City, county, state and federal governments are composed of hundreds of departments and employ thousands of people. Most of these departments function in essentially the same way, but there are various nuances that affect each differently.

Consider what it takes to manage a city: police and fire departments, city offices, libraries, public works, recreation and parks, street and sidewalk maintenance, water and waste management, building codes and licensing, residential and commercial zone development and maintenance. Add to this list those departments that develop, assess and collect taxes and fees, and those that develop the economy and supply information for businesses and other city and government agencies. Every one of these departments is staffed with a variety of employees, each with a specific skill set.

The typical city maintains between 250 to 3,000 employees. Even with such an astronomical and specialized employee base, the typical city operates exactly like any other business and struggles with the same concerns.

• Protection and management of public records
• Protection of currency, funds and pecuniary documents
• Protection of fees, taxes and assessments
• Protection of vendor and supplier information
• Maintenance of compliance with regulatory statutes
• Safe maintenance of public places and venues
• Safe and secure interaction between employees, vendors and the public at large

In general, background screening searches for all city employees are a combination of the following, depending on the type of position being filled

• Social Security Search
• County Criminal Checks
• Federal Criminal Check
• Civil Search
• Sex Offenders Search
• DMV Report
• Education Verification
• Drug Test
• In the case of some county and all federal employees, an additional series of searches is conducted to identify Suspected Terrorists, as a part of the Patriot Act.

Our client is a city that grew dramatically in a 10-year period and continues to flourish. With hundreds of new citizens moving into the area, the need to adequately staff and manage city jobs and departments continues to be a pressing proposition.

It is a known fact that if a company (or in this case, a city) hires with "due diligence" initially, employee problems resulting in theft, absenteeism, job performance and employee turnover are minimized. Due diligence, therefore, translates to an effective cost-control measure for the need it satisfies. Additionally, the creation of a solid hiring policy results in "quality applicants" that become worthy and valuable employees.

The specific request of this city was that the pricing structure of background screening and drug testing was maintained within specific departmental budgets.

UNISOURCE was given screening criteria and a budget allocation for each city department that would be participating in the applicant-screening program. Based on frequency and volume, "search packages" were created for each department and priced to fit within the budget perimeters of that department.

A "check and balance" component was established, in which UNISOURCE notifies individual departments of suspicious applicant information that might require additional searches for clarification. An example of this would be a male applicant with several aliases, who has lived in a number of counties in a short period of time. After reviewing the facts, the department may decide to have additional searches conducted, while monitoring control of the individual departmental budget.