Background checks can provide a lot of information about a person and can be a useful tool when it comes to prevention of child sexual abuse. It is important to do a background check before a person is allowed to have a lot of unsupervised interactions with a minor.
Some people believe that it is disrespectful to do a background check on someone. I believe most people will understand especially if children are involved. In fact, if someone objects to it, then that might be a red flag that it is probably not a good idea for the children to spend any significant amount of time with this person.
All mentor organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters or Kinship Minneapolis do background checks plus other detailed evaluations before accepting someone as a mentor. All mentors do understand this well and accept the process. I have been a mentor for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization and I fully support their evaluation process.
In my book “Father Figure – my mission to prevent child sexual abuse”, I have suggested that single parents with young children should do a background check before starting to date a new person. This should never be an issue if the person has nothing to hide. Safety of the children must come first and it is important to maintain a preventive mindset.