By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Blog

A story from Greenwood County, South Carolina shows why background checks should be run on all workers with access to schools, including contractors and sub-contractors, and not just full time employees.

According to a report on the News Channel 7 website at WSPA.com, a contract worker at a Greenwood County, S.C. school was arrested for disorderly conduct when he allegedly yelled and cursed at police after students complained about his behavior. According to a police report, students at the school claimed the accused man made sexual gestures and asked the children to give him a hug.

The 22-year-old man – a subcontractor working at the school – was charged with public disorderly conduct for allegedly cursing at deputies and school officials while they kicked him off campus.

In their report, News Channel 7 learned that, according to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) background check, the man had been accused with sexual misconduct with a child under the age of 16 and sexual misconduct with a child under the age of 11. Although not convicted on those charges, the man had been convicted of aggravated assault.

Contract workers at schools in South Carolina are not required to submit to any kind of background checks since they are not employed by the state.

However, there are background check rules in place for school workers, according to information provided by the South Carolina Department of Education:

• All school employees must have a SLED check.
• Teachers and other certified positions must have SLED and FBI fingerprint checks done.
• Volunteers must be checked on sexual predator web site.
• Contract workers are not required to submit to any sort of background since they are not employed by the state.

To ensure a safe workplace (which can include schools), employers following best practices guidelines should run background checks on all employees – from full-time to part-time and from contractors to sub-contractors.

For more information on background checks, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) literally wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. ESR is recognized as Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) Accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) for proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Source:
http://www2.wspa.com/news/2010/oct/28/6/contract-workers-accused-trying-lure-students-ar-1023276/

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Blog

Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has sent letters to the heads of two popular social networking sites – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and MySpace President Michael Jones – requesting more information about privacy breaches recently reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), according to a press release from the Senator that includes the text of both letters.

Senator Rockefeller states in both letters that he is troubled by a recent Wall Street Journal investigation report that revealed the practice of Facebook, MySpace, and affiliated applications (or “apps”) transferring user IDs and user personal information to marketing firms, tracking companies, and third-party advertisers without their knowledge. As reported by the WSJ:

• Third-party applications have transferred Facebook users’ personal information to marketing firms, data brokers and tracking companies. This violates Facebook’s explicitly stated privacy policy.
• MySpace has shared user IDs with third-party advertisers. This has happened after users clicked on advertisements or accessed affiliated third-party applications.

Senator Rockefeller is quoted in the press release saying that these reports “raise serious questions about social networking sites’ commitment to enforcing their own privacy policies on behalf of consumers” and that, as Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, he intends to “find out whether today’s social networking sites are adequately protecting their users’ personal information.”

In the letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Senator Rockefeller requests answers – with specificity – to the following questions:

• 1) How does Facebook enforce its Privacy Policy relating to affiliated application operators and websites? What logistical protocols are in place to promote maximum compliance? What resources, including the number of personnel, does Facebook dedicate to monitoring and enforcing application operators’ compliance with its Privacy Policy?
• 2) What penalties does Facebook impose on application operators and websites that violate the company’s Privacy Policy? Are offending application operators allowed to continue to do business with Facebook?
• 3) Does Facebook take steps to retrieve information from application operators found in violation of the company’s Privacy Policy?
• 4) The Journal article quotes a Facebook official that asserts the company has “taken steps… to significantly limit RapLeaf’s ability to use any Facebook-related data.” What exactly does this mean?
• 5) According to the Journal article, there appears to be a pattern of privacy infractions involving Facebook applications. Specifically, what other past problems has Facebook encountered with regard to applications, and what steps did Facebook take to rectify them? Are these applications still available on Facebook’s platform?
• 6) To the extent that personal data has been shared in violation of Facebook’s Privacy Policy, what steps has Facebook taken to notify individual users as to the specific information that has been mishandled, and who has had access to that information?

In the letter to MySpace President Michael Jones, Senator Rockefeller requests answers – again, with specificity – to the following questions:

• 1) Why does MySpace’s Privacy Policy place the responsibility on Members to control their personal information when interacting with affiliated apps and advertisers, when other social networking sites have more restrictive policies that better protect consumer privacy?
• 2) Why does MySpace’s Privacy Policy assert that the company “does not control” and “cannot dictate” the actions of third-party applications on how they retrieve and use Members’ information when other social networking sites impose limits on the use of such information?
• 3) The definition of PII is very narrow and does not capture a range of consumer information – such as user IDs – that could be used to identify MySpace Members. Please explain the rationale behind this narrow definition of PII and how it differs from personal information that is considered non-PII.
• 4) How does MySpace reconcile the explicit terms of its own Privacy Policy with the Journal’s report that the company “had pledged to discontinue the practice of sending personal data” to ad networks and similarly prohibited third-party application operators from doing so?
• 5) If MySpace has publicly pledged to prohibit such information transfers, how has this prohibition been enforced and what plans does MySpace have in place to effectively enforce its policy in the future?

The protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of individuals – such as names, birthdates, addresses, identification such as Social Security Numbers (SSN) and driver’s licenses, and financial data – should be reflected in the Privacy Policy of every company.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) does not re-sell or “offshore” Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of individuals and all domestic background checks are performed exclusively in the United States. Once Personally Identifiable Information is offshored and leaves the U.S., the PII is beyond the reach of U.S. privacy laws. A large number of background screening firms have also taken a position against offshoring Personally Identifiable Information at http://www.concernedcras.com/no_offshoring.htm.

