Q3 2023 – Compliance Update

SCREENINGS – UNITED STATES

Regulation V – Human Trafficking Act – FCRA

The FCRA and Regulation V Human Trafficking Final Rule prohibits consumer reporting agencies from furnishing a consumer report containing adverse item(s) of information that resulted from certain types of human trafficking. It is meant to ensure that crimes committed while the individual may have been a victim are not shared and do not adversely impact them. This does not protect or report information on the trafficker(s) but is meant to protect the victims and give them a fresh start.

While not necessarily something many of our Customers would think applies to them, it is possible that PlusOne will no longer be able to report a previously reportable record because of a human trafficking incident has now been verified and will block that information. This is something that would be the same with all consumer reporting agencies and is not specific to PlusOne.

Michigan Continuing to Cause Delays and Challenges

Michigan has recently enacted a Clean Slate Law, and this is resulting in significant changes to criminal record searches. Cases are being removed that now qualify for automatic expungement under the Law but much of this is a manual process.  This is a requirement of the courts to assure that all possible automatically expunged cases do not show up on the public system or clerks’ computers for public record searches. Until the courts have updated their systems, we are experiencing ongoing delays and we will do what we can to ensure we provide the best search possible under the current situation. Please note – we do continue to offer conditional approvals in some situations which may help expedite the screening process. We will continue to monitor the process, and turnaround times and encourage you to speak with your Customer Success Manager if you have questions.

Oral Fluid Drug Testing Approved

A recent approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation to accept oral fluid testing is raising a lot of questions about how the current processes may change and at this point we are pleased to say – no charges are expected. Oral fluid testing, or saliva testing, is a form of drug testing that involves collecting a sample of a person’s saliva and testing it for the presence of drugs. The process generally involves swabbing the inside of the mouth with a specialized collection device, which is then sent to a laboratory for analysis.

While there are certainly advantages to this testing, the reality is that the infrastructure is not currently in place to effectively support this testing. The Health and Human Services Department will need to certify at least two laboratories that can handle this type of testing and that process is still ongoing. The expected cost is much higher than urine testing and another reason why oral fluid testing isn’t preferred is that it has a shorter detection window than urine testing. While it can detect recent use more accurately, it may not be able to detect drugs that were used several days or even weeks ago. This is a concern when trying to determine if there is ongoing, or habitual drug use.  For example, oral fluid is designed to catch very recent drug use i.e., 12-48 hours, urine is 24hrs – 1 week (up to 1 month for habitual THC use) and hair is 1 week – 90 days and is looking for patterns of prolonged use.

Oral fluid is done with a small swab kit which can be administered by almost anyone (i.e., doesn’t need to be in a lab). While this might seem better than scheduling and sending someone to a lab, the kit still must be sent to a lab for testing. The challenges included mean you cannot prove who took the test, self-collection for drug users is not advisable and the coordination to get the kits sent in for analysis may be cumbersome. Additionally, the kits must be where the testing will be done which means if there are disparate locations, there will be time and effort to coordinate.

As with all industry changes, we will continue to monitor this modality as an option for the service networks we support and will provide updates as they become available.

SCREENINGS – CANADA

PRCRA – Ontario, Canada Criminal Record

The Ministry of the Solicitor General (SOLGEN) is conducting a legislative review of the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 (PRCRA), as required under s. 21 of the act. The focus of the review is to determine whether the PRCRA is achieving its policy intent of standardizing the police record check process while balancing public safety and privacy rights.

As part of the review, they are engaging with key internal and external partners to seek input on a few broad themes and the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA), our industry association, has invited to be part of this review. In addition to this engagement, the ministry plans to post a consultation paper to the Ontario Regulatory Registry. We will advise if any changes to the criminal record check process in the province of Ontario arise from this review.