Background Check Integration
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John Austin Helm
In the same way that Instagram/Twitter have "check marks" for people that have confirmed their identity, it would be great to have "check marks" in Elvanto next to people that have completed their background check and notifications when their check is about to expire.
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Jim Becker
How about passing a request number, the person's name, required personal information and desired type of background check. Then receive a the request number, pass/fail state, a link to the report and the report date. Tithely would store the request number and desired type of background check when the request is made and the pass/fail state, the link and the report date when the report is completed. There would need to be security around the information.
If you start and stay with a typical pair of request and response format, then adding new providers should be made a bit simpler.
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Jim Becker
Great to hear about the integration. I suggest that the integration be done with APIs so the interface is structured in a way that helps with additional integrations with other background check software.
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James Harrison
Our last ChMS was partnered with Protect My Ministry. That company was quick about getting the background checks done. With Elvanto not having it integrated yet, we're entering the forms directly into Protect My Ministry's site.
Hoping an integration happens. But being a multi national company, I'm sure that makes things more difficult.
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Kevin Winkler
Yes - Group actually offers integration, but I think the CHMS needs to work with them...
Stewart Polley
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Jim Becker
There are many background check companies available that have cloud based solutions. We need a connection from the members in tithe.ly to the entries in a background check database.
Safe Ministry Training is good but doesn't present background checks in a database.
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Spencer James
I do not think Elvanto should get into background checks. The intricacies involved with completing an accurate background check is enormous. Unfortunately, most churches are not getting a thorough check because most vendors complete a national search that DOES NOT include all states/records -- individual states have to opt-in/report to for the national database. Then, it's mostly felonies; misdemeanors are only picked up on a county check. (National checks are a false sense of security.) We HAVE created custom fields in Elvanto to log our checks, and pull reports for expiration dates. Background check should be relationship between the church, insurance company, and legal team -- not the database provider.
Stewart Polley
Spencer James: Hey Spencer,
Just as a note on this - We have been in contact with a provider who does this, and may be working with them on an integration in the future. We wouldn't be doing the checks ourselves.
We will of course chat more with the provider before getting this done, but it does appear that they always perform county checks for you, not just the national checks.
Ultimately though, should you decide to not use the integrated solution, that's fine as well though. We'll still be offering custom fields for you to work with and do your own things there.
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Megan Famodun
Stewart Polley: That's great to hear! I agree, Tithe.ly shouldn't do themselves, but provide an Integration, glad to hear that's where things are headed!
Lundy
Stewart Polley: This is great to hear. Could you please let me know which company you are considering? I understand it's not definite, but, it would help a lot to know who you are thinking about. We are looking to sign up with a service, and we might as well sign up with the one that MIGHT integrate into Elvanto in the future. :) You can shoot me an email if you don't want to post it here...
Stewart Polley
Lundy: At this point in time we're most likely to go with Checkr. This isn't definite yet though.
Benjamin West
This would be great, but potentially it is a complicated one. I imagine that once Flows and associated things are revamped, managing these processes will become easier. We manage ours very well using Flows and custom fields etc, however it is not perfect. The only reason I suggest this is complicated is because each state/territory/country has very different background check requirements. Could it all be boiled down to a very small number of options? I think so, but there are nuances.
To give you our example:
- Volunteer is nominated for a role, or expresses interest in serving
- We send the pack (with a church body code of conduct to be signed and instructions for Working With Children Check) - some churches even ask for Police checks here
- Code of conduct is signed
- Approx 2-3 weeks later we receive a letter from Department Of Justice concerning their WWCC (this is where we handle negative notices...)
- Side note: qualified teachers don't need a WWCC
- If the volunteer checks out, we move them through specific team requirements - for example referee checks for people who specifically work with children (kids teams, drivers etc)
- If that all checks out, they proceed to inductions
Work is being done to integrate a third party skills management system, but that system is specific to a region and is an additional cost. This might be great, but it is an unknown still and I can only imagine there still needing to be a fair amount of internal management still required.
For now we manage internally, with reports to keep us across when things expire etc.
Stewart Polley
Benjamin West: These are definitely concerns, and for customers in Australia this wouldn't really be possible at all, and what you've mentioned is basically what you need to do.
But in the USA this is a very different story, with a number of companies being available that we could integrate with and automate the process of the background check process, it's a different landscape when it comes to this. Reports and such would still be useful though!