Of all the pre-employment tests available on the market today, background checks are the most important for jobs that deal with children or other vulnerable members of society. By conducting such an investigation on a candidate before they are hired for such a position, employers and nonprofit organizations can drastically increase the safety of those who will come in contact with the worker. Knowing this, criminal background check provider IntegraScan has decided to supply many youth organizations with free screenings.

According to a recent press release, IntegraScan will soon begin supplying youth groups across the country with $500,000 in services each month. With many organizations trying to make ends meet while the economy is struggling, background checks are often being neglected. This means that many young people could be at risk. IntegraScan hopes to stop this by conducting these investigations free of charge.

Those who receive this assistance from IntegraScan will now be able to make sure that the employees and volunteers they hire have no criminal history. Since a large percent of those who commit crimes have a record, this will drastically reduce the amount of problems an organization could possibly have.

IntegraScan believes that is important to keeping children safe from those who have a history of sex crimes against minors, violent assault or drug usage. Despite this, their donation is just a start. The company urges parents to question the leaders of the organizations their children are involved with so that they know what steps are being taken to ensure safety.

Organizations that want to sign up to receive free background screening from IntegraScan can do so by signing up on the company’s webpage and registering for a free account. The $500,000 worth of screening does not have any additional requirements or further stipulations. Interested parents and organizations will also find other ways they can help to safeguard America’s youth on this website.

One city recently voted down an attempt to reduce its pre-employment test for drugs and alcohol.

The Greenwood, Miss., City Council unanimously voted down the idea and directed the city attorney to come up with a tighter version of the policy within the next 30 days, according to an article by The Greenwood Commonwealth.

The city currently conducts pre-employment testing for drugs on all potential employees and has the ability to conduct random testing on all hired employees except clerical workers. Also, any employee involved in a motor vehicle accident while on official business or during work hours is issued a drug test.

The new policy would have eliminated pre-employment drug testing. The city got the idea from the City of Pearl, whose policy only allows random testing of police and fire personnel. Greenwood planned to add Department of Public Works employees to that list and eliminate testing as the result of an accident.

Several City Council members disagreed with the idea, saying the city should strengthen its policy rather than loosen it. Some feel any weakening of policy would result in an influx of people with drug problems applying for city jobs. A looser policy also could result in the city losing money and potential lawsuits.