INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – New software called “Arrest Alert” will track who is working at your child’s school by warning administrations when employees are sent to jail.
Safe Hiring Solutions in Danville will launch the program on Tuesday. This comes just days after FOX59 learned a volunteer Catholic high school coach was arrested for child seduction.
Indiana’s Department of Education said there is no state law right now that requires licenses of coaches to be revoked if they are convicted of certain felonies, like sex with a minor. A state lawmaker hopes a bill she filed Friday will stop schools from hiring bad coaches.
“If they go to a school and there is no listing of what they had done at the previous school then maybe they can do something inappropriate with another student,” said State Rep. Donna Schaibley.
State Rep. Schaibley worked with the state’s Department of Education to find a way to make students safer. Right now, there is no database for Indiana schools to check prior inappropriate behavior of full-time or volunteer coaches.
“They all have background checks but some things just don’t show up and more often it is the improper behavior,” she said.
A bill she filed Friday would require the Indiana High School Athletic Association to create a database and revoke the license of a coach if he or she is convicted of certain felonies.
“If they were dismissed as a coach from one facility they would not be able to go to another school,” said State Rep. Schaibley.
In the meantime, Safe Hiring Solutions in Danville is providing schools with information.
“This is a consistent they are looking to secure to keep their students a lot safer,” said Lauren Thomas, Chief Operating Officer.
They can send a text or email to a participating school district if one of their full-time or volunteer employees gets arrested which keeps a background check up to date. Thomas said they are working with roughly 300 school districts in Indiana.
“To be assured that the people you have vetted remain in a proper capacity to be with your company,” she said.
Their software can also provide information on prior arrests.
“Anything that provides more information on the person is a deterrent from the beginning,” Thomas said.
Indiana’s Department of Education said coaches can sneak to other work places more often than they should. In one case, they revoked a teaching license of a coached charged for child seduction. He then became a basketball coach for a travel team in northwest Indiana.
