Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Background check Screening of Prospective Members

[Courtney Overby (over0286]

Greetings Folks,

I thought I’d provide just my own thoughts based on personal experience. As
a passionate cohouser and communitarian here - through and through. I
appreciate the nuances of this challenge.

Risk in this setting can be different to manage, and harm is not especially
measurable.

“Reducing Harm” , especially if the interested member might be a high risk
behaviorally, can be a little outside the scope and capacity of many
cohousing environments.

“Screening” in the first place can create a dynamic of “me(and all my
personally known/unknown threats, baggage, damage, and misdeeds)” and the
‘communities’(or evaluators, should there be so many folks in the community
that representation and division of labor become assets) values, wishes,
goals, priorities, and desires.

An individual for whom the barriers described in this thread are facing are
often illusive to detection. There’s little meaningful constructions,
interventions or support by “community intervention means” anyway. So
screening can often be a flawed approach to developing this trust,
familiarity and an awareness of the health and well-being of the potential
new member. Slippery slope and no suggestion from me that “ screening “ not
be a critical aspect of becoming a member of an intentional community - but
that the conception of a screening and the procedures “of care” it entails,
be broadened much much more.




With care,




Courtney








On Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 7:47 AM Kristina B. <kristinabridget [at] hotmail.com>
wrote:

> I would agree, except for sex offender registry websites. I have a 2.5
> year old daughter and what was said on this list recently about cohousing
> being a perfect target environment made me a little nervous. I could not
> imagine anyone I know from our community but why would anyone object to
> that screening I wonder? Open to hearing other thoughts...
> ________________________________
> From: Cohousing-L <cohousing-l-bounces+kristinabridget=
> hotmail.com [at] cohousing.org> on behalf of Margo Solod <margosolod [at] 
> gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2022 8:04 AM
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Background check Screening of Prospective Members
>
> I find the idea abhorrent and totally against the spirit of cohousing.
>
> On Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 11:02 AM Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Before you ding people on account of arrests and incarceration, consider
> > the inequitable way our law enforcement and legal system treat people of
> > color and immigrants.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 10:58 AM Jim Bronson <
> jimbronsonashland [at] gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks to others on this listserv for reflecting on their financial
> > > screening approach.  A similar, currently hot topic for us at River
> Song
> > is
> > > screening for behavior history, so-called background checks.  We
> probably
> > > all have encountered the numerous websites that promise to find your
> > person
> > > of interest, investigate their interactions with the law and
> government,
> > > and give you a report of their misdeeds, including arrests,
> convictions,
> > > fines, etc.  At RSC we wonder if these sites are accurate, and whether
> it
> > > is ethical and appropriate to use them to screen for prospective
> members.
> > >
> > > For reference, here is a link to a Seattle Weekly article that
> suggests 8
> > > sites they have investigated.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seattleweekly.com%2Fmarketplace%2Ftop-8-background-checks-sites-to-search-criminal-records-social-media-accounts-educational-history-and-more%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7C8cff531606a24d75cd3008d9f92b4eda%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637814786671269554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=y86do%2F60Vi40EhI2lVMt4G2zwkRHn7A0EMJI0EMZDKw%3D&amp;reserved=0
> > >
> > > There are many more back-ground check sites advertising through Google
> > > which will pop up when you enter a name search.  I would love to hear
> > from
> > > cohousing membership team folks about this topic.  Thanks.  Jim
> Bronson -
> > > River Song Cohousing, Eugene, OR
> > > _________________________________________________________________
> > > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> > >
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fl.cohousing.org%2Finfo&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7C8cff531606a24d75cd3008d9f92b4eda%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637814786671269554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=qL41Du0OXMjQ2kQUl8tnOAoMqKcWBrFK7320KeUA1TY%3D&amp;reserved=0
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> >
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fl.cohousing.org%2Finfo&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7C8cff531606a24d75cd3008d9f92b4eda%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637814786671269554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=qL41Du0OXMjQ2kQUl8tnOAoMqKcWBrFK7320KeUA1TY%3D&amp;reserved=0
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Margo Solod
> Author of *Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock, Coyote Summer and Washed Up in the
> Waves*
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.summerhoodisland.blogspot.com%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7C8cff531606a24d75cd3008d9f92b4eda%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637814786671269554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=%2BZUeTIxkWV9exidTMkEcTpiN7Xv5PkVGU%2BxcFELzLKM%3D&amp;reserved=0
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.margosolod.com%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7C8cff531606a24d75cd3008d9f92b4eda%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637814786671269554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=OX0BEbOCqsuRz3ZT3J7KoCylaYY68HiEmjBwJ6PlCnM%3D&amp;reserved=0
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fl.cohousing.org%2Finfo&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7C8cff531606a24d75cd3008d9f92b4eda%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637814786671269554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=qL41Du0OXMjQ2kQUl8tnOAoMqKcWBrFK7320KeUA1TY%3D&amp;reserved=0
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info
>
>
>
> --
Courtney A. Overby, MPP, LEED Green Associate

*"If your only tool is a hammer, you're apt to go around treating
everything as if it were a nail" -Abraham Maslow*



Community Development Associate, Minnesota Housing Partnership
Master of Public Policy, 2020
Minneapolis Global Shapers | Initiative of World Economic Forum
Email - over0286 [at] umn.edu Mobile - (612)750-0808 <(612)%20750-0808>
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/caoverby