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Programs for Minors FAQ

You will need to contact the Programs for Minors Office at safety-minors@utk.edu or 974-1721.

Each covered adult must complete:

  • The child protection training program
  • Have an approved background check
  • Sign and submit the form for “Tennessee Law on Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse or Child Sexual Abuse”

Yes, if the program director reasonably anticipates the volunteer will have direct contact with a minor in the university sponsored covered program.

The sponsor of the covered program must sign the required indemnification agreement “License for use of university property for program involving minors” and submit the form to the campus CBO and designated official.

The objective of this policy is to promote a safe environment for minors by fostering a University culture that is committed to preventing, recognizing, reporting, and addressing child abuse and child sexual abuse. The background check will help to ensure the safety of our employees, students and visitors.

The average turnaround time after we submit the background check request (following receipt of consent from the covered adult) is 72 hours. Background may take longer than 72 hours depending on several factors: number of aliases, number of prior residences and the speed of the reporting agency. For these reasons, please allow at least one to two weeks of processing time for each background check.

The subject must complete and sign the University’s Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosure and Authorization to Release Information Form. This form will be provided by Human Resources via an email from Truescreen, which is the university’s contracted vendor. The electronic consent form is completed entirely online and is not returned to HR for processing.

Yes. If a candidate does not give permission or neglects to give all of the information required to process a background investigation, the check will not be conducted and that person will not be allowed to participate in covered programs.

Human Resources will conduct all background checks.

Please contact Chelsea Atkins in HR at 865-974-7848 or catkin22@utk.edu.

All costs associated with performing background checks will be paid for centrally by the University.

For “Covered Adults” with any overnight involvement or regular, frequent contact with minors for longer than two weeks, the background check will include the following:

  • SSN Verification and Trace (credit bureau data analyzed for names, SSNs, and addresses)
  • County Criminal Records Search (searches conducted in all counties of residence in past 7 years)
  • Federal Criminal Records Search (searches conducted in all districts of residence in past 7 years)
  • National Criminal File Search
  • National Sexual Offender Database Search
  • MVR Driving History
  • Sanctions Base (proprietary search covering sanctions, disciplinary and administrative actions taken by hundreds of federal and state healthcare regulatory authorities, including FDA, NIH, GSA, OFAC, terrorist watch lists and more)

Criminal background checks on the persons described above shall be repeated no less frequently than every four (4) years.

Background information will be regarded as confidential and protected against unauthorized disclosure. Information shall not be released or otherwise disclosed to any person or agency, except to persons who need to know this information in order to make a determination regarding employment.

Yes. All training must be completed with a final score of at least 70%. To access the required training please select the following link: K@TE.

Individual UT Employees

Complete the “Child Protection Training for Covered Adults” online training module in K@TE, the learning management system

External Users (including volunteers, contractors, students, student workers and grad students)

Access Child Protection Training for External Users. Be sure to know the name of your program/program affiliation, departmental account number, and the program coordinator’s name.

The online training for employees is housed in K@TE, the learning management system. External users should access the training at kate.tennessee.edu/cpt.

For more information about the Child Protection Training, please visit the Human Resources website.

The Program Director is responsible for ensuring that all Covered Adults have a completed background check and training prior to interacting with any minors. The Program Director should work with the Designated Official and Human Resources regarding the workflow status of their event registration form.

You will need to contact the Programs for Minors Office at safety-minors@utk.edu or 974-3061. All events that involve minors with a UT sponsoring department must be registered through the Programs for Minors Office. If an event is near the starting date or already underway, the Designated Official (D.O.) will determine if the policy requirements can be addressed. If not, the D.O. may instruct the Program Director to cancel the event to include notifying the appropriate dean or vice chancellor.

No. Any background check results that include a criminal history will be evaluated by the D.O., Human Resources, and General Counsel on a case by case basis. The D.O. and/or HR will notify the program director of any applicant that has been denied participation, but will specific information related to the criminal history will not be shared.

Yes. Anyone participating as a covered adult must be recorded in IRIS. For those individuals that are not employees, they must be listed as a Friend of the University for Risk Management purposes.

No. Once you review and sign the mandatory reporting law form you should submit it to the program director. For all university employees, the program director will forward a copy to HR to be placed in the employee’s personnel file. For all other covered adults, the program director must retain on file.