So, you know you want to screen coaches involved in your program, but you have no idea where to start. Sound familiar?

Well, first, we’re glad you found us. Protect Youth Sports is the premiere background screening agency for youth sports programs across the nation. We are nationally-accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) and are renowned for our dedicated focus to not only providing best-in-class background check results, but also encouraging our clients to make child safety education a priority for everyone involved with the organization (employees and volunteers, alike). Our commitment to delivering these duties is unparalleled, and our roster of partners is a testament to this.

Second, we understand your pain. The laws, rules and regulations surrounding background checks are difficult to understand and ever-changing. We’re lucky we have an amazing team of screening experts whose job it is to stay on top of trends. It’s nearly impossible for non-insiders to match the amount of time and energy it takes to comply with screening laws. We don’t expect you to know everything and we’re happy to explain things for you. It’s one of the reasons we started this blog in the first place; to help keep youth sports organizations like yourselves informed about some of the challenges you might face while implementing background checks.

Finally, we have just the solution to the problem that lead you here in the first place – how to pick the right background check for the coaches in your organization. Protect Youth Sports has consulted with thousands of youth sports organizations to help them understand the types of criminal record sources. There are several factors to consider when searching the “national” criminal database:

  • understanding what jurisdictions are included in the database
  • how often the records are updated
  • what identifiers are or are not given
  • what search parameters are used
  • what compliance issues are associated with a database “hit” as it relates to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Clearing out un-reportable records before sending results is the best way to protect the applicant’s rights and is required by the FCRA.

We’ve developed a comprehensive, online guideline to help you discover which background check is right for your coaches. Click here to see our state map. Simply highlight your state to locate our recommendation. This recommendation is based on federal and state laws and our experience conducting previous background checks there. From there, you’ll be directed to one of our two basic background check bundles.

The BASIC package includes:

  • SSN Verification and Address History Search
  • National Criminal Database Search
  • National Sex Offender Search
  • Re-verification of Criminal Records
  • Alias Names Search

The SSN search validates the SSN that a particular applicant provides. The SSN search is vital to verifying the identity of an individual, alias names and any previous addresses. All alias names found are searched on the national database and sex offender registries by last name, in addition to the applicant name provided.

The National criminal database search has the potential to identify certain crimes that may have occurred outside any addresses found on the SSN search. The national search is not recommended as a stand-alone service in every state and county due to the limitations of the data being queried. The sex offender search will identify if an applicant is listed on a particular sex offender registry. The sex offender search is critical to identifying any prior sex offenses. All hits found on the database and sex offender registries are re-verified for accuracy in compliance with FCRA.

The Plus package search includes:

  • SSN Verification and Address History Search
  • National Criminal Database Search
  • National Sex Offender Search
  • Re-verification of Criminal Records
  • Alias Names Search
  • County or Statewide criminal court search (plus mandatory fees)

A criminal court search is a name check for any criminal history (Felony and misdemeanors where available), at the county or state level. Due to the fact that a majority of crimes occur within the jurisdiction of an individual?s home address, the county criminal search or statewide criminal search should be ordered based on the most current address history of the applicant, or the address with the longest residence within the past 7 years.

We hope that this has offered some clarification and guidance for your background screening needs. If you still have questions, we’re always here. Leave us a comment below, email us, or give us a ring at 1-877-319-5587 anytime.