On Babysitter Background Checks

Almost every parent knows the anxiety of leaving their child alone with a veritable stranger - and those that don't can imagine. That's why parents everywhere can breathe a huge sigh of relief to know that inexpensive methods exist online for conducting a simple babysitter background check on anyone you're considering leaving your child alone with.

Baby sitter background checks can reveal:

• AKAs - whether a person has tried to pass themselves off as someone else (fake identities, aliases, etc.)

• Bad Drivers - Poor driving records, incidents of drunk driving, number and type of moving violations

• Civil and Criminal Records

• Employment History - (firings, disciplinary actions, frequent jobs in a short stretch of time, worker's comp claims filed)

Of course, by the same token, a babysitter background check can highlight a candidate's stellar work performance, a spic and span driving record, is forthright about their identity, and has no civil or criminal record whatsoever.

Any babysitter background check should at least verify the person's identity for you - full name, current address, date of birth, SSN, and employment and education verification. Any babysitter background check you conduct should also include a nationwide criminal background check and a sex offender registry check.

Beyond that, depending on the background check service you employ, the results of a nanny background check may include:

• Verification of professional licenses

• One or more local background checks

• Civil judgments, bankruptcies, and liens

• Previous addresses and telephone numbers

• Any other social security numbers used by the same person

• People related to the subject of the babysitter background check

• Vehicles large and small owned (form cars to boats and planes)

• Real estate owned

Inevitably (or should we say - hopefully) whenever you're considering a new babysitter for your child, you'll ask for references. But have you ever wondered who these people are that are providing the references? Just like you run a babysitter background check on the candidate her or himself, you might also want to run a personal background check on the references she or he listed.

All your efforts to may blow up in your face, however, if you do not keep one integral thing in mind - as an employer (which is what you are in the nanny-parent relationship), you have a legal obligations to inform an applicant that you intend to do a babysitter background check on them and have them sign a document acknowledging their awareness of it and consent to it.

It is also possible (and not unheard of) to request that a prospective nanny supply her own nanny background check along with her application.

When considering online background check services for your babysitter background check, follow these guidelines:

• Stay away from sites that don't require you to provide a written authorization from the subject that the baby sitter background check be performed

• Quality of service is more important to your child's ultimate welfare than cost

• Check how frequently data is updated - some sites store data for months, others stay current with constant updates

• Don't trust the instant fix - a thorough search takes time; instant results are ordinarily incomplete results

• Make sure the site displays that it is "FCRA Compliant"; that's the Fair Credit and Reporting Act, and you don't want anything to do with any company not adhering to it to the letter

According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal Online, somewhere between a quarter and a half of all nanny agencies don't run babysitter background checks on their applicants. For real peace of mind, you're going to want to take matters into your own hands.

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