Background checks in contracts for youth programs 1/10/08

Q:

Background checks in contracts for youth programs- examples of contract language, handling costs, selecting an agency, and best practices.

1. Sample legal/contract language requiring background checks to include in agreements.
2. Information on how states/programs manage the financial costs associated with background checks

   a) Have other states had their grantees/contractors build the cost into their budgets. If so, do other states choose one agency for the organizations to use for consistency and control?

3. Do local, county/parish background checks suffice? Or are national checks preferred?
4. Lessons learned around what works or doesn't work

A:

1.  California:   California verified with their youth recruitment contractor that the agency does not conduct background checks of adult employees.  However, according to the CA Department of Public Health’s Food and Drug Branch, STAKE Unit Chief (the unit that conducts tobacco enforcement operations statewide), all peace officers that work in his unit are required to undergo an in-depth background check, which includes a criminal checks with the FBI and CA Department of Justice, driver licenses checks, interviews with friends, relatives, and employers.  No background checks are conducted on non-peace officers or youth operatives.  However, I was informed that they do not hire youths that have gang ties, are on probation, or otherwise have been in trouble with the law.

Additionally, here are lessons learned around what works or doesn’t work regarding the youth themselves.

They do not conduct background checks on youth that may be employed as decoys.  We simply ask the youth participants if they have had any prior convictions, arrest or other problematic situations that might compromise their character in a court of law.  It’s basically on the honor system.  We have had youth not tell us the truth and it came out later that they did not disclose their past law violations and at that point they are not called on as a viable youth participant.  During our telephone interview we try and extract that information so the Food and Drug Branch (the enforcement agency in CA that performs ongoing compliance checks) has a youth that would not compromise a litigated case, if in fact that is the result of any particular compliance check.  We have found that parents are very protective of their children and that it is difficult enough to acquire basic items such as copies of ID’s, birth certificate, insurance information, SSN#. 

2. Texas: The Texas Tobacco Prevention Program obtained criminal background checks for two different initiatives. Under the USFDA contract to monitor sales of tobacco to minors, the agency ran checks on the adult inspectors who would be conducting the undercover stings with the youth. In that instance, the agency, then the Texas Department of Health (TDH), obtained the background checks directly from the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS). Those applying to conduct stings received a packet of information from the TDH stating the agency would obtain a background check from TDPS. The application form included a section indicating the check would be done and required the information on the applicant necessary to complete the check. Since that contract ended nearly seven years ago, I do not have a copy of the application to give you.

Currently, criminal background checks are required for all individuals applying to be instructors in the Texas Youth Tobacco Awareness Program (TYTAP), a tobacco awareness class for minors cited by law enforcement as being in possession of tobacco. Currently the applicant supplies a copy of the TDPS background check in the application packet, which goes to an agency contractor, Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health. A&M screens all applications, makes the selection of who is and is not accepted for the training and conducts the instructor training. The agency, now the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), receives a list of those individuals who have completed training from A&M and DSHS certifies them as TYTAP instructors. The application form can be viewed on our website, www.worthit.org. Please click on the “instructor” link at the top of the page and then on the words “right here.” The application is in a PDF format and can be downloaded.

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