Protecting at-risk populations like children and the elderly is extremely important in creating a safe environment for those members of society that are the most vulnerable to malfeasance. While it may not be possible to prevent every bad person from getting a job with unsupervised time with at-risk populations the risks can surely be minimized. Risk management for protecting this populace includes performing due diligence before hiring someone and giving them access to your home.
The best way to conduct such due diligence is to use a third party employment screening company to conduct a thorough nanny background check on the job candidate prior to hiring. This vetting process should include a criminal background check, sex offender search, social security number trace with address history and verifications including personal references, credentials check and prior employment reference check.
In Boston a large online nanny care provider is under fire for seemingly not providing thorough background checks. Recently from the Boston Globe the use of background screening is often highlighted as a necessary and required step in vetting a nanny or someone applying for a similar job. In the Boston case a subsequent review discovered a variety of criminal cases against a poorly vetted nanny.
A Boston Globe review found 28 criminal cases against Stephanie Lee Fox a notorious thief. She was convicted of numerous larceny and fraud charges in the Boston area, spent time in jail and was still on probation when she registered as a nanny on Care.com. The Waltham MA based company failed to discover the numerous criminal offenses during a background check. The company promised that background checks had been performed, however now after this incident and others in Nebraska and Wisconsin it is becoming clear that Care.com’s background screening efforts are subpar and not at all adequate for their customers looking to hire nanny’s to care for their children.
In the Boston case the couple that hired Fox as their nanny discovered that she stole more than $280,000 from their checking account. As horrible as being robbed is it could have been much worse if a nanny or other caregiver abused children or the elderly. Either way it is absolutely essential to properly vet anyone coming into the home especially those entrusted to the safeguard and well-being of children and the elderly.
While conducting a thorough nanny background check is paramount it is equally important to use a professional third party background screening company to furnish the public records and/or consumer reports necessary in evaluating the worthiness of a person before placing them in unsupervised environments with at-risk populations like children and the elderly.
To read more regarding the importance of professionally background screening a nanny and other caregivers before letting them into the home read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release.