You’re sitting in the church office considering a job candidate’s application. The background check has revealed that he or she has a criminal conviction. How will this affect your hiring decision regarding this potential employee or volunteer? Whether the offense was a minor one from years ago or something more recent, discovery of an entry on a criminal background check may be the beginning of an inquiry, not necessarily the end. We strongly recommend not hiring a person with a criminal background.  But if you do move forward, consider this. 

Assuming you have already conducted interviews and reference checks, and the candidate seems to be qualified for the position, a criminal background check is an excellent tool in the decision-making process. A good rule for evaluating the significance of records in a criminal background check is to rely on the same criteria used by the local public school system. If the public school system would be prohibited from employing that person, then your ministry would do well to avoid hiring or allowing him or her to volunteer in certain ministries. You can find out what criteria are used by contacting your local public school system directly, or by enlisting the help of an attorney.

An attorney can:

• Review state laws that spell out what type of criminal record would prevent an individual from working in a public school.
• Review the information you’ve obtained about the candidate’s criminal record.
• Give you a written opinion on whether the individual would be permitted to work in a public school in your state

Some things to consider:

• Is the candidate the same person as the offender from the background check? Depending on how your background check is performed, you may need to verify that identities match.
• What was the specific act involved in the offense?
• When did the offense occur?
• What would the church think if they knew?
• Was it an isolated incident or a pattern?
• How serious was the offense?
• Who was the victim (e.g., child, youth, vulnerable adult, other adult) and how were they affected?
• Was there a conviction or an acquittal?
• How does it relate to the job in question?
• What is the church attorney’s opinion?

This entry was posted on February 21, 2015 at 4:11 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Posted in Church Insurance Church Risk Church Safety by Scott Stuart Comments Off on Why Background Checks Are Important