For more information about Employment Screening Resources (ESR), visit http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) literally wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. ESR is recognized as Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) Accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) for proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Source:
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=c26b5c34-cf19-4d8a-93aa-d9a29b749337

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of a state law that requires the dismissal of school employees with serious criminal convictions in their pasts, according to a story from The Plain Dealer on Cleveland.com.

The Ohio Supreme court said in issuing a 5-2 decision that the law can continue to be applied to employees or applicants whose criminal history is revealed through background checks.

Eight months after the law took effect prohibiting districts from employing people with felony convictions after November 14, 2007, a background check on an unnamed Cincinnati school district employee (named “John Doe” in the ensuing lawsuit) turned up a drug-trafficking conviction from 1976. Doe was fired, as the law mandated, even though the conviction occurred 21 years before he was initially hired by the school district, the Plain Dealer reports.

The new law had extended the background check requirement to non-teaching school employees like secretaries, janitors and mechanics whereas only teachers had to pass background checks previously. 

The fired man, Doe, brought a suit challenging the law, arguing that the law was unconstitutionally retroactive since it was based on his conduct before he was employed by the district, but the law prohibited districts from employing people with felony convictions after November 14, 2007, and the “disqualifying background check” happened after that date. A summary of the court’s decision can be viewed at: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/PIO/summaries/2010/1026/092104.asp.

The Ohio Department of Education has since issued more specific rules outlining how the law should be enforced, including considering crimes that happened more than 10 years in the past showing rehabilitation and leaving the decision up to the district.

The Plain Dealer also reports that twenty-three employees of the Cleveland school district lost their jobs because of the law, according to a spokeswoman.

For more information about pre-employment background checks, please visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) literally wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. ESR is recognized as Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) Accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) for proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Sources:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/10/ohio_supreme_court_rules_schoo.html
http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/PIO/summaries/2010/1026/092104.asp

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Blog

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell has announced that the state is receiving a $2 million federal health care grant to design a comprehensive caregiver background check program for employees of nursing homes and other long-term care agencies to further strengthen protections for elderly and disabled residents.

According to a news release from the Governor, Connecticut is one of six states to receive the federal grant through the Affordable Care Act to bolster protection of nursing home residents with caregiver background checks. The background check program will help identify whether job seekers have any kind of criminal history or other disqualifying information that could make them unsuitable to work directly with residents.

Governor Rell stated that the funds “will allow Connecticut to have one of the most comprehensive background checks in the nation.” The Connecticut state Departments of Public Health (DPH) and Public Safety (DPS) will work together on the initiative.

The new law set aside $160 million for the program, which is to run through September 2012. The other five states awarded grants in addition for Connecticut are Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island. 

The national background check for each prospective direct patient care employee will include a history search of both state and federal criminal records, abuse and neglect registries, and databases such as the Nurse Aide Registry. Long-term care facilities or providers covered under the new program include:

• Nursing facilities,
• Home health agencies,
• Hospice providers,
• Long-term care hospitals,
• Intermediate care facilities for persons with mental retardation,
• Adult day care, and
• Personal care assistants.

For more information about caregiver background checks, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) literally wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. ESR is recognized as Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) Accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) for proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Source:
http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=3872&Q=467624

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Blog

A September 2010 web poll from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) testing the attitudes of Americans toward identity theft revealed that 66 percent – or two out of three people – of more than 1,300 respondents felt at risk for identity theft.

In an October NFCC press release, a spokesperson for the NFCC stated that in recent years “identity theft has claimed more than 10 million victims per year, and has been the top complaint to the Federal Trade Commission for the last five years in a row.”

According to the press release, the actual survey question – “Q: I don’t think I’m at risk of being a victim of identity theft because…” – and multiple choice results from the poll are as follows:

• A. Identity theft is on the decline = 1%
• B. My credit card company has systems in place that protect me = 9%
• C. I don’t carry my Social Security card in my wallet = 10%
• D. I never open emails from unknown sources = 15%
• E. I do think I am at risk of ID theft = 66%

The NFCC’s September Financial Literacy Opinion Index was conducted via the homepage of the NFCC Web site at http://www.debtadvice.org/ from September 1 to September 30, 2010 and answered by 1,352 individuals.

To help meet the need of identity theft protection education, the NFCC – the nation’s largest and longest serving national nonprofit credit counseling organization – and the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) joined together to host Protect Your Identity Week (PYIW) from October 17 to October 23, 2010 (http://www.protectyouridnow.org/).

The 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report by Javelin Strategy & Research found that the number of identity theft and fraud victims in the United States increased 12 percent to affect 11.1 million adults in 2009, while the total annual fraud amount in the country increased by 12.5 percent to $54 billion.

To read more posts from the Employment Screening Resources (ESR) News Blog tagged ‘Identity Theft,” visit http://www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/tag/identity-theft/.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) literally wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. ESR is recognized as Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) Accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) for proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information about Employment Screening Resources, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com.

Sources:
http://www.nfcc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/files10/FLOI_SeptemberResults.pdf
http://www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/2010/04/01/study-finds-identity-theft-and-fraud-increased-12-percent-in-2009-affecting-over-11-million-americans/