Thursday, December 15, 2011

Casino investors refuse background checks, may delay opening



A board of directors' refusal to submit background investigations could push back the opening of the Glass City's new casino. According to The Blade, the Ohio Casino Control Commission sent a letter demanding every member of holding and management companies involved with Hollywood Casino participate in the license application process for casino operators. So far, the casino's investment group, Fortress, has submitted its required application as a company, but ten directors will not submit individual background check applications.

All personnel of Penn National Gaming Inc., the casino's owner, already submitted individual applications.
"The commission has had a number of meetings where it has expressed its desire and set deadlines for filings to the legal representatives of Penn National and Fortress," said Matt Schuler, Ohio Casino Control Commision executive director, to the newspaper. "They have indicated that members of the board of Fortress are holding back their applications to see if legislative changes in the definition of 'holding company' go through the [Ohio] General Assembly."

Penn faced similar problems with obtaining their casino operator's license and the Casino Control Commission in October.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Cutting Costs Now in Background Checks Could Cost You Later



By Shane Sawyer

Pinnacle


Minimum checks are not enough to safeguard our organizations or our communities. For many industries such as Healthcare and Education, states are requiring a minimum search through state agencies. Unfortunately, the legislators are misinformed as to the effectiveness of such searches and organizations are falsely given a sense that they and their organizations are safe. Fact is, they are not safe from negligent hiring lawsuits, nor are they protecting the community when relying on these minimal checks.



St. James Middle School in South Carolina is now being sued after a social studies teacher had sex with a 13 year old girl. According to The Myrtle Beach Herald, the school ran a check through the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and nothing was found. Later it was realized that the teacher, Norbert Ryan, had committed this offense before in Michigan. SLED, as with most state checks, only turns up convictions reported within that state. The School followed protocols mandated by most states yet lives have been destroyed and though the school cites cost as a factor, they will surely pay much more now than a comprehensive background check would have cost.



States continue to require only state or fingerprint checks in Healthcare even after the Office of Inspector General; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found 92 percent of nursing facilities across the country employed at least one individual with a criminal record. This finding in spite of the fact states were already requiring background checks through their own agencies. This is perhaps the most conclusive proof we have to show state requirements are not enough to ensure protection against negligent hiring and a thorough criminal history report is the best defense.



While state legislators continue to get it wrong, organizations have a responsibility to conduct due diligence in pre-employment background screening to protect against negligent hiring.



Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Background Check Policy for Hiring Teachers Questioned in Lawsuit against School District

Norbert Ryan



By Amanda Kelley
The Myrtle Beach Herald

The father of a former St. James Middle School student is suing Horry County Schools over the district’s hiring of a teacher who had sex with the man’s then-13-year-old daughter, according to court records.
That teacher, Norbert Ryan, had a sexual relationship with one of his students in Michigan prior to being hired by Horry County Schools, the lawsuit states. Neither the local girl nor her father are identified in the lawsuit, which was filed this week in civil court.
Jeff Chandler, the family’s attorney, said information about Ryan’s past could have easily been obtained by Horry County Schools. “The SRO (school resource officer) found it by just doing a little inquiry by calling the former high school in Michigan,” he said. “The school district failed our client in the hiring.”
Police said Ryan was a 32-year-old social studies teacher at St. James Middle when he had sex with the girl during the 2009-2010 school year. The illegal relationship led to Ryan’s arrest. He was sentenced to seven years in prison last year after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor younger than 16. He was ordered to pay court costs and was placed on the central registry of child abuse and neglect.
The lawsuit states that the school district was negligent in both the supervision of its students and the screening of prospective hires. Teal Britton, a spokeswoman for Horry County Schools, said the district’s process for handling background checks varies depending on the applicant.
“Let’s just say that [someone] teaches somewhere else in the system or they are a new teacher in South Carolina,” she said. “They’ve already gone through a background check as part of their certification.”
For those teachers, Britton said, there’s no additional check through the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Out-of-state hires are put through a SLED records check, but that search only turns up in-state offenses.
Just looking at an in-state criminal history isn’t thorough enough, said Kenneth Trump, a Cleveland-based school security consultant.
In cases where teachers have inappropriate relations with students, he said it’s actually common for those teachers’ criminal history records to come up clean.
“The words background check and criminal history check are not one in the same,” he said. “A criminal history check is just that. It is a records check of prior crime. A background check should be more comprehensive. It should include a criminal history check, but it should encompass a great deal more, including character references.”
Horry County Schools screens out-of-state teachers differently than it does in-state or newly certified ones, Britton said.
“There would be reference checks,” she said. “And they have the ability to do more expansive checks if there is a suggestion that that needs to be done.”
Although the district can do a more thorough background check, Britton said that doesn’t necessarily happen.
“[If] someone certified from another state received very favorable recommendations for employment, [then] there would not necessarily be a national background check,” Britton said.
Trump questions whether that practice is sufficient.
“What is the trigger to get them to dig further?” he asked. “You have to dig to find the red flag to dig further. If you’re only scratching the surface, then you’re taking transcripts or information that is submitted by the applicant at face value.”
The issue of background checks comes down to cost.
“With 5,400 employees and the cost of doing those checks, you don’t annually check everyone,” Britton said. “But you do when there is a suggestion for cause to do so.”
The cost adds up quickly for the district. Britton said even parents wishing to chaperone field trips are required to have a SLED background check.
“It costs us $25 at a minimum to check you to see if it’s OK to be around kids in the classroom,” she said. “You can see those costs add up.”
Trump said the district’s explanation sounds familiar.
“What school districts historically have not done is a truly thorough background check,” he said. “They do the minimum required under state mandate and they do cursory checks and verifications of employment dates. But typically the schools point out that due to budgetary and staffing restraints they don’t have the resources to do comprehensive background checks.”
Many districts pass off troubling teachers on other districts, he said. He calls this “passing the trash.”
“Historically school districts, when they have a problem employee or someone suspected of being a problematic employee, instead of prosecuting or terminating that employee they will allow and encourage the employee to resign and then that employee later on moves to other districts,” he said.
The only thing that the then-former school district will say is that a person was hired here from this date to that date.”
Trump said school districts need to do more detailed background checks.
“It’s doing their due diligence and it’s a cultural change,” he said. “If you’re doing a thorough background check, often it can be those things that are not said by a previous employer that can be as much a red flag as those things that are said.”
Other things to pay attention to are on paper. Trump said gaps in employment and significant mobility could be reasons to question candidacy, though mobility will change if there is a spouse in the military.
“You don’t always see major and frequent movement from town to town and state to state,” Trump said of educators. “If you start seeing a person move, and especially if they’re not moving up the ladder position-wise, that can be a red flag.”
He said school districts need to encourage employees to report their suspicions and action should be taken if those questions are confirmed.
Britton said Tuesday that the school district had not been served with the family’s lawsuit. She said the district typically doesn’t discuss pending litigation.
The school district where Ryan reportedly worked in Michigan referred questions to its human resources division. Calls to that division were not returned.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns