Free background check resources: reports, guides, tools and videos for schools, volunteer programs and employers.

A survey of 150+ HR and hiring leaders on how they really feel about their background screening vendor. 59% say they aren’t loyal to their current provider, yet 81% have stayed with that vendor for three or more years. The report explains the gap.

• Why so many buyers stay with a provider they aren’t loyal to
• The gap between what sales promised and what was delivered
• Where turnaround actually lands, in buyers’ own words
• What buyers are weighing for the year ahead

National research from SecureVolunteer by Bchex. More than 10,000 school volunteers and administrators on how volunteer programs really run, what screening means to them, and who they think should pay for volunteer background checks.

• Why most schools don’t have enough volunteers
• How volunteer programs are actually managed today
• Who should pay for volunteer background checks: the data
• What makes volunteers stay, or walk away for good

A year of post-hire monitoring data from 80 North Carolina organizations that use Chex365. Every one screened at hire. The 5,036 charges in this sample came later, during the months and years of employment that followed.

• Key findings from one year of post-hire monitoring
• The offense categories that surfaced after the hire date
• How continuous monitoring works, starting with consent
• Anonymized case studies from the data

A Bchex survey of 80 hiring decision-makers. 94% say employers should screen social media, and 70% admit to informal reviews outside any company process. The report covers what content matters, where the risk is highest and five steps to formalize your practice.

• Why informal social media checks are a compliance gap
• The content hiring teams say actually matters
• Which roles decision-makers rank as highest risk
• Why most favor telling candidates up front

A side-by-side look at background screening providers by the kind of organization you are, from K-12 districts to staffing firms. Every vendor, Bchex included, is scored on the same rubric, and the guide names the categories where Bchex isn’t the fit.

• The top providers in each of eleven buyer categories
• One evaluation rubric, applied to every vendor
• Where Bchex competes, and where it doesn’t
• Five diligence questions to ask every vendor on your shortlist

Real stories from hiring managers, HR directors and small business owners, collected, anonymized and retold with The Bad Hire podcast. Each one ends with the screening decision that could have changed how it went.

• Seventy true stories, anonymized
• From early warning signs to the first day on the job
• The screening lesson inside each story
• Made with The Bad Hire podcast, hosted by Bchex CEO Ken Monroe

A practical guide from SecureVolunteer by Bchex for schools, nonprofits, youth programs, churches and parks and recreation: who to screen, which check each role needs, how to share results fairly, and who pays.

• Who counts as a volunteer, and which check each role needs
• Writing your standard and choosing who reviews results
• Sharing outcomes fairly, appeals and rescreening
• Who pays, plus a printable checklist for your team

A field guide for park and recreation agencies, made in partnership with NRPA: what makes a screen reliable, what it really costs, and the compliance basics for screening staff, volunteers and coaches.

• The three fundamentals of background check quality
• Why database-only searches miss records
• A layered screen for staff, volunteers and coaches
• The real cost per screen, plus FCRA and EEOC basics

A desk reference for anyone who reads background check results or makes the final call. Forty terms, each defined in plain English with why it matters. Built on Screening Hero, the SHRM-certified course from Bchex.

• Forty must-know terms from A to Z
• What each term means, and why it matters
• Shared language for your whole hiring team
• Built on the SHRM-certified Screening Hero course

The Background Check Consumer Insights Report. We read hundreds of verified buyer reviews from across the screening industry and organized them into what buyers consistently love, what they consistently hate, and what drives the decision to look elsewhere.

• What buyers consistently praise
• The most common frustrations, in buyers’ own words
• What drives the quiet decision to switch
• A lens for evaluating any provider, including your current one

An overview of the laws that apply when employers look at candidates’ social media, from discrimination laws to state privacy rules and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with the building blocks of a sound screening policy.

• Federal and state laws that apply to social media checks
• When FCRA adverse action steps come into play
• Why employers stick to publicly available information
• How to build a clear, consistent screening policy

A complete sample of the social media screening report offered by Bchex, built on a fictional candidate. See how results are organized and flagged before you order one.

• The full report for a sample candidate
• How public posts are reviewed and categorized
• The notices and disclosures every report includes
• What your hiring team sees

A one-page overview of Insight+. You set the rules for each role. Insight+ checks every report against them, clears the ones that meet your policy and flags the ones that need a closer look, with a documented trail. Your team makes every final call.

• How rule sets work for each role
• Clearing and flagging reports against your policy
• Ava, the premium add-on for individualized assessments
• Who Insight+ is built for

The numbers behind our customer relationships, plus what clients say about working with Bchex: Net Promoter Score, retention, turnaround and dispute rates, and the comments behind them.

• How Bchex customers score us
• How that compares with well-known brands
• What school districts and other clients say, in their own words
• The numbers behind the partnership