“Failure to Protect”

[IllianaLancerContra]

51 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

Hall of fame 

There is an open spot on the wall where they could put her picture.

[Slingerland]

Most states and most institutions in those states have very strict guidelines and restrictions on what information they can share with others. Investigated for having improper relationships with a student but quit before the investigation was completed? Congratulations, because chances are that the school or employer who was looking into the charges can't say a #### thing about it to anyone asking (that, by the way, is the common thread in at least half of the instances where a staffer with a scummy past was able to keep teaching in the drum corps world).

Those who are assuming that there's an easy way to look into the past of every potential employee and find the dirt they don't want you to find have scant knowledge of how the laws work in that regard. Does that mean that there's no way to make the fortifications stronger? Absolutely not: I'm all in favor of "don't pass the trash" laws in the drum corps community, with mandatory reporting to DCI of any situation where an instructor was investigated for improper behavior with members, whether making inappropriate comments, bullying, hazing, or having ostensibly consensual relationships with members.  But those who assume that the rules were already in place to give DCI the power to enforce those kinds of rules for the member corps are fooling themselves.
 

 

[BigW]

4 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

On the surface I kind of like the DCI-vetting idea.  Kind of like the way DCI gets the copyright permissions for the Corps music.   But, what happens if DCI doesn't find something in a background check that is in fact there.  To use the copyright analogy, the tune gets cut from the DVDs.  What happens if something gets by DCI, & heaven forbid, a member is assaulted by a staff member?   Aside from the criminal act, DCI would be exposed to a degree of civil liability.  Not sure if one can get insurance for that or not.

It's very hard to get by the combinations of checks unless the individual engages in fraudulent ways to evade the check, which would absolve DCI and put the individual in jail.

[Terri Schehr]

31 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

There is an open spot on the wall where they could put her picture.

[BigW]

2 hours ago, Slingerland said:

Most states and most institutions in those states have very strict guidelines and restrictions on what information they can share with others. Investigated for having improper relationships with a student but quit before the investigation was completed? Congratulations, because chances are that the school or employer who was looking into the charges can't say a #### thing about it to anyone asking (that, by the way, is the common thread in at least half of the instances where a staffer with a scummy past was able to keep teaching in the drum corps world).

Those who are assuming that there's an easy way to look into the past of every potential employee and find the dirt they don't want you to find have scant knowledge of how the laws work in that regard. Does that mean that there's no way to make the fortifications stronger? Absolutely not: I'm all in favor of "don't pass the trash" laws in the drum corps community, with mandatory reporting to DCI of any situation where an instructor was investigated for improper behavior with members, whether making inappropriate comments, bullying, hazing, or having ostensibly consensual relationships with members.  But those who assume that the rules were already in place to give DCI the power to enforce those kinds of rules for the member corps are fooling themselves.
 

 

There's been a tendency for the schools to prosecute whether or not the person quits. Thankfully.  Not like it was to just go away and nothing said.

[Tim K]

2 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

On the surface I kind of like the DCI-vetting idea.  Kind of like the way DCI gets the copyright permissions for the Corps music.   But, what happens if DCI doesn't find something in a background check that is in fact there.  To use the copyright analogy, the tune gets cut from the DVDs.  What happens if something gets by DCI, & heaven forbid, a member is assaulted by a staff member?   Aside from the criminal act, DCI would be exposed to a degree of civil liability.  Not sure if one can get insurance for that or not.

DCI would not be liable nor would any corps be liable if something did not show up after a criminal background check was completed. Criminal background checks are completed by state governments where the person resides and it is that locale that clears a person. We do run into problems as far as interstate issues are concerned and criminal background checks are not fool proof but you are covered if you do an annual background check and there turns out to be missing information about a crime.  

A background check by DCI would also verify employment, verify the accuracy of credentials, and if the person is in education, verify the certification is valid. If it has expired, most states will provide a letter that states what needs to be done to have the license reinstated. If the applicant can’t produce a letter, don’t hire them. 

[Bluzes]

3 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

As part of corps' background checks, they'll need a process to weed out false positives.

I am kind of slow, the person committed a felony and the Mugshot is still associated with the person, years later. So that newspaper in their mind is doing the right thing by dancing around the issue in their news cycle, I get that part. Now years later that person applies at a Corps and their background check discovers the felony. I am missing the false positive part?

[ftwdrummer]

1 hour ago, Bluzes said:

I am kind of slow, the person committed a felony and the Mugshot is still associated with the person, years later. So that newspaper in their mind is doing the right thing by dancing around the issue in their news cycle, I get that part. Now years later that person applies at a Corps and their background check discovers the felony. I am missing the false positive part?

The person was booked for a felony, but wasn't necessarily convicted. However, the mugshot exists whether they were convicted or not. So they could be called on something, even if they were found not guilty.

Edited December 23, 2018 by ftwdrummer

[81Freelancers]

I tried to warn people in the '80s about sexual predators in the color guard world as instructors focused and groomed young, naive performers to succumb to their advances. I don't care what you do you in our bedroom, but don't bring into your work. Unfortunately, these instructors were valued as too talented to be reprimanded or fired so everyone looked the other way. 

[MikeD]

5 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

On the surface I kind of like the DCI-vetting idea.  Kind of like the way DCI gets the copyright permissions for the Corps music.   But, what happens if DCI doesn't find something in a background check that is in fact there.  To use the copyright analogy, the tune gets cut from the DVDs.  What happens if something gets by DCI, & heaven forbid, a member is assaulted by a staff member?   Aside from the criminal act, DCI would be exposed to a degree of civil liability.  Not sure if one can get insurance for that or not.

I don't see how DCI could ever be the source of vetting people. It goes well beyond staff to admins, support staff, cooks, volunteers and any other adults that may interact with the MM. People come and go all through the year. It is absolutely (IMO) incumbent on corps to perform as deep a level if vetting as they can on these people. The corps could then certify to DCI that they are in compliance. "Compliance" means zero issues discovered.