|
Child
Abuse / Molestation Risk Management
Effective
for the 2004 season, Dixie Softball, Inc. has added a new
section on Child Abuse/Molestation to the Dixie Softball Rule Book.
Implementation of this risk management program or a similar program
is strongly recommended.
Click here for the text of this
regulation.
Documents
-
Simplified Child Abuse/Molestation Risk Management Program –
Click here to download in PDF or
Click
here for Microsoft Word.
League administrators should strongly consider implementation of this
program or a similar program which keys in on creating a hostile
environment for child abusers. This program should be carefully
studied, reviewed with local legal counsel, and customized to meet
the needs of each league. A sample Volunteer Application is included
on the last page.
The final version of this program should be distributed to all league
administrators and volunteers on an annual basis for their review and
agreement to abide by all terms, conditions, policies, and procedures
contained within.
Parent’s Guide To Child Abuse / Molestation Risk Management
Program -
Click here to download in PDF
or Click here for Microsoft Word.
It is recommended that this document be distributed to all parents on
an annual basis to help to explain the basic elements of the
Simplified Child Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program that has
been adopted by the league. Educated parents will greatly enhance
the effectiveness of this program.
Criminal Background Check Sources
It is
estimated that 9.6% of all volunteers screened have a criminal record
and 2.9% of would be coaches have had convictions involving sex
offenses, violence, or other felonies. Source: Southeastern
Security Consultants, Inc.
Local Law Enforcement
Local law enforcement should be contacted as a potential “free”
source of criminal background checks. When making a request to local
law enforcement for “free” criminal background checks,
please note that the only acceptable source is the NCIC database.
You should not rely solely on a single county courthouse check since
child predators often move from county to county and state to state.
NCIC provides a national criminal background check. However, the
limitation of the NCIC database is that it will only indicate if
there has been an arrest, but it won’t indicate the disposition
of such arrest. This is a problem because some arrests never result
in charges and others result in reduced charges or no conviction.
For those applicants with a criminal record, you may need to buy a
criminal background check from the vendors indicated below in order
to receive complete details.
It is our understanding that local law enforcement is typically not
willing to expend the manpower on running free NCIC criminal
background checks; however, it is worth making the phone call to find
out.
Intellicorp
Intellicorp
offers a "do it yourself" website where an authorized league
administrator may conduct a criminal background check on its volunteers at a
cost of $1.75 per volunteer in most states. This cost includes a statewide
records search in all counties plus a national "Super Search" where
available. The Super Search also includes 42 states of sex offender information
added on.
The $1.75 cost does not currently include full Statewide data in the states of
LA, MS, or SC. However MS and SC have State Department of Corrections data along
with probations included in the instant Super Search. It is recommended that these
states also be checked on the basis of a county of residence history dating back
to the past 7 years. The IntelliSearch system will provide the full
address history of the applicant and bring back the recommended searches based
upon that history automatically. The pricing is $8.00 per county per volunteer
if any single counties are necessary. It is our understanding that the average
number of counties to be searched for each volunteer is 2.5.
Intellicorp offers training on how to use the website as well as
support services on interpreting the results.
Click here for more information on Intellicorp
Southeastern Security Consultants, Inc. (SSCI)
SSCI offers a “full service” criminal background check.
Once the Volunteer Application with the appropriate information and
authorization is faxed to SSCI, they will run the criminal background
check on your behalf and assist with interpreting the results.
The cost for leagues affiliated with Dixie Youth, Dixie Boys/Majors,
and Dixie Softball is $15.00 per criminal background check per
volunteer. This includes a single county courthouse check for all
counties of residence going back 7 years into the past.
According to SSCI, their search is the most comprehensive and
affordable search available, combining a local/nationwide criminal
history search with a 32 state sex offender registry search.
Click here for more information on SSCI
Sexual Offender Registry Checks (SOR)
SOR checks are currently available on the internet for free in 43
states. Each state determines its own definition of what constitutes
a sex offender. As a result, some states only list high-risk (level
3) sex offenders. SOR’s rely on a third party to input the
information and current media accounts indicate that SOR’s in
many states are more than 50% incomplete. SOR information only goes
back to the mid 1990’s in most states. SOR’s will never
indicate other serious criminal history such as murder, armed
robbery, etc. For the reasons listed above, a league should not rely
on a SOR check. Instead only a criminal background check (CBC)
should be used.
On the other hand, Criminal Background Checks (CBC’s) will
provide all misdemeanor and felony information (not just sex
offenses) that a league may want to take into account in the
disqualification process. CBC’s show offenses that go back a
minimum of 7 years, but much longer in most cases. Also, CBC’s
do not rely on third parties to enter information into the database
as this happens automatically as part of the judicial process. It is
recommended that leagues use CBC’s in the volunteer screening
process instead of relying on the vastly inferior Sexual Offender
Registry Checks.
However, if your league absolutely can’t afford the cost of a
criminal background check, you should perform a sexual offender
registry check at a minimum, as this is better than doing nothing.
|