Background Checks and Youth

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The US is home to an immense number of youth programs and organizations.  The Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of America, the YMCA and 4-H are just a few of these organizations.  In addition to national organizations, there are state and local organizations designed for youth, as well.  Most parents would not think twice about their child's safety when in these environments.  However, criminal background check procedures reveal the horrifying truth.  Criminal background procedures have enabled organization management to identify and remove a frightening number of criminals from these organizations.

Obviously, it is of immense importance that any employee or volunteer within these organizations be subject to a criminal background check prior to allowing them to interact with youth inside the organization.  However, more and more youth organizations are not conducting a criminal background check on these persons.  Most cite a lack of funding as the primary reason for this lack of due diligence.  This is almost as frightening as the number of criminals found within these organizations.

As an example, one organization found a convicted rapist working within its confines, while another found a convicted child abuser within its ranks.  Other charges that have been found thanks to a criminal background check include violent assault, drug trafficking, DUI and many more.  In this modern age, it seems that it is never safe to allow your children out of your sight.  How can youth organizations combat the increasing incidence of criminals infiltrating the organization?  Criminal background check procedures must be implemented, first and foremost.

What can a criminal background check do?  How can it avail organization management of benefits?  How can a simple criminal background check help ensure that the nation's youth are kept safe while enjoying themselves?  Obviously, these programs have considerable merit, as many of them have been established for 100 years or more.  The single most important thing is for management of these organizations to realize the importance of conducting criminal background check procedures on everyone within the organization.  This includes individuals within management, those who volunteer to help with events and meetings and anyone else who might come into contact with the children enrolled in the program.  A criminal background check is the only way in which the organization can ensure safety for these children.

How can youth organizations avail themselves of criminal background check procedures? Obviously, the local law enforcement office is one solution.  In fact, this has been the most common resource for businesses who utilize criminal background check procedures during the hiring process.  However, the largest drawback to this method is that it does not offer comprehensive results.  For instance, while the local sheriff's office will be able to provide criminal records for the immediate area and the state police office will be able to provide statewide records, this method is unable to provide results from outside the state in question.  Where can organizations turn in order to find the most comprehensive criminal records?

The best option for any organization in need of conducting a criminal background check is to make use of online resources.  These third-party websites act as repositories for national, state and local criminal records, ensuring that those who conduct a criminal background check are provided with the most comprehensive results possible.  This is the only way that a youth organization (or any other organization) can hope to attain the most viable results and ensure that rapists, molesters and other criminals do not find a way within the program.

These organizations are urged to make use of modern tools for criminal background check procedures.  Parents should contact the organization to which their child belongs and inquire about their procedures.  If an unsatisfactory answer is received, then parents should conduct a criminal background check on their own.  While this might seem difficult and time consuming, there is no other way to ensure the safety of the children involved.  Organizations must step up and take security seriously. In a modern world in which sex offenders are routinely relocated to residential areas where children play in the streets, criminal background check procedures are the only thing standing between your child and an uncertain future.

The number of youth organizations on a nationwide scale increasing their use of criminal background check procedures has increased somewhat.  However, every organization within the US should make it their duty to routinely conduct such checks on anyone within the organization, without respect to station or length of service.  The number of criminals found within these organizations demonstrates that crime is no respecter of status or service – the only sure way to weed out the criminal element is strict adherence to a policy in which criminal background check procedures are conducted on everyone involved.  No other method results in the benefits required.