TRI-C Youth Athletics, NFP

Background Check Policies

January 2020

PURPOSE
It is the intent of this policy to establish certain guidelines wherein the Tri-C Athletics Board can seek to protect our program participants by investigating the background of coaches and volunteers (hereinafter referred to as “candidates”) who will be involved in Tri-C Athletics.

GENERAL

A. Criminal background screenings are conducted by an outside third party who specializes in such work.  Candidates provide information online in the privacy of their own home.  It takes about five minutes.  The cost will be paid by Tri-C Athletics.

B. Any person who has been found guilty, pled guilty; or pled no contest, regardless of adjudication, to any of the disqualifying offenses listed in this policy will be immediately disqualified from coaching and/or volunteer positions with Tri-C Athletics. Tri-C Athletics also reserves the right to disqualify a person for any crime that would be considered a potential risk to children and/or vulnerable populations. A candidate who willfully fails to comply with this background screening policy shall be automatically disqualified.

C. This policy will apply to all Tri-C Athletics board members, coaches, and assistant coaches participating in sanctioned Tri-C athletic leagues. Each coach/board member will be screened every 12 months for as long as he or she continues participating in Tri-C Athletics.

The criminal background screening is mandatory, there are no exceptions.

SCREENING PROCESS

All candidates must sign a Release for Criminal History provided by Protect Youth Sports [PYS] (www.protectyouthsports.com)  This release allows PYS the right to check criminal history records and verify social security numbers. This release and screening is executed directly by PYS.  Tri-C Athletics does not conduct the background check.  The secure URL on which candidates can execute their background check https://opportunities.averity.com/tricathletics

No other personal information (e.g. work history, financial, credit, etc.) is checked or researched. 

PYS will cross-reference the screening results with the disqualifying crimes listed in this policy. A pass/fail grade will then be relayed to Tri-C Athletics Board President based on the cross-reference. A pass grade appears for any candidate that has zero disqualifying crime matches.  A fail grade appears for any candidate that has one or more disqualifying crime matches. All information pertaining to the background check will remain with PYS, subject to the applicable laws requiring disclosure. Tri-C Athletics will not be informed of the results of any background check; rather, Tri-C Athletics will only be issued a pass/fail grade for each candidate.

If PYS reports any “fail” grade, the president of the Tri-C Athletics Board shall notify the candidate that he or she is disqualified for their desired position. Upon request, the candidate will receive a copy of the background check from PYS.

To help ensure confidentiality, criminal background reports shall be kept in a secure location by PYS – not the Tri-C athletics board – for a period as required by applicable law.

APPEALS PROCESS
If a candidate’s background check includes a charge set forth on the list of disqualifiers below, the Tric-C Athletics Board shall immediately disqualify a person from their position. There shall be no appeal of a decision to disqualify a candidate, if the candidate’s relevant criminal history is accurate; all decisions are final.

If a candidate wishes to dispute the content of the profile report, the candidate shall contact PYS by calling the telephone number listed on the report. The candidate is responsible for providing any or all documentation to support his or her claim.

If, in the future Tri-C Athletics decides to contract with a firm other than PYS to conduct background checks, the same stipulations as described above will apply with the new vendor.  

DISQUALIFYING CRIMES

If a candidate has been convicted of having committed any of the following crimes, the candidate will be disqualified.

1) All felonies involving a minor regardless of when such offenses occurred.  

2) All felonies involving bodily harm regardless of when such offenses occurred 

Examples of felonies involving bodily harm include but are not limited to murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated burglary, etc. 

3) All other felonies within the last ten (10) years 

4) All misdemeanor violence offenses within the past five (5) years.

Examples include, but are not limited to: simple assault, battery, domestic violence, hit and run, etc.

5) Any other misdemeanors within the past five (5) years that would be considered a potential danger to children.

Examples include, but are not limited to: contributing to the delinquency of a minor, providing alcohol to a minor, etc.

6) All misdemeanor drug offenses within the past five (5) years or two (2) or more offenses within the past ten (10) years.

Examples include, but are not limited to: simple drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, etc.

7) Two (2) misdemeanor alcohol offenses within the past five (5) years or three (3) or more offenses within the past ten (10) years.
Examples include, but are not limited to: driving under the influence, drunk and disorderly, public intoxication, etc.

If a coach or board member is arrested or formally charged with any of the offenses associated with (1) through (6) or a second offense for (7), that individual will be barred from participating in a Tri-C Athletics program until a resolution occurs not resulting in a conviction or entering a guilty plea or a no contest plea.  

In some cases, questions can arise as to what constitutes “bodily harm”, “violence offense”, “potential danger to children”, etc.  In these circumstances, the Tri-C Athletics Board will decide via a majority vote whether to disqualify an individual.