Designing an effective screening program involves: (1) scrutinizing open positions (what risks does each position pose to clientele and the nonprofit?), (2) choosing the most appropriate screening tools for each position or cluster of positions, and (3) using the screening tools in a consistent, informed, legally compliant and appropriate fashion.
Criminal history background checks are a single tool in a toolbox of screening tools that nonprofit leaders should consider. Certain positions in a nonprofit may warrant the use of one combination of screening tools that looks quite different from the combination used for other positions. Applications, interviews, and reference checks are examples of other invaluable tools that savvy nonprofit leaders should keep close at hand in the screening toolbox.