Administrative Personnel Office

FINGERPRINTING INFORMATION

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

WHY Effective March 31, 2003, the Archdiocesan Decree on Child Protection (B.2-B.5) requires all employees and volunteers who have significant contact with children to have a criminal background check. The Ohio Revised Code also requires certain employees (e.g., teachers, teacher aides) working with children to have a criminal background check.

WHO All employees and volunteers who have significant contact with children must be fingerprinted. This includes all parishes, grade schools, Archdiocesan owned high schools and other Archdiocesan institutions.

Any overnight event and/or any event that would be out of town, requires employees and volunteers to be fingerprinted and to go through the Child Protection Orientation. This requirement is regardless of the number of times that the individual would have contact with children.

Effective July 1, 2004, no employees or volunteers may have contact with children until a positive report for the individual has been successfully completed. There are to be no exceptions to this policy. This means new staff members and volunteers may not begin their service before this process is complete. Please do not hesitate to contact the Personnel Office of the Archdiocese if you have any questions regarding this policy.

There will be no grandfathering of any employees or volunteers.

If a person currently works and/or volunteers at two locations, only one background check is necessary. At the time of the background check, the person should identify all locations where he/she works and/or volunteers. Background checks can not be transferred from one location to another. New service requires a new background check.

Auxiliary service personnel (e.g. school nurses, psychologists, etc.) MAY NOT go through the fingerprint process/criminal background check in our program. These individuals are government employees and are subject to state regulations. We may not involve them in a church related program.

Minors under the age of 18 MAY NOT be fingerprinted for the criminal background check. It is a violation of Ohio state law for us to do a criminal background check on a minor. You may have minors attend the orientation session for the Decree on Child Protection. However, minors should not sign the B-4 forms.

WHAT If employees/volunteers change location of service, they must be refingerprinted.

If there is a 1 year break in service, the employee or volunteer must be refingerprinted, even if the service is at the same location.

If the employee/volunteer has been an Ohio resident for five years previous to the background check, only the Ohio BCII check is required.

If the employee/volunteer has not continuously lived in the State of Ohio for the five years previous to the background check, an FBI check is also required.

COST The Ohio BCII background check is $20.00. The FBI check is an additional $30.00. The Archdiocese charges the location for this cost. The location may pass the cost along if it chooses. Payment can be made in the form of cash or money order. Personal checks are not accepted.

WebCheck - this is done electronically via a computer. It takes less time, is more accurate, and the results are usually back within 48 hours for the BCI and within 2 weeks for the FBI.

Card & Ink - this is done manually. It takes more time, has a 25% failure rate, and the results take 3 weeks or more to return. We are discouraging this process and after June 30, 2004, we will not accept fingerprint checks using this process.

Employees/volunteers must have a government issued identification with picture, (e.g., Driver=s License). A Social Security number is required for all fingerprinting checks. Without the picture ID and the Social Security number, the fingerprint check will not be administered. Therefore, the person may not be employed or volunteer.

WHERE All fingerprinting must be done through the Archdiocese at one of its sites.

The locations and time will be posted on this Web site and is published weekly in The Catholic Telegraph.

The Fingerprint Checks can also be done at the 100 East Eighth Street address on the 8^th floor, Monday through Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary.

REPORTS All reports are sent directly from the State of Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Identification to the Office of the Archbishop. The locations will be informed if the employee/volunteer is or is not able to work with children. The locations will not be told the reason why the employee/volunteer was turned down. This is to protect the pastoral relationship. The employee/volunteer will be asked to contact the Archbishop's Office for an explanation.

B-4 FORMS The B-4 Form should be completed for all new employees at the time of hiring. The B-4 Form does not have to be used for volunteers. It is not necessary to complete a new B-4 Form for current employees.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati understands your concern for the confidentiality and protection of your personal information, including your fingerprints and Social Security Number. This information is only used as needed and we have taken every precaution to safeguard this data. The following frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) and answers may help you understand the process.

The Archdiocesan Decree on Child Protection requires employees who have regular, significant contact with children and volunteers who work regularly with children must have a criminal background check from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification. If they have not continuously lived in the State of Ohio for the last five years, then they must also complete and FBI check. (Policies B.2 and B.5)

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People requires that dioceses evaluate the background of those working with children by utilizing the resources of law enforcement agencies. (Article 13)

The State of Ohio provides congregations and their agents (among others) immunity from civil liability if a background check is completed for a volunteer who has regular contact with children and that volunteer later harms a child. (Ohio Senate Bill 187, April 22, 2001)

The State of Ohio processes criminal background checks by using fingerprints. This process checks records for all counties in the state. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCII) is responsible for this process under the authority of the Office of the Attorney General.

The WebCheck is an electronic process using digital images of the two thumbs and the two index fingers. This process is successful 98% of the time. The traditional method of rolled prints using ink and cards has an error rate of 25%. The turn around time on the WebCheck is usually within 48 hours. The turn around time on the cards is 30 days.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati wants accurate verification and wants to maintain the strictest of confidentiality. By doing the WebCheck, the information is sent directly to the State of Ohio (BCII) and the results are returned directly to the Archbishop’s Office.

When your fingerprints are completed using the WebCheck, the information is transmitted directly to the BCII. The information is not maintained on the computer and the transmission is encrypted and can only be read by the BCII. When reports are sent to the Office of the Archbishop, this information is also encrypted.

The State of Ohio performs a variety of background checks. The Archdiocese requests a background check for the "care, custody and control of children." Other background checks are performed for care of the elderly, licensing, law enforcement, driving records, etc. The back-ground check we use looks at those laws which could impact children and a person’s suitability for working with children.

If a person has no record, a report is sent to the Archdiocese stating that there is no record of criminal activity for that person. This report is transmitted by encryption and may be down-loaded and printed but may not be transferred to our computer. If there is a record of criminal activity, a written report is mailed to the office of the Archbishop. These reports are only read by the Archbishop. Records of criminal activity are never sent over the computer.

No, the only information that is shared with the pastor/administrator is whether the person may or may not work with children.

The WebCheck prints are kept on file by the BCII for a period of 13 months after which they are purged from the data base at the State of Ohio. The rolled prints (card and ink) are destroyed after three months. The FBI destroys the prints as soon as the report is complete (usually three months).