At Sittercity, Trust and Safety is paramount to our every operation. We often get a question of how our sitters on the site are authenticated and/or vetted.
When a sitter joins our site, we use the information they provided to authenticate their identity using Experian. We also routinely screen through Family Watchdog (a source of registered sex offender information). It is important to keep in mind that sex offender searches are subject to limitations and may not reflect an individual's entire sex offender history.
We do not require background checks to be completed by any member on our site, however this is certainly an option for both parents and sitters to purchase and process easily on your account! In order to see if a sitter has already completed a background check, you will want to look for a badge displayed on a sitter’s profile. If you feel you might want to process a background check on a sitter prior to hiring them, which we strongly recommend, you can find some additional information about this process here.
Because Sittercity is not an agency, we do not conduct individual interviews with sitters on our site, or check references. We do, however, put these tools in the hands of our members to utilize and empower them to make informed decisions. To learn more about requesting caregiver references through our partnership with Crosschq, click here.
For some additional information on selecting the right caregiver please visit here!
Please be sure to check out our Trust & Safety Center for additional important information regarding trust & safety on Sittercity.