines
These general guidelines should be considered when evaluating all employees and volunteers 18 years old or older:
- Applications should clearly outline standards for ethical behavior and harassment policies.
- Work history, and any subsequent gaps in that history, should be thoroughly documented.
- Criminal Background Checks (CBCs) should be completed on all employees and volunteers, even those not working directly with young children.
- The National Sex Offender Public Registry (www.nsopr.gov) is a free online resource that searches each state’s sex offender registry. Every applicant should be run through the system as a primary precaution.
- CBCs, which are unique to all states, should be considered for the state in which an applicant has lived or worked for more than three (3) years.
- Personal references should be checked and verified. Any relevant information obtained from these reference checks should be catalogued.