This article outlines some need-to-knows for screeners about Baltimore.

THE BALTIMORE REGION AND OUR SCHOOL PARTNERS

• The Baltimore region currently has 3 schools:
  - Baltimore Design School (BDS) is centrally located in Greenmount West, and is focused on graphic design, fashion design and architecture.  
  - Academy for College and Career Exploration (ACCE) is located in Hampden and offers both college preparatory and vocational focused classes. Hampden is a bit further north than the other school, but it is not difficult to get to by car or public transit.
  -TBD for 2024-25
• Baltimore is located in the Eastern time zone (same as NYC). 
• Baltimore is a smaller city than our other regions, and most applicants drive to events. All schools have parking. Some applicants work in the greater DC metro area, and may have a longer commute to get into Baltimore due to traffic. 
• The Baltimore mentor recruitment stream is diverse and evenly split between corporate and community engagement. Corporate recruitment comes from varied sources and is less focused on finance/banking than in NYC. 
• Baltimore pair events start earlier than in other regions. In 2024 the start time is 4:30PM. If a mentor expresses a concern about making these events due to the time, please follow up with your manager and the regional Volunteer Screening Manager. 
• Baltimore can generally not accept a mentor who can ONLY do lunch or virtual meetings.  If a mentor states they are not available to attend a 4:30PM meeting, follow up with the regional Volunteer Screening Manager.
• As Baltimore only has a few schools, they can generally accommodate mentor school requests. If a mentor expresses a requirement or strong preference for a specific school, please note their requirement in the ‘Match Logistics’ field AND chatter the regional Volunteer Screening Manager, who can update the “Match Pool” field. However, screeners should never make any 100% guarantees for placement.  

BACKGROUND CHECK PROCESS

Baltimore applicants are fingerprinted by a vendor called BITHGROUP located in the Mt Vernon area of Baltimore. The vendor is only open Monday-Friday during business hours. As of spring 2024, the vendor requires appointments, but slots are plentiful and same-day appointments may be available.

If an applicant mentions they have been previously fingerprinted through BCPS, they most likely still need to be re-fingerprinted for our school partners. Please notify the region manager if that is the case, with as much context and information as possible about their prior fingerprinting, and await instructions.  Keep in mind that Baltimore City and Baltimore County have separate school districts. 

For more details about the Background check process in Baltimore, see this article. 

BALTIMORE SPECIFIC CHECKLIST

• 2-3 days after orientation, please send out the fingerprinting instructions via the ‘Sending Fingerprint Instructions Email’ checkbox – the Baltimore Welcome to Screening email does not include background check instructions 
• Update Background Check Status to “Fingerprinted” once the applicant confirms they completed their appointment at BITHGROUP, and log any interactions either in the Background Check Notes field or in Activity History 
• ASK QUESTIONS TO FELLOW SCREENERS AND MANAGERS AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED – IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO ASK!

BALTIMORE POINTS OF CONTACT

Screeners should reach out first the Baltimore Volunteer Screening Manager, Ashley Bodmer- [email protected] for questions about individual Baltimore applicants, Baltimore screening strategy, and other regional concerns. Our regional contacts are:

Ashley Day-Gibbs, Director of Mentor Engagement, [email protected]
Brittany Harper, Manager of Mentor Engagement, [email protected]