Guide to Background Checks!! (Part 2) | Nanny Parent Connection

Hi everyone. Hope you had a spooky Halloween! 🎃

I’m back with the second video in my “Guide to Background Checks” series.

Most parents have never run a background check before. In this two-part series, I am going to walk you through the ins and outs of how to run a background check and read the results. I’ll cover everything you need to know!

In Part 1, we discussed how to order a background check. In Part 2, you’ve ordered your background check and received the final report. How do you understand the results?

Some of the questions we hear on a regular basis from background check customers are:

How should I interpret that hit on the County Criminal Record Search? What does the flag mean on the Social Security Trace? Should I be concerned about that accident listed on the Motor Vehicle Report?

Check out Part 2 of my “Guide to Background Checks” series where I discuss how to read and interpret each section. I also include red flags that you should be on the look out for when reviewing the report.

Also, don’t forget to check out Part 1 of this video series here.

Click the button below to watch the video!

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A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Last week, in Part 1 of my “Guide to Nanny Background Checks” video series, we discussed what a background check is and the different types of background checks available.

Today in Part 2, we are going to talk about how to read the background check results and discuss suggestions for handling certain hits on the background check.

Okay! Let’s get into this.

Here is what you will see at the top of the background check report:

Subject Information

This section contains personal information about your candidate such as name, address, etc.

We take privacy and security very seriously, so your candidate’s social security number will be partially hidden to protect their privacy.

Report Summary Information

In this section, you will see a quick summary of any hits that are found, as they relate to the specific components of the background check.

Social Security Number Trace

This component reports your candidate’s Social Security account status.

In this section, you will see any name variations for your candidate, and you will see the status of the social security account for your candidate and the year it was issued.

Finally, you will see any unique jurisdictions or locations associated with your candidate’s Social Security account.

If you see a hit on your candidate’s Social Security trace, it may be due to your candidate not having a valid social security number, your candidate not having a valid work authorization to work in the United States, or because of a name change due to marriage, identity theft, etc.

Occasionally, a hit will show up on the Social Security Trace, if the Social Security Administration has an incomplete file for your candidate.

This can be caused by several things including not having a unique jurisdiction associated with their social security account.

If you see any hits on this section of your report, please contact our expert background check team, and they can help you to determine what caused the hit and what steps to take next.

Motor Vehicle Report

This part of the background check shows the candidate’s driving history including moving violations, accidents, etc.

This information comes directly from the state that your candidate is licensed in.

In this section, you will find personal information including your candidate’s driver’s license number, and their license status.

Below that you will find information on convictions, violations and accidents.

Pay close attention to this section as you may see speeding tickets, DUIs, accidents, or other moving violations.

Most of the time, if you see an accident listed, it’s an at fault accident, but occasionally some jurisdictions will list those differently.

What to do if you see a hit on the Motor Vehicle Record?

First, if driving is required on the job, make sure you have already asked your candidate about any accidents, tickets or other infractions that might be on their record during that interview stage.

The candidate’s answer should match whatever is found on that driving record.

If there are hits on their record and they don’t match what is previously disclosed, that could be a red flag.

If you see any registered plate violations, these are for infractions such as expired license tabs. This is likely not worth a conversation unless you see a pattern of these types of violations on the record.

For handheld device use violations, this is cell phone use while driving. Look at the date that this offense occurred and review the rules of the road and the expectations surrounding driving children on the job with your nanny candidate. Expectations should also be outlined in the contract.

If you see multiple handheld device violations, this could be a red flag especially if you will be depending on your nanny to transport your children by car.

For any accidents, look at the incident date. If the accidents happened years ago, that may not warrant a conversation. If the accident(s) were more recent, it’s worth a conversation to establish some context.

And if there is a pattern of accidents that of course may be a deal breaker if you need driving on the job with your nanny.

If you really like a candidate and would still like to move forward, and you want to address and mitigate any accident potential in the future. I’ve seen parents ask their candidate if they would be willing to take a defensive driving course. It will build the candidate’s driving skills, and it will help give you peace of mind.

What about DUI’s?

Not only should this have been mentioned proactively by the nanny candidate during the interview phase, but they should also have provided some context.

For example, how long ago that happened, any lessons learned, etc.

If the candidate would be driving your own car on the job, this may make adding them to your car insurance more expensive.

And for many families, having a DUI on the driving record could be a non-starter.

If you see a message in the Motor Vehicle Report that states the driver is not found, or they have an invalid driver’s license listed, scan down several lines and see if they have a valid ID card.

It may be that perhaps they don’t have a valid driver’s license and only have an ID card instead.

If a state issued ID card is not listed, make sure to check the driver’s license at the top of the number and compare it to your candidate’s actual driver’s license number.

May be that your candidate input an incorrect number during the authorization process.

If this is the case, please contact our background check team so that they can work with you to run a replacement Motor Vehicle Record Search.

Remember, even though your candidate may not be driving your children, their driving history can be a good indicator for how mature and responsible your candidate is.

County Criminal Record Search

This is by far the most important section along with the National Sex Offender Search which is included with the NCRD Search.

In this section, you will find any hits related to the criminal history that your candidate may have.

Keep in mind, most states only allow background check processors such as Nanny Parent Connection to “look back” seven years.

If your candidate was convicted of a crime 20 years ago, depending on the state, this information may not show up on the report.

In the County Criminal Records Search section, you will find records of any misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, or felonies associated with your candidate.

Such as shoplifting, DUI, drug convictions, robbery, and probably the most important hit that parents are looking for; domestic, elder or child abuse.

You will also see any probation, financial penalties, and jail time associated with each hit.

If you see hits in this section, you need to determine what you and your family are or are not comfortable with.

Obviously, if you see something serious you may decide that this candidate is not the right fit for your family.

However, if you see something like a minor in possession, or perhaps a DUI conviction from years ago, it may not be relevant.

Keep in mind that we all make mistakes, it is very important to remember that if this candidate disclosed that information to you previously, it demonstrates maturity, responsibility and growth.

Whereas if it’s not disclosed upfront, this would demonstrate lack of growth, lack of professionalism, and lack of responsibility.

As with hits in any other section of the background check, it’s important to consider when the offense occurred. An offense that happened seven years ago might be something the candidate has grown from and very much moved on on from, versus something that happened only a year or two ago.

National Criminal Record Database Search (NCRD)

This is the final component. The NCRD searches nearly 1 billion offense records from the FBI, U.S Marshal, Customs, DEA, Secret Service, and the Department of Justice.

The NCRD search does not include county criminal records, but it does include the National Sex Offender Search.

If a hit is found on this search, again, the candidate should have disclosed the offense proactively. Obviously, a sex offense hit is a non-starter.

For any other types of hits, you will need to trust your gut and determine if your family is comfortable working with that candidate inside your home.

As you can see, a background check can give invaluable insight into your candidate’s background, and it could even shed some light on the type of care provider your candidate might be.

Remember, this person will be working inside of your home with your children.

I’m sure you can see now why it’s important to never skip running a background check on your candidate. And if you’re still not convinced, don’t miss hearing about this parents near miss on the candidate she almost hired, by watching this video.

That’s it for today. Thanks for tuning in to my background check guide video series and I will be back next week with my latest video!