Computers Expedite Employee Screenings
Digitization by State Helps in Hiring

By Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 29, 2007

Maryland businesses and government agencies seeking the criminal histories of prospective employees are getting speedier results from new state efforts to move background checks from a paper system into the digital age.

New computer software operated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has cut the wait times for background check results from three months to an average of two weeks, state officials said.

That's a big help to employers who regularly check for criminal records of job applicants. Maryland law requires criminal background checks for prospective police, teachers, nurses, child-care workers and some jobs that require access to private homes, such as heating and air-conditioning work, said Rosa Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Last year, the state processed almost 194,000 applications for background checks, Cruz said. The number of requests has been growing annually by about 20 percent, she said, particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which prompted laws requiring more criminal record screenings, such as for truck drivers transporting hazardous materials.

The state's computerized system, which cost $1.9 million, digitally sends the requests for background checks to the FBI's "immediate response" queue, Cruz said. The FBI searches nationwide databases of criminal records within 24 hours and mails the results to the state. Soon, the FBI will send results via e-mail, saving more time, Cruz said.

Such checks earlier were requested via paper application cards. The state mailed the cards to the FBI, which categorized them as "non-priority" and sent them to a private company to be converted into computer records, Cruz said. The FBI then did a computerized background search before sending the request cards and results back to the state via mail.

Cyndy Sumrell, personnel manager of the Montgomery Child Care Association, said she began seeing faster results this month. The nonprofit association operates 13 child-care centers in Montgomery County and seeks criminal background checks on about 75 new teachers and classroom volunteers annually, she said.

It used to take as many as five weeks to receive the FBI search results, Sumrell said. As of this month, she said, it has taken two weeks.

"That's exceptional," Sumrell said.

Like many other employers, the child-care centers allow new employees to begin work while the background checks are pending. "I'm much more comfortable with the background check coming back more quickly," Sumrell said.

A Maryland background check turns up criminal history via the state's Criminal Justice Information System. The state also seeks a nationwide criminal background check from the FBI. Computerizing that process cuts weeks off the delivery time of the results.

"It's striving to make records as timely as possible," Cruz said. "Snail mail doesn't lend itself to efficiency. In a lot of situations, employers are having to make decisions without all the information."

In jobs in which background checks are mandated, such as teaching and nursing, the employer requests the check after notifying the applicant. Private citizens who want to scrutinize a prospective employee, such as a baby sitter or housekeeper, must rely on the job applicant to request his or her own background check and then relay the information.

Employers say faster results will help expedite their hiring.

Brian Gnatt, a spokesman for Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, said the school has had to wait as long as two months to receive results on background checks of prospective teachers and staff members. Shortening that wait time, Gnatt said, "would be a great thing for us, to know if there's a problem."