One of the reasons we started our in-home tutoring service back in 2004 was that we noticed there were TONS of listings in Craigslist for tutors but there was really no way for parents to screen out who was qualified and to make sure their child would be safe if they ever left them alone with the tutor.

Since our inception, we have required every tutor to provide references, teaching credentials, and authorize Stepping Stone Tutors to run a 50 state criminal background check which we outsource to a 3rd party called ABSO in part because they also have access to the FBI national sex offender database.

When I read the article today in the The Morning Call about an online scam from an individual claiming to be a tutor and asking the parents to wire money, it helped to reaffirm our decision to launch our service.