The trap of complacency
February 28th, 2012 // 3:41 pm @
Life has a way of surprising us in ways that can sometimes leave you scratching your head. Take the following story for example:
Last week Thomas George Gordon, an 82 year old volunteer at a small Anglican Church, was arrested for stealing over $200,000 from 1998 to 2011. Gordon was arrested Thursday night and is now awaiting his day in court. He has been released pending the future court date.
How does someone get away with something that serious for that long? And who would have suspected a volunteer that has been with the church for all those years would be the one to watch? Despite this and countless other examples we have seen, one of the most common excuses for not doing background checks remains “We know everyone. We don’t need to do background checks or safety training here.” The message we want to communicate to churches is that complacency can easily lead to abuses of power. So what can you do to protect your church and its members?
It is vital that your church have a proper screening procedure in place and you are actively updating your policies. Here are a few simple recommendations we make for churches:
Consistency:
Volunteers need to know that you are not singling them out and that you aren’t subjecting them to a background check because you distrust them. This will also protect you from any discrimination issues that can come up with picking and choosing who you will screen.
Comprehension:
When selecting a screening provider make sure you know exactly what you are getting and the scope of your criminal background check. Here are a few questions to help you in that process.
- How much information does my state and surrounding states report to your database?
- How do you handle maiden names and alias names?
- What happens if you find a criminal record on someone? Do you verify the information belongs to our applicant and request updated information directly from the source?
Remember that not all background checks are created equal and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all background check that covers all criminal information for the entire country. It doesn’t exist and anyone who tells you it does is misleading you.
Don’t fall into the trap of complacency. Make sure you are doing everything in your power to protect your church and those in your care!
For more information on volunteer background checks visit www.protectmyministry.com
Category : Articles
Why do I need a Social Security Number to run a background check?
January 11th, 2012 // 6:54 pm @
One of the most common questions we hear at Protect My Ministry is this: “What information do I need from my volunteers so I can run a background check?” And usually when I give the answer – name, date of birth, and social security number – it is almost always met with questions like these:
- Why do you need that?
- How do you keep that information safe?
- How are we supposed to keep that information safe?
These questions and more just like them have been brought to the forefront of our industry because of identity theft and I completely understand the concern. But I think before we can even address those issues it’s important to understand the “why” behind it all. Why do we ask for the SSN in the first place?
The History
Once upon a time social security numbers could be found on criminal records. When you requested someone’s background report you would submit the name, date of birth, and social. That is no longer the case. Because most criminal records are public information, individuals with criminal records on file were having their identity stolen because of the amount of information listed on those public files. Now only certain law enforcement records have criminal data files with the social still attached.
The Present
The social security number provides valuable information on your volunteer, including their previous addresses as well any names that have been associated with that SSN. This is important for two reasons: First, it verifies that the person is who they are telling you they are. Second, it will help you determine where you should be focusing your attention as far as your criminal search goes. If your applicant tells you they have lived their whole life in Florida but the SSN shows addresses in WA, NC, TX, etc…well now you have some questions to ask.
New and Improved!
While those features are valuable in and of themselves, Protect My Ministry has added even more new features to our SSN trace. With our new and improved national, we automatically run every alias that is under the social security number through the national database. This means if you do a background check on a married woman but you only search the married name, as long as her maiden name is listed under the social, we will search both names through the national database automatically at no additional charge to you! We will also re-verify any records we find to make sure it belongs to your person. This new feature will help eliminate cases of human error because it will automatically run the name reported on the SSN trace as well as the name requested, so if you misspell your applicants name our system will catch it for you! This added value is available through Protect My Ministry and ensures that we will continue to consistently provide the best, most accurate background check at the lowest possible price to churches.
For more information about this and other background screening programs by Protect My Ministry please visit - www.protectmyministry.com
Category : Articles
Penn State Scandal and what the Church can learn
November 15th, 2011 // 8:50 pm @
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
Penn State Scandal
As I am sure you have heard by now, Penn State university has been rocked by the scandal of a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, who is accused of sexually assaulting young boys beginning as early as the mid 90’s and continuing throughout and after his tenure at Penn State.
Where Did Coach Paterno Go Wrong?
According to the attorney general report there are several accusations of assault happening both on and off campus property with one in particular being witnessed by a graduate assistant who reported what he witnessed to head football coach Joe Paterno. Paterno then reported the incident to his immediate supervisor who escalated the incident to senior staff, but never University Police or local officials.
The Grand Jury concluded that the sexual assault of a minor male in 2002 should have been reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and/or a law enforcement agency such as University Police or the Pennsylvania State Police in accordance with Pennsylvania’s mandatory reporting statute for suspected child abuse.
Most people don’t disagree with Joe Paterno first reporting to his direct supervisor what he heard from his graduate assistant about Jerry Sandusky assaulting a boy in a Penn State athletics facility shower room. You shouldn’t have to go over your supervisor’s head and report an incident to the police. What we can’t accept is why he waited a day to tell Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and why he didn’t make sure that Curley went immediately to the police with the report. We now know that Curley did not go to the police at all – and Paterno left the matter alone.
What Can We Learn?
In the light of this horrific tragedy, being angry and shocked is simply not enough. What happened at Penn State needs to go beyond anger, surprise, sensationalism, and lengthy news coverage. Every organization that works with children needs to look at what happened and do some self-evaluation of their current sexual abuse prevention strategies. Don’t be afraid to make changes.
Policies Protect Children
Start with a clear policy and guidelines on what is acceptable and not acceptable. The consequences of not having a child protection policy in place far outweigh the cost of implementing them. As fathers, mothers and caretakers we don’t care what the cost is to protect our own children. Churches and ministries should have the same level of protection in place that you would choose for your own children.
