Wall may change background check company for recreation volunteers

Wall Township may switch its background check company used to investigate Wall Recreation volunteers and employees from KidSafe Record Checks to Instant Verification Inc.

Background checks are required of all township employees and, or volunteers who work with children.

The switch was discussed during the Wall Township Committee’s Jan. 20 meeting. Committeeman Clinton Hoffman said the township’s recreation director, Edward Grill, researched “all the companies we could find out there.”

The town has been utilizing KidSafe for about 10 years, Wall Township Administrator Joseph Verruni estimated, and the township found out that day — Wednesday — that several volunteer applications submitted for screening during the summer had not been completed by the organization yet.

According to records available on the organization’s Web site, www.ksrc.us, the last date a volunteer was approved to work with the recreation department was Dec. 22, 2009. There are currently 26 individuals who have not been reviewed by the company.

He said though the township has called about the unprocessed information, but he has not heard back from KidSafe.

“I think we were leaning toward changing anyway,” the township administrator said, even though they just discovered the problem with KidSafe that day.

“I think it’s time for a change,” Committeeman Jeffrey Foster said.

Committeeman Hoffman explained the other reason for the change has to do with an appeals process. If an individual is denied the chance to volunteer with children based on the results of their background check organization, he or she has the option to appeal the decision.

In past years, “the township committee has not entertained appeals,” Mr. Verruni said, as they considered KidSafe’s information on individuals to be pass or fail. However, this year’s committee would like to put an appeals process in place, he said.

While KidSafe does not have an appeals process in place, Committeeman Hoffman said, Instant Verification officials have said they are comfortable with working with towns on an appeal process. An appeals process is now mandated by law, he said.

Current state statutes dictate that individuals can appeal a decision stemming from a background check.

Committeeman Hoffman suggested creating an appeals board consisting of the recreation director, Mr. Grill; a member of the Wall Township Police Department, who is familiar with police charges; and a member of the township committee.

The board would reference existing state laws as a base for its decision. The laws detail volunteers or employees within “youth serving organizations,” such as Wall Recreation.

Committeeman Hoffman said state assembly rules are complete and useful, detailing types of crimes that would still allow an individual to have contact with children. The assembly rules also give ideas about how to interpret the severity of a crime and how long ago it took place, he said.

Mr. Verruni said years ago, the township committee used to handle all appeals, but around 2000 they decided not to.

“They felt it was a pass/fail process,” Mr. Verruni said.

“It’s not necessarily pass/fail,” Committeeman Hoffman said. He said he fully supported having an appeals process, as crimes committed many years ago may not be severe enough to bar a volunteer. Guidelines would steer an appeals committee to use state laws, including the nature of the crime, the responsibility the convicted had in the crime, its seriousness, circumstances, date, whether it was isolated or repeated, and any social conditions that contributed.

Mayor George Newberry said having a police officer on the appeals board was an excellent idea.

Committeeman Todd Luttman said he did not believe a representative from the recreation department should be on the board, as it should be someone “totally detached” from the volunteer program.

Mayor Newberry, and the other members of the committee, agreed.

In regard to the program used to conduct background checks, Committeeman Hoffman said, Instant Verification offered two options. One is a record check using a person’s name, Social Security number and date of birth. The other is a fingerprint check using the Sagem Morpho Fingerprint Procedure. The maximum cost for either procedure was quoted at $38 per check, the committeeman said.

The Sagem Morpho system is implemented by MorphoTrack, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with field offices around the country. The company uses fingerprints as a basis for background checks.

Deputy Mayor Ann Marie Conte, who is a registered nurse, said Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, her employer, uses the Sagem Morpho procedure. She said it is “definitive,” and the rest of the committee agreed to use it and be as thorough as possible in screening volunteers.

The committee is expected to officially switch from KidSafe to Instant Verification, and create an appeals board, in the near future.