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When sexual predators prey on children, there are always at least two side effects – an enormous amount of pain and grief, and a period of finger-pointing when parents, lawmakers, and others work to determine who is at fault. Frequently, the blame doesn’t just lie with the perpetrators themselves, but also third parties who didn’t take the necessary precautions to protect the minors in their care.
This should be of particular concern to nonprofit organizations, most of which employ only very cursory background check processes (or none at all). Following high-profile lawsuits, many organizations compare volunteer names against sex offender registries and court records, but that isn’t going nearly far enough – in either a court of law or the court of public opinion.
At first glance, a nonprofit or charitable group might seem like a poor choice for any kind of criminal. Look closer, though, and you’ll see that most volunteer opportunities feature some combination of personal contact, access to sensitive records, and very few barriers to entry. Consider what happens when the wrong person decides to join as a volunteer or staff member:
How can nonprofits and charities get the background screening and identity verification they need without breaking their budgets? The easy answer is to pass those costs along to volunteers themselves and let them pay for their own self-screening. That might sound like a big deterrent to recruiting new members, but the reality is that it’s a very small obstacle for someone who is truly committed to your cause – and those with a criminal history aren’t likely to pay money to raise red flags on themselves.
It has been shown time and time again in several courts that nonprofits and other organizations have a duty to protect children and others from dangerous criminals when they should have known the risks. With adequate nonprofit background screening, you can do the right thing for your group, your volunteers, and everyone else associated with your organization.