It’s not difficult to establish a policy with clear, enforceable child protection guidelines. The basic tenants of your policy should include background checks for staff and volunteers in the church that work with minors, including criminal and sex offender history checks. And because only 1 in 10 sexual abusers has a criminal history it is also imperative to have mandatory child safety training on the topic of sexual abuse prevention and awareness.
Be sure to get signed agreements from volunteers stating they have read and understand the policy and agree to adhere to the requirements of the policy. Enforcing the policy is essential to demonstrating that your organization has performed the necessary due diligence, in case someone still manages to slip through the cracks.
Children Won’t Always Tell
Next it is paramount that we figure out how to get kids to understand when something wrong has been done to them – and then report it to the right people. It is terrifying how pedophiles are able to keep their victims silent. Children remain silent because their abuser scares them into silence; there can also be shame and embarrassment, and sometimes even a feeling of affection for the person molesting them. Silence is terrible because it protects and enables the molester to keep on molesting, and it deprives the victims of the help they need. Studies have shown the average sexual predator victimizes 120 before being caught.
Predators Are On The Prowl
It is not enough to say “we know everyone” or “that will never happen here.” The church is a target for predators. Predators are eager to volunteer to work with children and typically won’t wait long before gaining access. If access is not permitted they will move to another target. The six-month rule is a great way to weed out any potential predators.
About Protect My Ministry
Protect My Ministry continues to work diligently to educate churches in the area of ministry protection and provides resources can assist any ministry in the creating and maintain a safe environment for those entrusted to their care. Our proprietary processes, products and solutions have made Protect My Ministry the industry leader for volunteer background checks, child safety training and risk management solutions.
For more information go to www.protectmyministry.com
Category : Articles
3 Reasons for paperless background checks
A few years ago a good friend of mine was at a child safety training workshop at his church learning about the procedures and policies they had in place to ensure a secure environment for their children. The pastor spent some time discussing the security cameras, elaborate child check in procedures, and details on how to spot signs of child abuse – all very valuable tools in a child protection policy.
As the session came to a close everyone was asked to fill out a background check authorization form and put them in a bin on their way out the door. As my friend, who has a professional security background, completed his form and dropped it in the bin he later confided in me that he was uncomfortable dropping a piece of paper in an open-lid box when that piece of paper contained his full legal name, date of birth, and social security number on it. That information is all anyone would need to open a credit card in his name and steal his identity, but what choice did he have?
Protect My Ministry recognized this as a problem several years ago and created Ministry Moblizer, a completely paperless system that allows churches to process background checks online without the need for a paper application. Here are 3 reasons paperless is the best way to go:
1. Convenience
For the church and the volunteer, being able to submit an application online from the privacy of your home is much easier than filling out a paper form. And the church doesn’t have to enter any of the volunteer information since it is electronically sent to an online account for the church. The background check can then be ordered with the click of a button making your life much easier.
2. Security
Many people just like my friend are nervous about leaving their information on a paper form in a filing cabinet that can be accessed by others, even if it is locked. Having no paper forms on-site at the church will put many of your volunteers’ minds at ease.
3. Speed
I remember sitting in a volunteer meeting one Sunday after church going over new safety procedures. We walked through several handbooks and we were given our paperwork to take home, fill out, and bring back the following week. I wish I could say I was a responsible adult in this situation, but unfortunately I cannot. And according to the many of the church employees I talk to neither can a lot of other volunteers. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s still on a desk somewhere…two years later. Being able to fill something out quickly and conveniently online makes your volunteers much more likely to complete the necessary paperwork in a timely manner.
So if you are tired of filing paperwork, data entry, and collecting dozens or even hundreds of forms, give us a call. We can help!
Please visit http://www.protectmyministry.com/Background-Checks for more information.
Category : Articles
Vacation Bible School – Protecting our children in a modern world
Does your church have a vacation bible school planned for this summer? As the spiritual landscape of our country changes one thing that has remained consistent is the impact of vacation bible school. A little over 100 years ago, VBS started in New York City and has since become a growing phenomenon; the average annual attendance for Southern Baptists alone is almost 3 million children! According to some studies more people come to know Jesus as Savior through VBS than through any other single church event.
As a child I remember every summer experiencing summer heat, baseball, trips to the beach, and VBS. No matter how busy my parents were or what the rest of the summer looked like VBS was always a part of my childhood.
Somewhere between kickball and macaroni art that my parents still have in a box somewhere, the teachers and volunteers taught that Jesus loved me and wanted to know me. There were puppets and videos all pointing to a message that was God-centered and child-specific. Methods have evolved and the curriculum is new and exciting, but the goal has remained the same: To create a safe environment where kids can learn about Jesus and have fun!
Unfortunately times have changed and there is one area where things are very different; the threat and concerns for the safety of our children. Twenty years ago very few churches had detailed safety procedures in place for VBS or children’s ministry in general! Today child protection is something we can’t be too careful about and even though VBS is a one-time event it deserves the same care and attention we give to our weekly programs.
This means implementing a child protection policy that includes the careful screening of volunteers through a criminal background check and personal interviews. Some churches check referrals or have child-safety training to help volunteers spot signs of abuse and ways to prevent it from occurring. Making sure you have these measures in place not only protects the children in your care, but also gives directors and parents a sense of peace about those who are watching the children which will increase attendance.
Let’s do all we can to keep VBS a safe, fun environment for our children to learn the good news of Jesus Christ for the glory of God!
Category : Articles