KidCheck Secure Children's Check-in Shares The Six Advantages to Screening Candidates

The value of screening candidates who will receive direct access to kids and youth has grown significantly. Comprehensive screening acts as a deterrent for bad behavior and provides a layer of protection for families, staff, your organization, and eliminates easy access to children. At KidCheck, we highlight seven essential elements to comprehensively screen adult candidates applying to work directly with kids and youth.

The seven essential elements include:

 

  1. A written application
  2. A local, state, national, and FBI background check
  3. Social media review
  4. Personal references
  5. The Interview
  6. Motor vehicle report
  7. Establishing a waiting period

Foundational to an organization’s continued success is an applicant’s character, commitment to organizational safety, work history with kids and youth, and willingness to adhere to compliance policy. Long gone are the days of only completing a background check to determine whether a candidate should receive access to the most vulnerable. Today’s organizations require a more sophisticated approach.

Here are five top benefits of screening candidates:

  1. Offers A Multi-Dimensional Candidate View – This means it allows you to see applicants for who they really are when working with kids and youth. A multi-dimensional view bubbles up need-to-know information about a candidate’s character and incorporates feedback from the interview team and outside references.
  2. Provides Higher Quality Volunteers, Staff, & Leadership – Talent acquisition as it’s called should be a top priority for every organization, especially for individuals working with kids and youth. Looking at several factors, screening and a multi-dimensional view enable organizations to get the best candidate for each position – see the seven essential elements mentioned above. It also saves time and money by removing those that aren’t a good fit.
  3. Improves Child Safety and Security – Keeping kids safe is a priority for organizations serving kids and youth. Without comprehensively evaluating an applicant’s background, it can be challenging to know if an individual has a violent or criminal past. Screening helps organization have a safer environment by filtering out those may pose a threat to safety.
  4. Reduces Legal Risk of Poor Hiring – Organizations that bypass comprehensive screening run the risk of becoming liable for any destructive or negligent actions committed by an individual. The organizations that don’t prioritize screening applicants, checking records, or evaluating backgrounds run the risk of incurring a substantial expense in legal fees and judgments.
  5. Ensures Due Diligence and Compliance – Unfortunately, 100% of abuse can’t be eliminated. Still, organizations can make every effort in their power to make sure anyone with direct access to children in any capacity has been through a thorough evaluation.

Click here for the top six safety benefits of screening.

Reliable, committed volunteers, staff, and leadership are essential elements of what makes an organization safe for kids and youth. That’s why it’s important to invest in getting to know those applying to work directly with children and youth. Screening candidates is the first step in increasing safety.

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