The Bridgewater Baseball and Softball Inc. (BBSI) board has implemented a new, mandatory background screening policy in compliance with the Safe Sports Act and updated guidance from Cal Ripken / Babe Ruth for all board members, coaches and volunteers beginning spring 2019 season.

Please note that this new background check system replaces our paper-based NJSP blue forms.

BRIDGEWATER BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL INC.
Background Check Screening Policy
Adopted February 15, 2019

PURPOSE

It is the intent of this policy to establish certain guidelines wherein the Bridgewater Baseball and Softball Inc. (BBSI) board seeks to protect our program participants by investigating the background of board members, coaches and volunteers (hereinafter referred to as “candidates”) who will be involved in the BBSI approved programs.

GENERAL

1. Due to different levels of background checks that can be performed on an individual, BBSI no longer accepts outside background checks, including Bridgewater Rec Department's background checks done by Instant Verification.
2. Criminal background screenings are conducted by an outside third party (Protect Youth Sports) who specializes in such work.
3. Any person who has been found guilty, pled guilty; or pled no contest, regardless of adjudication, or has a pending charge pertaining to, any of the disqualifying offenses listed in this policy will be immediately disqualified from employment, coaching and/or volunteer positions with BBSI
4. BBSI also reserves the right to disqualify a person for any crime that would be considered a potential risk to children and/or vulnerable populations.
5. A candidate who willfully (a) fails to comply with this background screening policy or (b) provides falsified data during the applicant process shall be automatically disqualified
6. This policy will apply to all BBSI board members, coaches and volunteers.
7. If there is any doubt as to who should be screened, the general rule is anyone who would potentially have unsupervised access to children in a BBSI program shall be checked
8. Each coach/volunteer will be screened every 24 months for as long as he or she continues participating in the BBSI programs
9. Again, the criminal background checK/screening is mandatory.  There are NO EXCEPTIONS.

SCREENING PROCESS

• All candidates must sign a Release for Criminal History which gives BBSI the right to check criminal history records and verify social security numbers. This release and screening is executed directly through in this page:  https://opportunities.averity.com/BBS
  
• The cost associated with these background screenings will be paid for by BBSI.
• No other personal information (e.g. work history, financial, credit, etc.) is checked or researched. The company executing background checks has agreed to such terms contractually, and confirms such direction annually.
• The third party contractor conducting the checks will cross-reference the screening results with the disqualifying crimes listed in this policy. A pass/fail/pass-check grade will then be relayed to BBSI based on the cross-reference check.
  
• A pass grade for any candidate that has zero disqualifying crime matches
• A pass-check grade requires manual review of the applicant’ information with the third party vendor
• A fail grade for any candidate that has one or more disqualifying crime matches.
• All information pertaining to the background check will remain with the third party contractor, subject to the applicable laws requiring disclosure.
• BBSI will not be informed of the results of any background check; rather, the BBSI will only be issued a pass/fail grade for each candidate.
• If the third party contractor reports any “fail” grades to BBSI, BBSI shall notify the candidate that he or she is disqualified for their desired position

CONFIDENTIALITY

• To ensure confidentiality, BBSI will not be notified of a coach’s specific criminal history.  
• The criminal background reports shall be kept in a secure location by the third party contractor for a period as required by applicable law.

APPEALS PROCESS

If a candidate’s background check includes a charge set forth on the list of disqualifiers below, BBSI shall immediately disqualify a person from their position. There shall be no appeal of a decision to disqualify a candidate, if the candidate’s relevant criminal history is accurate; all decisions are final.

If a candidate wishes to dispute the content of the profile report, the candidate shall contact the third party responsible for conducting the background check by calling the telephone number listed on the report. The candidate is responsible for providing any or all documentation to support his or her claim.

DISQUALIFYING CRIMES

If a candidate (1) has been convicted of, (2) has a charge pending against him or her in which it is alleged that he or she has committed any of the following crimes, or (3) has a record of a conviction of an equivalent offense in another state, the candidate will be disqualified from the position with any program approved by BBSI.

1. All Sex Offenses - Examples include, but are not limited to: child molestation, rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sodomy, prostitution, solicitation, indecent exposure, etc.
2. All Felony Violence Offenses - Examples include, but are not limited to: murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated burglary, etc.
3. All Felony offenses other than violence or sex within the past ten (10) years - Examples include, but are not limited to: drug offenses, theft, embezzlement, fraud, child endangerment, etc.
4. All Misdemeanor Violence offenses within the past seven (7) years - Examples include, but are not limited to: simple assault, battery, domestic violence, hit and run, etc.
5. Two (2) Misdemeanor Alcohol offenses within the past five (5) years or three (3) or more offenses within the past ten (10) years - Examples include, but are not limited to: driving under the influence, drunk and disorderly, public intoxication, etc.
6. All Misdemeanor Drug offenses within the past five (5) years or two (2) or more offenses within the past ten (10) years - Examples include, but are not limited to: simple drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, etc.
7. Any other misdemeanor within the past five (5) years that would be considered a potential danger to children - Examples include, but are not limited to: contributing to the delinquency of a minor, providing alcohol to a minor, etc.

WHY THESE CRIMES?

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) has reviewed the resources of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners and sought the counsel of recognized background screening experts to develop a set of Recommended Guidelines for Volunteer Background Screening in park and recreation settings. These guidelines were produced as a result of this review.