Background Checks Policy

Updated January, 2025

Des Moines Refugee Support (DMRS) is committed to the protection of all persons who are associated with DMRS including staff, volunteers, and clients.  DMRS shall conduct criminal background checks of all employees and volunteers who have direct contact with refugees participating in our programs, this includes, but is not limited to, volunteers who will transport clients in their vehicle or in a DMRS vehicle, and volunteers who will spend repeated time in the homes of refugees as part of our family support program that supplies household goods and basic necessities.

DMRS will carry out this requirement in a fair, consistent and non-discriminatory manner, complying with applicable state and federal laws and guidelines, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. DMRS utilizes name-based systems to obtain data for individual background checks, but at a minimum each individual background check shall include:
(a) verification of the individual’s identity and legal aliases,
(b) a state search of sex offender registries and
(c) a state search of criminal records.

Background checks shall be conducted prior to employment or volunteer service and renewed every 2 years. Other data may also be obtained, based on individual employee or volunteer duties or responsibilities. Background check findings shall be reviewed in a fair, impartial and confidential manner.

Because DMRS’s priority is the safety of the staff, volunteers and clients, certain actions and convictions for certain crimes serve to automatically disqualify applicants for employment or volunteer service at DMRS in any position that involves working with children. A person will be ineligible for employment or volunteer service if the person:
(1) refuses to consent to a criminal background check,
(2) makes a false statement in connection with such criminal background check,
(3) is registered, or required to be registered on any sex offender registry,
(4) has been convicted of a felony,
(5) or has been convicted of a misdemeanor involving:
(a) physical assault or battery,
(b) drugs or controlled substances, or
(c) cruelty to animals.
(d) inappropriate contact with children
(e) a crime determined to be motivated by hate for the victim’s race, gender identity, religion, etc.

With respect to convictions for crimes not listed above, any applicant with such a conviction shall be evaluated on an individual basis to determine whether they should be excluded from consideration based on the conviction.
DMRS shall alert the applicant to the possibility of his or her exclusion due to past criminal conduct and provide the applicant an opportunity to submit an explanation. All personal data, background check data and adverse action letters shall be treated as confidential and maintained in a secure location.

Published by Des Moines Refugee Support with board approval