在宾夕法尼亚州菲利普斯堡镇，官员们正在考虑修改他们的背景调查法，以期提高当地儿童在青少年体育活动和赛事中的安全。
菲利普斯堡已经有一项法律要求青年体育教练和志愿者通过犯罪背景调查。然而，理事会成员已经确定了现行法律的两个主要缺陷。
首先，该镇的法律不要求对裁判进行背景调查。由于这些人将有机会在体育比赛之前、期间或之后与孩子接触，因此将他们列入需要背景调查的个人名单似乎是合乎逻辑的。
在对与青少年运动相关的成年人进行背景调查时，使用第三方背调至关重要。这确保了州外的刑事定罪不会被忽视。US OneSEARCH 是与未成年人有关的职位的背景调查工具的一个特别好的选择，因为它除了搜索从全国各州和地方数据库中剔除的超过 4.5 亿条犯罪记录外，还自动包括对犯罪者登记处的搜索。这次搜索的广泛范围将使镇当局和父母放心，因为他们不允许儿童接触掠食者。
要求对所有与菲利普斯堡青少年体育活动相关的成年人进行国家背景调查是一个良好的开端。但在过去遇到合规问题后，镇议会意识到他们的法律存在第二个问题：不合规没有后果。
因此，城镇检察官理查德·温纳（Richard Wenner）对法律进行了修订，赋予其“牙齿”或执法机制。温纳提议的对背景调查法的修改规定，每个青年运动队必须在赛季开始前至少 30 天向该镇的娱乐主管提交一份已通过背景调查的教练和志愿者的认证名单。如果不这样做，将导致球队被禁止使用镇上的运动器材和设施。
拟议的法律新规定还允许娱乐主管在赛季中期采取这一行动，如果证明球队允许不在其原始名单上的未经筛选的个人与孩子一起工作。
该提案的批评者指出，如果他们的教练不遵守该镇的背景调查法，它可能会阻止青年运动员参加体育运动，从而对成年人的错误进行不公平的惩罚。然而，许多父母可能更希望他们的孩子在家安全，而不是与一个没有通过背景调查证明适合与孩子一起工作的人外出，即使这意味着他们的孩子不能参加体育运动。
提议的变化将在下一次镇议会会议上宣读，当地青年体育教练和组织将有机会做出回应。很难反对旨在保护孩子免受掠食者伤害的措施，该提案有望通过。
In the town of Phillipsburg, PA, officials are considering changes to their background check laws that will hopefully improve the safety of local kids during youth sports activities and events.
There is already a law in place in Phillipsburg requiring youth sports coaches and volunteers to pass criminal background checks. However, council members have identified two main shortcomings with the current law.
First of all, the town’s law does not require background checks on umpires. Since these individuals will have opportunities to have contact with kids before, during, or after sporting competitions, it seems logical to include them on the list of individuals who need background checks.
When performing background checks on adults associated with youth sports, it is vital to use a national product such as US OneSEARCH from backgroundchecks.com. This ensures that out-of-state criminal convictions are not overlooked. US OneSEARCH is a particularly good choice of background check tool for positions relating to minors because it automatically includes a search of the Offender Registries, in addition to a search of over 450 million criminal records culled from state and local databases across the country. The broad scope of this search would give town authorities and parents peace of mind that they are not allowing children to be exposed to predators.
Requiring national background checks on all adults associated with youth sports activities in Phillipsburg is a good start. But after experiencing problems with compliance in the past, the town council realized there was a second problem with their law: there were no consequences for non-compliance.
Accordingly, town attorney Richard Wenner wrote a revision to the law to give it “teeth” or an enforcement mechanism. Wenner’s proposed change to the background check law specifies that each youth sports team must submit a certified list of coaches and volunteers who have passed their background checks to the town’s recreation director at least 30 days before the beginning of the season. Failing to do so would result in the team being banned from use of town athletic equipment and facilities.
The proposed new provisions of the law also allow the recreation director to take this action in the middle of a season if a team is proven to be allowing unscreened individuals who were not on their original list to work with kids.
Critics of the proposal point out that it may unfairly punish youth athletes for adults’ errors by preventing them from participating in sports if their coaches fail to comply with the town’s background check law. However, many parents would probably prefer that their kids be safe at home, rather than out with an individual whose suitability for working with kids has not been proven with a background check, even if that means their kids don’t get to play sports.
The proposed changes will be read at the next town council meeting, and local youth sports coaches and organizations will have an opportunity to respond. It’s hard to argue against measures designed to keep kids safe from predators, and the proposal is expected to pass.
