The "whole person concept" is a paradigm used by government agencies that adjudicate security clearances, fingerprint checks, and background checks, to determine whether or not a person is suitable for approval.  These include the federal government and the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting.  Basically, this "rule" indicates that the "whole person" should be considered when determining whether or not a person poses an unacceptable security or safety risk.

Although the whole person concept generally does not factor into an initial application -- there, your application, submitted materials, references, and investigation results control -- it does play an important role in appealing a denial or revocation of a clearance.  Basically, if some detrimental information or disqualifying incident pops up, which would otherwise deny you clearance, positive factors may be taken into account to overcome the presumption of disqualification.

Essentially, there are two types of positive factors that can help you.  The first includes factors that mitigate the seriousness of negative conduct.  For example, if your background reveals that you have been convicted of shoplifting, this could result in disqualification and denial of a clearance.  But if you can demonstrate that you paid full restitution to the store, were only 19 years old at the time, played only a minor role in the incident, and the conviction was set aside by the judge after you completed your probation early, then the effect of the conviction may be minimized, and your application may be approved.

The second type of positive "whole person" factor includes anything that demonstrates your trustworthiness, diligence, dedication to the community or country, or overall good character.  These factors can indirectly minimize the negative impact of a black mark on your record.  Things like participation in civic, charitable, religious, or educational organizations can demonstrate good character and involvement in the community.  Awards and achievements for excellent job or academic performance can show your diligence and trustworthiness.  Recommendations from distinguished and highly-regarded professionals can bolster your character.  Basically, produce anything that gives an affirmative answer to the question, "Can we trust this person?"  


While it is better to avoid any blemishes on your record, having evidence to demonstrate that a black mark is an anomaly, and not a personality characteristic, will help you.  Thus, if you want your future to include work that requires scrutiny of your past, you should take action to burnish your present. Besides, it just feels good to do something positive!

When you have a conviction set aside, your civil rights restored, a record expunged, or charges dismissed, it's a good idea to spread the good news.  Most people do not realize that criminal records are kept by dozens of agencies, and they don't always talk to each other when their records change.

For example, if you are charged with a DUI and booked into jail for the night, a record of this incident will be created in at least three different agencies, and likely several others too.  The department employing the police officer who wrote the ticket will create a record of the stop, arrest, and citation.  The jail will create a booking record.  The court will create a criminal (or traffic, depending on the court) case record.  The local prosecutor's office will open a case file.  The police department likely will report its record to the state Department of Public Safety, or whatever agency maintains the state-wide criminal history database, which will create a criminal history record.  The state agency may report its record to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which maintains a national criminal history database.  That makes for a lot of records.


Unfortunately, while these agencies will often do a good job of letting all their friends know that you've been arrested or charged, they just as often to a terrible job of passing the word that your case has been dismissed, or that your conviction was set aside.  That means that you are the one who must take charge of keeping your criminal record up-to-date.  Whenever a positive change is made to your criminal record, inform every agency that might know of the original charge.  Try to check your criminal history every once in a while to see what's there, and insist on corrections to bad information.  With so many records kept in electronic databases, and with more and more information available to the public online, it is critically important to make sure that your record is accurate.