Over the last two decades churches have responded to the threat of child abuse.  One of the key elements of protection has been performing background checks on anyone even remotely involved with child care.  Today, it is rare to find a church that does not conduct regular background reviews of potential child care providers.

This article, is a good illustration that background checks should be conducted in other areas of church administration as well.  The first few words of the article tell it all; “An Olgeton woman convicted of embezzling from a bank three years ago…  This is proof positive that background checks should be performed, not only on child care workers, but also on employees and volunteers given financial responsibility in a church.  Perhaps, if this church had only done a little research, much trouble could have been avoided.

To protect themselves against potential fraud, churches should consider conducting two types of background checks:

• A criminal background check can reduce the possibility of hiring a criminal.  I have no statistics at hand, but I am fairly certain that a large percentage of church embezzlements are the result of persons with previous experience.
• Churches might also consider obtaining a credit report on potential new hires.  Not only might this step uncover individuals with prior arrests, it also makes it more difficult to hire first-time embezzlers.  One of the elements of the fraud triangle is PRESSURE.  In the context of fraud, pressure involves events in an individual’s life that might compel him or her to take what is not theirs.  Common pressures are medical bills, business reversals, addictions such as gambling or substance abuse, and financial difficulties.  Being aware of the existence of this type of pressure before hiring can eliminate a great deal of suffering.

Because this is a very sensitive area the best practice is to consult competent legal and risk management assistance prior to implementing a background review plan.  Two names I can share are The Church Law Group ( www.churchlawgroup.com ) and MHBT Insurance ( www.mhbt.com ).