Rundy Charles Robertson supervised a group of people who were hired to clean up oil from the beaches of Pascagoula, Mississippi. One day in June he offered one of his workers a ride home, then asked to use the restroom in her motel room. When he emerged from the bathroom, the victim states he raped her.
According to a new Florida law, which will take effect August 1, employees of day care centers, assisted living facilities, home health care agencies and others working with vulnerable adults and children will have to pass a nationwide background check before they can begin working. The law was passed unanimously by the Florida Legislature.
Former West Linn Mayor Patti Galle
University of Alabama-Huntsville neurobiology professor Amy Bishop shot six of her colleagues on Friday, killing three. It appears this truly appalling situation might have been avoided if the University had protected itself with the services of a professional background screening company. The Christian Science Monitor reported today that Bishop had a violent past of which it appears the University of Alabama-Huntsville was unaware, including shooting and killing her brother in 1986. Although the death of Bishop’s brother appears to have been mishandled by the police at the time and could not have been found by a background check, she was charged with assault and given probation after a 2002 altercation in a fast food restaurant. This charge would have certainly been found by a professional background check. It appears that the University of Alabama-Huntsville was unaware of this charge because it only used a regional database search, which obviously would not catch any charges and convictions in Bishop’s former state of residence, Massachusetts.
There are new apps for the iPhone, Droid and Blackberry that have personally gotten me all fired up. With these apps, people are entitled to “free background checks”, or unlimited searches for a monthly fee. It’s companies like these that harm the integrity and reputation of all legitimate background companies. There is no such thing as a “free criminal background check”. This entire app and process is negligent on so many levels. This sort of “instant background checking” is not FCRA compliant and violates people’s privacy.
A recently filed civil lawsuit alleges that a Culpeper man working as a counselor had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor and that he had fraudulent credentials that left him unqualified for the job. Records show he has an arrest history that includes convictions for being drunk in public, making threats over the phone and failure to appear in court. School officials are examining their background checking policy to understand how the records were overlooked.
According to an investigation conducted by a local journalist, convicted criminals could be passing undetected through residents’ front doors as sub-contractors. Current laws do not require companies to perform criminal background checks on people in this position. At the same time, subcontractors are widely used because of the costs saved to the companies.
Officials are calling for more thorough background checks on teachers after the arrest of a Gilroy High School math teacher charged with nine counts of sex crimes with a 14-year-old girl. Morgan Hill resident Alberto Gomez Vicuna Jr., 32, was arrested Feb. 25 near his home after the girl’s parents told San Jose police that Vicuna was having sex with a minor. She met Vicuna through the Internet social networking site, Tagged.com.
The Government Accountability Office reports fraud and abuse helped boost Medicare spending on home health services 44% over five years as some providers exaggerated patients’ medical conditions and others billed for unnecessary services or care they did not provide. The GAO reviewed home care payments from 2002 to 2006, when spending reached $13 billion. The number of Medicare enrollees using in-home services rose 17% during that period to 2.8 million. The study recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) consider criminal background checks on home health operators and draft new rules to remove problem providers more easily.
New York state Lawmakers are now turning their attention towards closing the legal loopholes that have allowed negligent hiring practices in nursing homes. Since 2007, the state Attorney General’s Office has charged more than 50 nursing home workers, including five in the Rochester area, for kicking, neglecting, tying up, stealing from or sexually abusing residents. Some accused workers in Rochester homes found jobs at other area facilities shortly after their former employers reported abuse to the state. Among them, a certified nurse’s aide accused of kicking an 87-year-old resident, and another convicted of stealing patients’ Social Security numbers.
