Conducting a background check for your South Carolina youth sports organization might seem like a simple task. With everything that club admins have to juggle on any given day, it's easy to be tempted by the cheapest, instant background check option.
But the problem with the quick and easy solution is that you could be putting your players and club at risk if the program doesn't meet vital screening criteria. And did you know that South Carolina SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) searches don't look at out-of-state records?
Read on to learn how these missing records could put your organization and players in danger.
Why searching for records outside of South Carolina is crucial
A dedicated safety program can help your organization manage the ins and outs of your operations safely, ensuring that you're keeping your participants safe. When it comes to background checks, it's important to check outside of your state's borders—you can't assume that your applicants have only lived in South Carolina where background checks like SLED search.
In our internal 2016 case study of South Carolina organizations, we discovered that 16% of criminal records uncovered by NCSI would not have been found using the in-state-only SLED search.
How can records be missed on a background check?
It's important to remember that background checks are only as good as the available records that they are able to search and the verification of those records by background screening professionals. If you have an individual who is applying to be a volunteer baseball coach in your local South Carolina soccer program who just moved to South Carolina a year ago, a background check that only searches for records within the State of South Carolina (like SLED), might pull up a clean record. What's the problem with this? The individual being screened may have been convicted of crimes in the last state they lived in that would not show up on a South Carolina-only search. Never assume that all of your applicants have only lived in South Carolina.
Protect your organization by going beyond SLED searches
Since the South Carolina SLED search only looks at in-state records, it's important to realize how this can have an impact on the safety of your organization. Understanding how background checks work and how they search for potential records can go a long way in helping to protect your organization and your participants.
Want to learn more about keeping children safe? Visit NCSIsafe.com or reach out to us at c[email protected].