‘Children At Risk’: Department Of Energy Did Not Properly Vet Whether Hired Childcare Workers Were Sex Offenders, Criminals
An investigation found that the Department of Energy (DOE) did not properly vet individuals it hired to staff department provided childcare at multiple locations, including not checking whether new hires were registered sex offenders or had criminal records.
According to a report from the office of the Inspector General conducted from July 2018 until October 2020, several childcare facilities operated by the DOE for their staff failed to perform proper background checks on those they hired.
“Hiring personnel without completing full background checks may put children at risk,” the report noted. “[If] the identified issues are not addressed in a timely manner, parents may not have the assurance that their children are in a safe and healthy environment.”
The DOE provides childcare to those working with the department, including at the investigated locations including the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermi), the Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), and the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) Morgantown, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania locations.
At the Fermi lab in Illinois, 18 employees did not have fingerprint background checks and 10 were not checked to see whether they were a sex offender or not. One employee never had their work history verified. – READ MORE
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