The procedures for background checks are designed to provide consistent and credible information. Records of these inquiries should be kept indefinitely. Background checks are required as follows:
Clergy:
Background checks for the clergy, initiated by the Diocese, will include inquiries of all bishops having past or present canonical authority over the individual, a check of all employers of the individual during at least the past five years and of all schools he/she has attended during at least the past five years. If the individual has had one employer for five years, then inquiries will be made of the two most recent employers.
When a congregation is calling a clergyperson, this background check procedure should be coordinated between the bishop or the bishop’s designee and any search committee. It is recommended that a professional investigation agency be engaged.
Paid Staff Members who Work with Children or Youth:
Inquiries will be made of the individual’s employers during at least the past five years and of all schools attended during at least the past five years. If the individual has
had one employer for five years, then inquiries will be made of the two most recent employers. For a young adult with little employment experience, previous schools should be substituted for employers. In addition, organizations that serve youth in which the individual has participated should be consulted.
This background check should be made by the employing congregation or diocesan organization. It is recommended that a professional investigation agency be engaged.
Persons in the process toward ordination:
Men and women in the process toward ordination will be subject to a state police criminal history background check before they are made Candidates for Holy Orders in the diaconal ordination process and before they are made Postulants for Holy Orders in the process toward ordination to the priesthood.
This background check is conducted by the Bishop’s designee.
Paid employees at the diocesan or congregational level:
Paid employees who do not work with children or youth will be subject to a state police criminal history background check.
This background check is conducted by the employing executive.
Volunteers who regularly work with youth or whose ministries of pastoral care take place in people’s homes, hospitals, or nursing homes:
Congregations who utilize the ministries of volunteers for youth and pastoral care ministries are strongly encouraged to conduct the state police criminal history background checks.
Instructions for Obtaining State Patrol/ State Police Criminal Background Checks
Washington (This service is free to non-profit groups)
A. Registering your church for an account
- On the web, go to https://watch.wsp.wa.gov/
- Click on the tab that says “forms” at the upper left of the page
- On the “forms” page, click on WATCH Application Packet
- Fill out the form for a non-profit group. This will establish an account and you will be issued a password.
B. Doing the background check
- Once the account is established, you can go online to the above address (https://watch.wsp.wa.gov/) and sign in by clicking “login using pre-established account. You will need your account name, user name and password to do this.
- Once you have logged in, you can fill in the information for a background check. Once you have filled in the name and birth date of the person for whom you are requesting the background check it takes a minute or two to be processed. (If the person has a very common name, there may be other people in the database with the same name and birth date. You may need to request a driver’s license or social security number to refine the search.)
- When you have submitted the information, check “inbox” for results. If the report says “no record found,” that means that there is no criminal history on file in the system.
Idaho (There is a $10 charge for each background check.)
- On the web, go to http://www.isp.state.id.us/.
- On the state police home page, find “Criminal Justice” on the menu to the left of the page and click on “criminal identification” under that heading.
- Then click on “Criminal History Information Services. On the right side of that page, you choose either a pdf or word formatted form for a “name based search.”
- Download and print that form, fill it in and mail it to the Idaho State Police (address is on the form) with a check for $10. You should also submit a signed waiver from the person whose criminal history is being checked.