MERRILL, Wis. -- A leading church insurer is urging its customers to conduct background screening of potential staff and volunteers who will work with children.
Church Mutual Insurance Company has asked the 76,000 religious organizations it insures to begin the screens immediately, according to a company news release.
"Our churches should be the safest of all institutions, and steps need to be taken to ensure that," said Gerald Whitburn, Church Mutual's president and CEO. "Almost by definition, houses of worship are trusting environments, and in some instances, that's part of the problem."
Church Mutual has selected Atlanta-based ChoicePoint as its preferred vendor. ChoicePoint is a national pre-employment screening organization. Its ScreenNow service provides access to instant statewide criminal databases. The service also includes a national criminal file search, motor vehicle record checks, credit reports, identity verifications and social security verifications. On-site drug screening kits can be ordered online, according to the release. The release did not specify costs associated with screening.
Whitburn said background screening recently helped one of Church Mutual's Wisconsin clients. A new church member had volunteered to be a clown at a youth event, but a background check revealed he was a convicted pedophile in another state, Whitburn said.
