Each region operates within different school systems with varying rules and regulations for volunteering with minors. Therefore, local staff and assigned screeners must be aware of the background check procedures for each region. Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) is responsible for background check clearances in the Baltimore region.
Fingerprinting Procedure at BITHGROUP:
Baltimore applicants are fingerprinted at an independent vendor called BITHGROUP, which is partnered with BCPS. The vendor is located at 10 West Eager Street, Suite #402, Baltimore, MD 21201, and open during business hours (Monday-Friday).
As of spring 2024, the vendor requires all volunteers to book an appointment ahead of time. They will schedule an appointment via the BITHGROUP website. To schedule, volunteers must choose the "Child Care - FBI & State" option in the list of fingerprinting services. In the "Comments" field of their booking, they will need to enter "iMentor: 9000017003" to ensure we are billed for the cost of fingerprinting.
For their appointment, volunteers will need to bring a government-issued picture ID such as a Driver’s License or Passport and a copy of this form. Valid forms of ID are listed here.
Background Check Clearance and Investigations:
The iMentor contact at BCPS will send iMentor notification via email regarding all iMentor volunteers’ clearance statuses. All contact with BCPS should go through the Volunteer Screening Manager for the region or the Associate Director of Screening.
Once a screener confirms an applicant has been fingerprinted, the screener will update their status to “Fingerprinted” on Salesforce. The Volunteer Screening Manager for the region is responsible for pulling a list of all “Fingerprinted” applicants and sending this to BCPS to confirm clearance. If BCPS responds that the applicant’s status is cleared, the VSM will manually mark the applicant as "Background Check Approved" in Salesforce. If a volunteer is under investigation by or has been rejected by BCPS, status will be updated accordingly. If any further documentation is required from the applicant, BCPS will contact them directly.
iMentor does NOT receive any information about investigations or other details about a volunteer background check; we are only told whether a volunteer is cleared, pending, or denied.
