Criminal checks

CBS Channel 4 in Denver has broken a story about how people with criminal backgrounds including child abuse, assault, and theft wind up working on group homes around the state. Here’s a substantive excerpt from their story.

“A CBS4 investigation found many of the employees in the state’s group homes have criminal records that might disqualify them from many lines of work, yet they are caring for the Colorado’s most vulnerable population. The CBS4 probe turned up employees with arrests and convictions for domestic violence, assault, shoplifting and drug use.”

That’s interesting, but it’s not much different from a number of stories we see in the news about how convicted felons are employed in sensitive positions because some organization isn’t doing the background checks that prudence and common sense call for. The important lesson for you in this story is buried a bit further down.

“In some cases, the state is unaware of its employees’ criminal arrests and convictions since they occurred after the employees were hired. While criminal background checks are conducted prior to hiring, there are no regular, ongoing checks done after that. Criminal infractions that occur after hiring are generally unknown to the Colorado Department of Human Services, […]