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Churches Staff Identification Cards
Over 100 church workers have been accused of child molestation in the past year alone. A study performed in 2005 showed the primary reason churches were in court involved sexual misconduct with a minor. Churches across the country are suddenly realizing the importance of background screening of the volunteers in the children’s ministries.
Recently John Corbin pled guilty of 131 counts of possessing child pornography in Main. At the time, he was active in the youth ministries at Chestnut Street United Methodist. Prior to this Corbin’s criminal history included sexual offences in Vermont and California.
So what are churches and other volunteer organizations doing to keep out people that can harm our children and the children we are to care for and protect? In years past people would freely and willingly drop off their children at the church nursery or for Sunday school. It was almost as if the church was one of the last remaining safe places we could take our children; but being above suspicion is no longer the case. Sexual predators are seeking out places to get closer to our innocent children and they have found that churches are often too busy to lock the gate against such people with criminal histories. Many non profit organizations don’t have the resources to ensure everyone is trustworthy and even when they do they are not watched as they should.
Cost of Introducing Photo ID Cards and Background Screening
There are only a few options that can be considered when looking at implementing a photo ID card and criminal background screening solution. There are many sources that can be utilized for the screening process from free local searches completed through the police department to full blown investigations taking days to complete costing up to $75 per individual. What FullIdentity.com has introduced is what has been labeled as the most complete background check possible without sending people to complete county courthouse investigations. The cost for a nationwide criminal background search and social security trace search and a photo ID card is only $9.50 per individual regardless of the number of people in your organization! The reason it is this affordable is due to FullIdentity.com’s mother company, VTD Sports ability to purchase tens of thousands of background checks from major screening organizations and producing hundreds of thousands of high quality photo ID cards for young athletes across the nation annually.
When it comes to producing the ID cards there are only a few options:
| Possible Solutions |
Pros |
Cons |
| Laminated ID Cards |
Cost Effective |
Easily reproduced |
| ID Card Printer and Software |
Hard to Reproduce |
Expensive, Learning
Curve |
| Outsource to 3rd Party |
Hard to Reproduce |
Cost, Finding the right
Vendor |
| Full Identity.com |
Cost Effective, Easity to
Use |
Getting Started |
Straight from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
"Unfortunately, certain youth organizations inadvertently provide the child molester with almost everything necessary to operate a child sex ring. A scouting organization, for example, fulfills the offender’s needs for access to children of a specific age or gender, a bonding mechanism to ensure the cooperation and secrecy of victims, and opportunities to spend the night with a victim or have a victim change clothing. The bonding mechanism of the scouts is especially useful to the offender. Loyalty to the leader and group, competition among boys, a system of rewards and recognition, and indoctrination through oaths and rituals can all be used to control, manipulate, and motivate victims. Leaders in such organizations, especially those who are not the parents of children involved, should be carefully screened and closely monitored."
Convicted Child Molester in Detroit Churches
In June of 2006 convicted child molester Ryan Baker was back in court for violating his probation. Ryan had become known for his song and dance in Detroit Michigan at the local churches and even after his conviction he continued to work with kids both in and out of local churches.
Ryan was on probation for molesting a 14 year old boy and one of the conditions of his probation was to stay away from children. In court he was shown video tapes of him dancing with young children after the conviction.
Additionally, a reporter that assisted in the arrest and investigation scheduled and met with Baker to finalize details for working with a group of fifth graders. The reporter quoted Baker in stating at the meeting “Kids is like my heart. Really. Kids is my heart.”
Today Ryan is going to serve 30 days for violating his probation and could face as much as two years based on the results of the hearings.
FullIdentity.com Brings The SOLUTION...
Fullidentity.com has come up with a solution that gives you the ability to manage your volunteer workers with ease and accuracy. A background screen has been created that does a social security number trace to find all names associated with a specific social security number. Each of these names is identified and a search is done with the date of birth and each of the names found. To ensure you have been given the correct information, you request a copy of the individual’s driver’s license as well as a signed release form from each individual. With your secure account, you complete the background screen and a custom photo id card can be mailed to you or the individual directly based on your approval.
Adding Photo ID cards to your background screening procedures allows everyone to know with certainty who has been screened by your organization. Some organizations have decided to use the cards as badges and all workers wear the badges when volunteering their time in the kids ministry. Other organizations simply provide ID cards that must be presented when requested.
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