- Watch WSPA - Greenville (SC) News Spot - "Who's Watching Your Children?"

The number of nonprofit organizations is growing rapidly. Many are formed to provide education and recreation opportunities for our kids. This rapid growth also presents a greater opportunity for persons with criminal backgrounds to seek employment or volunteer with these organizations so that they can have direct contact with the children. Safe America and ChoicePoint, Inc. are partnering to help protect America's youth by promoting background checks of prospective employees and volunteers by nonprofits chartered to serve children.

SAFE NONPROFITS INITIATIVE

Safe America is proud to partner with ChoicePoint, Inc. on a "Safe Nonprofits Initiative" to promote the safety benefits of conducting national background screens on all volunteers and employees working with children and vulnerable populations. The exploding growth of nonprofit organizations brings with it an alarming opportunity for volunteers with criminal records to have direct contact with the children that those organizations were chartered to protect.

Every day, tens of millions of children access the resources and support network of nonprofit organizations. Volunteers and staff members are the heartbeat of nonprofits and enable them to provide a valuable service to these children. However, in this era of giving, nonprofit organizations are finding themselves in an unusual position: falling prey to individuals applying for jobs or volunteer positions who have criminal records. As volunteerism increases, so does the risk to children.

ChoicePoint recently conducted an audit of 1.6 million background screens performed during a three year period between 2002 and 2005. The results revealed that more than 86,000 individuals with undisclosed criminal records tried to work or volunteer in the nonprofit sector. The audit indicates:

* Every six minutes a convicted criminal tries to attain a position at a nonprofit organization.

* Every 43 hours at least one convicted sex offender tries to attain a position at a youth-oriented nonprofit organization.

* In a review of applicants for a large national youth-serving organization, out of approximately 1.03 million applicants screened: - 121,392 had criminal records (12 percent or roughly the population of Hartford, Conn.)
-740 of those records were sex-related convictions
- 305 were Registered Sex Offenders
- 2,031 had drug-related convictions
- 153 had murder convictions

This same audit shows the hit rate for ChoicePoint's nonprofit customers is 5 percent. This statistic means that out of 100 people screened, five of them had a criminal record, an increase of 2 percent since the 2003 audit.

Click on the photo of Atlanta Chief of Police Richard Pennington to hear his public service announcement concerning volunteer screening by nonprofits.

How can a nonprofit protect the people it serves?

Today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, 2.7 percent of the U.S. population has served time in jail or prison at some point in their lifetime. If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated one out of 15 (6.6 %) people will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.

A nonprofit can protect the people it serves by conducting a national background check of available records on every volunteer and job applicant prior to hire. For example, a search of the National Criminal File accesses more than 20 million criminal conviction records from a wide range of record sources across all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Guam.

National background checks are also important because many applicants hold conviction records in a separate state than the one in which they are now applying.

ChoicePoint recently reviewed its screening results for a major youth sports organization. Out of 57,053 searches performed in six months, 6,881 "hits" yielded criminal backgrounds. Nearly fifty percent were outside the state of residence, and 25 people screened were registered sex offenders. Other undisclosed offenses included first degree rape, child abuse-neglect and first degree murder.

The following news stories further stress the importance of background screenings:

* A large nonprofit sports organization started conducting criminal background checks on its 65,000 coaches and volunteers after discovering some of them have committed crimes, including murder and incest (The Seattle Times, March 7, 2004).

* Despite convictions of abuse, a notorious pedophile was able to find work in school systems in two states and volunteer positions with youth organizations and athletic leagues for more than 20 years (Chicago Sun-Times, June 23, 2002).
Of course, hiring a convicted criminal does not mean that the person will commit the same crime again. We believe in the goodness of people and those that can be rehabilitated. However, nonprofit organizations need to consider the recidivism statistics for certain crimes, particularly sex offenders. Sex offenders are four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another related crime after their discharge from prison. Nonprofit organizations need to protect the people they serve, and a simple, but thorough background screening (and the appropriate action) can alleviate issues before they arise.

To learn more about ChoicePoint's Nonprofit Volunteer Screening program Click Here.

To learn more about ChoicePoint's Corporate Citizenship programs, click on the CP Cares logo.

About ChoicePoint

ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS) is the leading provider of identification and credential verification services for making smarter decisions in a world challenged by increased risks. Serving the needs of business, government, non-profit organizations and individuals, ChoicePoint works to create a safer and more secure society through the responsible use of information while ensuring the protection of personal privacy. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.choicepoint.com.