Howard County Youth Program
Background Screening Policy
Adopted November 05, 2018
PURPOSE
It is the intent of this policy to establish certain guidelines wherein the Howard County Youth Program (hereinafter referred to as “HCYP”) and its affiliated programs can seek to protect our program participants by investigating the background of all volunteers (hereinafter referred to as “candidates”) who will be involved in HCYP approved programs.
GENERAL
A. Criminal background screenings are conducted by an outside third party who specializes in such work.
B. Any person who has been found guilty, pled guilty; or pled no contest, regardless of adjudication, or has a pending charge pertaining to, any of the disqualifying offenses listed in this policy will be immediately disqualified from all volunteer positions with HCYP. HCYP also reserves the right to disqualify a person for any crime that would be considered a potential risk to children and/or vulnerable populations. A candidate who willfully fails to comply with this background screening policy shall be automatically disqualified.
C. This policy will apply to all HCYP volunteers to include, but not limited to, head and assistant coaches participating in sanctioned HCYP leagues and programs. If there is any doubt as to who should be screened, the general rule is anyone who would potentially have unsupervised access to children in a HCYP approved program. Each volunteer will be screened every 36 months for as long as he or she continues participating in HCYP approved programs.
The criminal background screening is mandatory, there are no exceptions.
SCREENING PROCESS
All candidates must sign a Release for Criminal History which gives HCYP the right to check criminal history records and verify social security numbers. This release and screening is executed directly, through www.protectyouthsports.com, and the secure URL at which candidates can execute their HCYP background check is: https://opportunities.averity.com/HCYouthProgram
The cost associated with these background screenings will be paid for by HCYP.
No other personal information (e.g. work history, financial, credit, etc.) is checked or researched. The company executing background checks has agreed to such terms contractually and confirms such direction annually.
The third-party contractor conducting the checks will cross-reference the screening results with the disqualifying crimes listed in this policy. A pass/fail grade will then be relayed to HCYP based on the cross-reference. A pass grade is given to any candidate that has zero disqualifying crime matches and a fail grade is given to any candidate that has one or more disqualifying crime matches. All information pertaining to the background check will remain with the third-party contractor, subject to the applicable laws requiring disclosure. HCYP will not be informed of the results of any background check; rather, the HCYP will only be issued a pass/fail grade for each candidate.
If the third-party contractor reports any “fail” grades to HCYP, HCYP shall notify the candidate that he or she is disqualified for their desired position. HCYP will also notify the appropriate sports Director if their candidate is disqualified. Upon request, the candidate will receive a copy of the background check from the third-party contractor.
CONFIDENTIALITY
To help ensure confidentiality, HCYP Board of Directors personnel should not be notified of a volunteer’s criminal history. The criminal background reports shall be kept in a secure location by the third-party contractor for a period as required by applicable law.
APPEALS PROCESS
If a candidate’s background check includes a charge set forth on the list of disqualifiers below, HCYP shall immediately disqualify a person from their position. There shall be no appeal of a decision to disqualify a candidate, if the candidate’s relevant criminal history is accurate; all decisions are final.
If a candidate wishes to dispute the content of the profile report, the candidate shall contact the third party responsible for conducting the background check by calling the telephone number listed on the report. The candidate is responsible for providing any or all documentation to support his or her claim.
DISQUALIFYING CRIMES
If a candidate (1) has been convicted of, (2) has a charge pending against him or her in which it is alleged that he or she has committed any of the following crimes, or (3) has a record of a conviction of an equivalent offense in another state, the candidate will be disqualified from the position with any program approved by HCYP.
All Sex Offenses
Examples include, but are not limited to: child molestation, rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sodomy, prostitution, solicitation, indecent exposure, etc.
All Felony Violence Offenses
Examples include, but are not limited to: murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated burglary, etc.
All Felony offenses other than violence or sex within the past ten (10) years.
Examples include, but are not limited to: drug offenses, theft, embezzlement, fraud, child endangerment, etc.
All Misdemeanor Violence offenses within the past seven (7) years.
Examples include, but are not limited to: simple assault, battery, domestic violence, hit and run, etc.
Two (2) Misdemeanor Alcohol offenses within the past five (5) years or three (3) or more offenses within the past ten (10) years.
Examples include, but are not limited to: driving under the influence, drunk and disorderly, public intoxication, etc.
All Misdemeanor Drug offenses within the past five (5) years or two (2) or more offenses within the past ten (10) years.
Examples include, but are not limited to: simple drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, etc.
Any other misdemeanor within the past five (5) years that would be considered a potential danger to children.
Examples include, but are not limited to: contributing to the delinquency of a minor, providing alcohol to a minor, etc.
WHY THESE CRIMES?
The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) has reviewed the resources of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners and sought the counsel of recognized background screening experts to develop a set of Recommended Guidelines for Volunteer Background Screening in park and recreation settings. These guidelines were produced as a result of this review.