This guide is for Ankored admins whose organization uses Yardstik as its integrated background check provider. For a provider-agnostic overview of background check levels, writing your screening policy, and FCRA requirements, see Background Checks Guide for Organizations.

Setting up integrated background checks typically takes 1 to 2 weeks. If you need to get started sooner, setup can be expedited. Timing will be discussed during your conversations with your sales representative and your Ankored implementation team.

As part of setup, your organization will need to fill out a Yardstik intake form. This allows Yardstik to get the integration set up in Ankored, which typically takes up to 5 business days.

Ankored is your compliance platform, and Yardstik is the background check provider running checks inside it. Your team works in Ankored day to day, and in most cases Ankored manages the billing relationship with Yardstik. See the Billing section below for details.

When a member is assigned a background check requirement, they click Run Background Check in Ankored, verify their identity with a code sent by email or text, and complete the Yardstik application. Members have 14 days to submit their application once it is assigned. See the Yardstik Background Check: Member Guide for step-by-step instructions to share with your members.

A valid Social Security number is required for every Yardstik background check. See the FAQ below for what to do if a member does not have one.

Re-applying: Once a member's Yardstik background check is completed, Yardstik blocks a new application for the same person for 30 days by default. This keeps members from running, and your organization from paying for, a duplicate check. Yardstik can adjust this window for your organization if needed. If a member cannot start a new background check because they already completed one within 30 days, contact [email protected].

Most Yardstik background checks are processed within 3 business days. Instant clearance is rare. Delays usually come from county courts, incomplete or misspelled applicant information, or Yardstik needing more information from the applicant. As a best practice, have members start their background check at least 7 business days before their program deadline.

In most cases, Ankored manages billing with Yardstik on your behalf, and you will not receive invoices from Yardstik.

*In some cases, your organization may keep its invoicing directly with Yardstik. Your billing setup will be discussed and confirmed during implementation.

Some counties and states charge court access fees to search their records. In the event one of your applicants has a county fee, that fee will be billed directly to your organization on your Ankored invoice.

These fees are not set by Ankored. They are set by the individual states and counties, are passed through by Yardstik without any markup, and may change over time.

To see which states and counties currently charge fees, see Yardstik's article: What are the pass-through fees on my invoice?

Here is how a member's background check moves through Ankored, from the moment it is assigned:

If a Qualifications Not Met or Disqualified decision needs to be reversed, see Resetting a member to Incomplete below. For every status in Ankored, see the Member Status Guide for Ankored Administrators.

All background check reports are stored in Yardstik. Users with the Admin permission level can view an applicant's report directly in Ankored, so you do not need to log in to Yardstik to review it. You can also view reports in your Yardstik admin account at https://app.yardstik.com.

Members who want a copy of their own background check report should contact Yardstik support at [email protected]. Ankored cannot send members copies of their background check reports.

If someone on your team needs to review flagged reports, make sure they have the Admin permission level in Ankored.

For Yardstik accounts, adjudication happens inside Ankored. When a check comes back with a record, it appears on the Awaiting Review tab of your Review Requirements queue with Consider in the Reason column, and the member shows as Under Review.

Tip: Make sure more than one person on your team has the Admin permission level, so flagged checks do not sit unreviewed when someone is out.

There is no expiration on a flagged check. If you do not make a decision, the report stays Under Review in Ankored (Consider in Yardstik and in the Reason column of your queue) indefinitely, until you decision it.

Some organizations leave a report in review because they are still considering the applicant and need more time. That is fine, but keep in mind the item will stay open in your queue until a decision is made.

Sometimes Yardstik can't finish a background check because it needs more information from the applicant, such as a correct date of birth, full legal name, or Social Security number. When this happens, Yardstik emails the applicant and sends reminders asking them to provide what's missing.

If the applicant doesn't respond, the check will appear in your Review Requirements queue in Ankored with Consider in the Reason column. Keep in mind that this does not mean a record was found. The check was never completed.

Here is how to handle these checks:

If your organization added Yardstik RSO monitoring, Yardstik continuously monitors your cleared members against sex offender registries and alerts you if something new appears.

A background check and a monitor work differently. A background check looks back at a member's history at the moment it runs. A monitor looks forward, and keeps watching after the background check is done. That is why a member can have a cleared background check and later receive an RSO flag: their check was clear when it ran, and the monitor caught a registry record that was added afterward.

In your Yardstik admin account, the Monitoring tab shows everyone enrolled in RSO monitoring, including currently enrolled and previously enrolled members, plus an Action Needed section for anything that needs review. Your review decisions are still made in Ankored.

If a member was set to Disqualified or Qualifications Not Met and that decision needs to be reversed, you can reset them yourself without contacting Ankored Support. Customer Admins and Directors can do this.

The requirement that caused the disqualification returns to Incomplete. Any requirements the member already completed stay Completed. The reset applies across every program the member belongs to, and the member can log in again right away.

A Yardstik background check cannot be run without a valid Social Security number. There is no workaround or placeholder number for Yardstik checks. This means a member without an SSN will not be able to complete their Yardstik background check requirement in Ankored, and their status will stay Incomplete.

How to handle that person is your organization's decision, based on your screening policy. Contact [email protected] if you would like to talk through your options for that member.

An SSN is a unique identifier tied to a person's U.S. earnings history, and it is what makes the rest of the background check possible. Yardstik uses it to run an SSN Trace, which searches sources like credit card companies, utility companies, schools, and lenders for the names and addresses connected to that number.

That address history tells Yardstik which counties to search for criminal records. The names and dates of birth that come back are also checked against what the applicant entered, as a basic identity check. Without an SSN, Yardstik cannot build the address history or know which counties to search.

No. An ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) is issued by the IRS to people who are not eligible for an SSN but still need to file federal taxes. It exists only for tax purposes and is not connected to the same financial and institutional databases as an SSN. Because of that, it cannot power an SSN Trace or the address history and county searches that depend on it, so Yardstik does not accept it as a substitute.

No. Your Yardstik background check package does not include a credit check, and it does not affect a member's credit score.

The SSN Trace described above may use basic identifying information, like names and past addresses, from sources such as credit bureau records to determine which counties to search. This is not a credit check, and it does not include any credit history.

Members may also notice references to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in the consent forms they sign. The FCRA is the federal law that governs all background checks, not just credit reports, which is why it appears. It does not mean a credit check is being run.

Members should email Yardstik support at [email protected] to request a copy of their report. Background check reports are held by Yardstik, so Ankored cannot send a copy to the member.

For day-to-day work, no. Statuses, compliance, reporting, viewing reports, and adjudication decisions all happen in Ankored for users with the Admin permission level. Your Yardstik admin account at https://app.yardstik.com is also available if you want to view reports there.

In most cases, no. Ankored manages billing with Yardstik on your behalf, and any county fees are included on your Ankored invoice. In some cases, your organization may keep its invoicing directly with Yardstik. This is confirmed during implementation.

No. County fees are set by the individual states and counties where your applicant's records are searched, not by Ankored. Yardstik passes them through without any markup. See Yardstik's article What are the pass-through fees on my invoice? for details.

For questions about your Ankored account, requirements, or statuses, contact [email protected].