Audit of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC)

This is a Massachusetts State Auditor performance audit of Quinsigamond Community College, covering July 1, 2017 through March 31, 2019.

“In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) for the period July 1, 2017 through March 31, 2019.”

Auditors checked whether the college followed background-check rules for early childhood education students and Children’s School staff, and whether the Children’s School met state safety licensing rules.

“In this performance audit, we examined QCC’s process to ensure compliance with background check requirements for students in early childhood education (ECE) courses and the staff and faculty of QCC’s Children’s School.”

The issue matters because students in these programs may interact with children, and missing background checks can create safety risks.

“Without required background checks for students enrolled in ECE courses, there may be a risk to children in the care of facilities involved with the ECE Program.”

If you are a parent, student, employee, or community member using QCC’s Children’s School or early childhood education program, this report tells you whether the college had safeguards in place for people working around children.

“QCC’s Children’s School provides daycare programs to QCC’s students, staff, and faculty, as well as members of the community, for their children ages two years and nine months to five years.”

Auditors found one main problem: QCC could not show that every early childhood education student had the required checks.

“Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) could not substantiate that all students in early childhood education (ECE) courses had had required background checks.”

The auditor recommended that QCC create a written process to make sure every early childhood education student has the required checks.

“QCC should develop a documented process to ensure that all students in ECE courses have had the required background checks.”

The audit found gaps affecting 44 students missing verified CORI/SORI checks and 17 capstone students missing verified fingerprint-based checks before participation.

“QCC did not ensure that 17 of them had fingerprint-based checks before they began participating in the courses.”

CORI means a Massachusetts criminal-history check; SORI means a check of whether someone is listed as a higher-level registered sex offender in Massachusetts.

“A CORI check provides information about an individual’s history of criminal activity.”