The Northern Neck is severly lacking locations for mandated fingerprinting.  The closest locations take 45mins to almost an hour to get to.  We did have a location in Warsaw, but it was moved to near West Point.  Hiring is already a struggle and this is just adding one more hurdle to finding highly qualified employees.

Another hurdle is the long waits for out of state background checks and the lack of easy access to do this.  The process is confusing and different for each state.

Please make sure the requirements are clear and easy to follow.  I have lost numerous potential employees because the requirements of background checks have taken too long.

We have only one company that does background checks in our area.  They were closed for a number of weeks, which made it impossible for me to get several new staff hired.  I was in a desperate situation with staffing and was only able to get one person hired.  My other applicants did not wait for the fingerprint locations to re-open.  We need better access to more sites for this.  Also when working on out of state background checks the directions/instructions were difficult to understand, and it was not clear which type of background check new staff from another state needed.  After much back and forth with licensing I finally was able to obtain what I needed.  This process needs to be easier and take less time.

Quality childcare is a foundational component to any community and we are currently in the midst of a childcare crisis. Staffing is already a challenge and with pandemic protocols heavily limiting many of our normal policies and procedures we are dealing with major staffing concerns. The current state of the background check system adds another hurdle, and some times road block, to hiring quality and capable staff members. The process is often unclear and extremely lengthy causing qualified applicants to move on with their job search before we can offer a position. I believe extensive background checks are vital to the work we do and because of their importance the system needs to be more efficient and accessible. I believe background checks already performed by a licensed center or day home should be transferable for the length of time they are are valid. This would eliminate numerous background checks for applicants that are looking to switch positions or locations. This would also greatly assist with the substitute shortage that we experience. Our economy is dependent on fully staffed childcare centers and day homes. Without proper staffing we are forced to close classrooms and limit our scope of care. Please consider the feedback from professionals in our field as decisions are made about a vital part of our childcare system. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The thought process behind the now-required background checks is surely great, however, the execution is severely lacking. 

In the 20 years that 16 years that I have been in this particular position, we have never endured such a severe staff shortage. It is surely not for lack of trying either. The current process is fine...as long as the candidate has only lived in Virginia. The Virginia State Police fingerprint process has become streamlined and the results do come relatively fast. It is the out-of-state process that needed to be reviewed. With each state requiring their own documents and process, it can take weeks (a month and a half for two of my employees) for all of the required results to be returned before a candidate may begin. We have lost more candidates than we have hired because the background check hurdles and the time it takes to get them returned. What I do not understand is why an employee who has only lived in Virginia has to only have criminal fingerprints done before beginning with an employer and their child abuse and neglect registry background check can be done WHILE they are employed. However, if they have lived in another state, we must wait for ALL of those are returned before the hiring process has begun.  

Portability of ALL background checks, Virginia and out-of-state, would help to mitigate the amount of time spent waiting for new ones to come back. The current time frame in which portability would be allowed is too small though.