The GAO – a “congressional watchdog” responsible for investigating how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars – commissioned this nationwide report to examine the efforts being made to address to what extent:
- states conduct FBI record checks for selected employment sectors and face any challenges;
- states have improved the completeness of records, and remaining challenges that federal agencies can help mitigate; and
- private companies conduct criminal record checks, the benefits those checks provide to employers, and any related challenges.
The report highlights improvements made by states to ensure more complete criminal history records – i.e., both arrest and final disposition information – which can help minimize the delays in criminal records checks for applicant’s seeking employment.
Of the 47 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that responded to the GAO’s survey, most reported conducting FBI criminal checks most commonly in employment sectors for jobs such as teachers, youth development positions, volunteers serving the elderly or individuals with disabilities and national service program participants (e.g., AmeriCorps). Twenty states reported that more than 75 percent of their arrest records contained final dispositions in 2012, an increase from just 16 states in 2006. States that reported not conducting FBI record checks pointed to a lack of a designated agency to review the results of those checks, among other challenges.
Although states have improved their criminal recordkeeping, a Disposition Task Force was established in 2009 by the FBI’s Advisory Policy Board to help further facilitate improvements for the completeness of state records and the requirements of how states report disposition information. However, the task force remains without plans outlining time frames for completing remaining goals, such as examining and recommending improvements in national standards for collecting and reporting disposition information.
Also highlighted by the survey is a rise in the use of private companies – such as Truescreen – to conduct criminal history record checks. According to the report, the increase in the use of these federally regulated companies is a result of rising employer demand for criminal records checks as well as the benefits a third-party screening firm can provide, such as faster response times.
The full version of the GAO’s report can be found here.
Source: Additional Actions Could Enhance the Completeness of Records Used For Employment-Related Background Checks, 3/16/2015
Posted: March 25, 2015