Background checks keep games safe
The Daily Leader has this article today about Background checks and how they are keeping the parks and recreation services safe from employees with criminal histories.'Tis the season of fly balls, strikeouts and grand slams. And as parents suit up their little sluggers, the question has to arise as to who will be supervising the players on the field.
Nationally, the National Recreation and Park Association is providing background screening and photo identification for volunteer coaches.
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Here in Brookhaven, though, the recreation department has teamed up with the Brookhaven Police Department to make the screening process more affordable, since the NRPA charges $90 per screening. It also helps to have local hands on the job.
"Chief (Pap) Henderson screens all the coaches in all the sports one time a year," said Terry Reid, recreation department director. "So if they're coaching two sports, they're only screened once that year. And Pap lets us know if there's a problem before they ever make it to the field."
The police department does not make the decision on who is passable and who is not, though. Authorities pass the information on and let the recreation department handle the decision-making process.
"Without a doubt, we give them every bit of the information we find," said Henderson. "But then the decision lies with them to decide who they will admit and who they won't."
Reid said part of the advantage of a smaller city like Brookhaven is that everyone is fairly familiar with each other already.
Hurricane Katrina threw a bit of a wrench in those gears, however. With people displaced and migrating north, there were some new faces in town.
"We've only had three predators call, but that's it out of about 500 coaches a year," said Reid. "And two of those were from Louisiana after Katrina."
Background checks go back five years for offenses such as minor drug charges and misdemeanor offenses. A sexual offense, however, automatically disqualifies a candidate no matter how far back on his or her record it is.
The background check system is first and foremost to protect the children who enroll in the sports sponsored by the recreation department, but Reid said it also protects the programs.
"The insurance company did an audit for the first time in forever," he said. "And this is the first thing they asked about."
Both Henderson and Reid said the screening process is an imperative one, especially when coaches are allowed to volunteer. Henderson said while a criminal record shouldn't keep someone from a normal life, it's still something that should be taken into consideration in situations where children are involved.
"For example, sex offenders," he said. "Depending on the crime, we don't want to hold it over their heads forever, but we certainly don't want them around our children. We owe it to our parents to screen for that."
And Reid took it a bit further, pointing out the dire need for positive role models in today's society.
"If you've got coaches you can trust, it gives the kids someone to emulate and hopefully follow in their footsteps," he said. "You do what you're taught, so we try to find positive role models."
Read the whole Article here
posted by Nicholas Gustavson @ 4:03 PM
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