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March 26, 2003 Update
Last year in the February
2002 CampLine, we informed you about a proposed
piece of Federal legislation that would establish
a national coordination center for background
checks. Known as The National Child Protection
Improvement Act, this legislation was introduced
by Senator Joseph Biden, and co-sponsored by Senators
Corzine, Thurmond, and Jeffords. The last action
of the 107th Senate regarding this Bill was to
pass the bill and hope for a joint meeting to
gain House approval. Time ran out and the bill
died last year. Senator Biden is working to gain
support for a similar bill and hopes to re-submit
it this Spring.
A number of issues have halted progress on the
Bill. First, it became apparent that all U.S States
and Counties have not been sending all their criminal
data to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)
for submission. Therefore, the Federal checks
that are currently being done can be incomplete
and not contain important information. Some States
may be better than others at submitting their
records, but it is difficult to tell when each
State began sending information and what was included.
For instance, local misdemeanors were probably
not sent, nor were juvenile records or pending
criminal charges. (In addition, felonies vary
from State to State and interpretation of local
statutes is critical)
Second, too little money was allocated in the
original Bill for data entry purposes to help
States enter the backlog of files retained at
the local levels. Current Federal checks may not
contain any older convictions, say from 15 - 20
years ago. This would suggest that while all States
might be covered, the information is less than
complete. The States maintain that local checks
will produce better information at this time.
Thus, ACA is at the point where we need to consider
what approach to take now regarding a national
system of background checks. Even if there were
a system today, until States can get all their
backlogs of data to the Feds, the system would
remain incomplete and checks could not be considered
comprehensive.
What Does This Mean for
My Camp?
In order to protect children from potential
abuse and mistreatment, camps must have the ability
to perform comprehensive, timely and cost effective
background checks on all potential employees and
volunteers as one of their screening tools.
The current procedure for conducting background
checks continues to vary from state to state,
making response time, cost, and results quite
varied. To request fingerprint-based national
criminal history background checks of volunteers
and employees, your camp should contact your state
law enforcement agency regarding process and fees.
Through the state law enforcement agency, your
camp receives a statement detailing whether or
not the individual in question has been convicted
of a crime that bears upon their suitability to
provide care.
Many camps choose to hire commercial background-checking
companies to complete this task in staff screening
and hiring.
Using Commercial Background
Checking Services
ACA standards require background checks
for staff with direct supervision or access to
children, many other youth organizations and schools
serving children require it; and the public expects
that background checks have been done! However,
many camps are challenged by the time, effort,
and frustration of doing criminal background checks.
There are commercial services that will complete
this function for you for a fee. These fees represent
searches on a single name (not including an additional
maiden name) in a single jurisdiction and usually
only at the County level. Some services will check
state records, others will check federal records
- both for an additional fee.
All record searches done by commercial companies
are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
The Federal Trade Commission has stated that
you must comply with the FCRA requirements when
you hire a commercial company to provide background
checks, even if those checks do not include a
credit history. The law governs many kinds of
information, including any information about an
individual's credit, character, reputation, personal
characteristics, or mode of living if the information
is collected for the purpose of determining a
person's eligibility for credit or employment.
Companies providing background screening information
are subject to the requirements.
If using commercial companies, there are steps
you must follow with applicants.
- You must notify the employee of your intent
to check background (such as criminal background).
- You must obtain permission to do so.
- You must notify them if information in the
report will likely cause you to take an adverse
action on their application and give them at
least five days to respond.
- At their request, you must provide them with
a copy of the report and the name of the organization
that obtained the report.
- You must notify them of their rights at each
step.
(Articles describing the use of such services
can be found in the October
1999 and February
2003 issues of CampLine.)
Whether your camp does checks on your own, or
you hire a firm is up to you. We've listed references
below to help you understand the processes involved.
The ACA Public Policy Committee will continue
to monitor the sitation at the Federal level -
visit the ACA Web Site frequently for updates:
www.ACAcamps.org/publicpolicy.
Resources
Federal Bureau of Investigation: www.fbi.gov
Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov
Fair Credit Reporting Act: www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm
* Parents for Megan's Law: www.parentsformeganslaw.com
For companies that perform this service for camps,
visit the ACA Web Site at: www.ACAcamps.org/vendors
For updates about the Federal Legislation described
in this article, visit ACA's Public Policy site:
www.ACAcamps.org/publicpolicy
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*Megan's Law is named after a
7-year-old Hamilton Township, New Jersey girl
named Megan Nicole Kanka. On July 29, 1994, she
was lured into her neighbor's home with the promise
of a puppy and was brutally raped and murdered
by a two-time convicted sex offender who had been
convicted in a 1981 attack on a 5-year-old child
and an attempted sexual assault on a 7-year-old.
Eighty-nine days after Megan Kanka's disappearance,
New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed
the first state-level version of what we know
as Megan's Law. The passage of Megan's Law in
New Jersey eventually lead to the May 1996 passage
of a federal law which is also known as Megan's
Law. New Jersey's Megan's Law has specific mandates
for active community notification which ensures
that the community will be made aware of the presence
of convicted sex offenders posing a risk to public
safety.
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