Finally: A simple background check
Posted on December 22, 2015 by
Some things are better learned earlier than later. That’s the idea behind doing a background check before allowing a volunteer to participate an an activity. In many instances, such as when interacting with minors in a one-on-one setting, laws require the hosting organization to perform background checks in advance. Until Golden, this process was complicated, expensive and time consuming.
Calling Golden’s background checks a major improvement for the social sector would be an understatement. They’re instantaneous, secure (bank-level 256-bit SSL encryption), compliant, cloud-based and inexpensive. In fact, most of the time they’re free.
Under our current policy, you can declare whether or not your Golden Opportunity requires a background check to participate. If it does, we give users who are down to volunteer the option of performing their background checks through the app. We charge volunteers $20 for this service, but if we notice they return to the Golden Opportunity for which they originally registered again, we reimburse them for the cost of the checks. Everybody wins.
FYI, a background check isn’t just one kind of check. There are many types of checks. The most common and useful ones we perform are for identity verification, sex offenses, terrorist watch list, and federal criminal history.
If volunteers choose to run checks through Golden, they get their results instantly, and we keep their check statuses on file for future Golden Opportunities with you and other organizations. If the check returns with records at the federal criminal level, we verify those at the county court that reported them, which may take a few business days. Although those instances are rare, we do our best to cancel any upcoming reservations associated with potential volunteers whose background checks produce concerning records. We also try to communicate our actions with you and the volunteer when that happens.