Safeguarding Ohio Children
It isn’t realistic to expect that anyone who may come into contact with children could be - or should be - subjected to background checks. But those working in certain jobs should be checked to avoid placing youngsters in contact with those who have criminal records of offenses against children.
Ohio law requires some background checks but doesn’t enforce the rules well, if at all, an investigation by The Columbus Dispatch revealed. And background check laws sometimes defy logic.
Operators of day camps for children are required to provide the state with background information on employees. But The Dispatch found that at least one-third of the camps in Ohio have not completed employee background checks. No system of collecting fines from camp operators who do not comply has been devised.
But The Dispatch uncovered an even more serious gap in the law. It seems that operators of camps where children stay overnight are not required to submit background check information on their employees.
That’s absurd - and it makes one wonder what other dangerous lapses occurred in writing and approving background check laws.
State legislators should take another look at the statutes - not with the intent of imposing draconian, unenforceable new rules but with that of closing loopholes and outright gaps. Stiff penalties need to be imposed - not just written into the law, but implemented - against those who fail to comply with background check information. Any employee of a business or volunteer for an organization who falsifies background information should be subjected to hefty fines and, perhaps, time in jail.
It is impossible to construct a fail safe shield protecting all our children from those who would victimize them. Some steps can be taken, however - and clearly, Ohio needs to fine-tune its laws for that purpose.
