Policy Change Requires Background Check for Hospital Volunteers

A few weeks ago, a woman walked into Suzanne Gray's office at the Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center to offer her volunteer services.

The former Marine had just moved to the area and was excited about volunteering, but when Gray told her she would have to submit to fingerprinting and a background check, the woman became upset and left.

That might not be a common occurrence, but new regulations requiring background checks of hospital volunteers may throw some people off.

"The days of coming in and saying you want to play cards with the veterans that day are gone," said Jim Gleis-berg, spokesman for the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System.

The Joint Commission, through which medical centers receive their accreditation, changed the rules in January to include volunteers in the category of employees in terms of job application requirements, said Beverly Rice, director of volunteer services at Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center.

Now, if someone goes into Stormont-Vail wanting to give of his or her time, the person has to have a tuberculosis screen and reference check, attend an orientation, and undergo a background check, which takes a few hours, Rice said.

BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR VOLUNTEERS

The ConVal School District is working with area police departments to conduct background checks and collect fingerprint samples from parent and community volunteers.

In accordance with state law, the district has adopted a policy defining a "designated volunteer" as one who has regular or one-on-one contact with students. The law governing employee and volunteer background checks mandates criminal record checks for all school district employees, volunteers, or contractors.

District Superintendent Richard Bergeron plans to distribute a letter to all parents in the district explaining the process.

"We recognize that adherence to this requirement, while not a new regulation, is new to our parent/volunteer community," reads the letter. "However, our purpose is to maintain the safety of all of our students to the best of our ability."

School District to Fingerprint Volunteers

Parent volunteers who work with students in the Higley Unified School District will now be fingerprinted and the district may choose to conduct a background check.

The school board approved the new policy Thursday night that will be piloted through the end of the year. The district wants to assess the costs, which run between $25 and $60 per volunteer, and plans to survey parents and school staff to determine if this is the path the district wants to take, said Denise Birdwell, a district associate superintendent.

“It’s not a requirement to fingerprint parents, but it is our obligation to fingerprint adults working with our kids,” Birdwell said.

Parent volunteers who work in a school office or help under the supervision of a teacher will now be asked to complete a volunteer information form that includes employment and criminal history. Birdwell calls the form an “honesty check.”

The three-tiered policy outlines what checks the district will conduct depending on how much interaction the volunteer has with students.

Volunteers also will now receive a basic orientation including information on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, first aid and CPR, and guidelines on how best to interact with students and how to avoid false accusations.

The district has been discussing how to change the policy on fingerprinting volunteers after inconsistencies were found on who should and shouldn’t be fingerprinted. The board last talked about the policy in January.

Before this new policy, the district did not fingerprint parents volunteering for field trips or those who work in classrooms, but did fingerprint volunteer coaches.

The district put in place a more stringent employee fingerprint policy last year after a former band assistant, who had not been fingerprinted, was charged with sexually assaulting a student.

United States Bowling Congress Making Changes for Safety of Young Bowlers

The United States Bowling Congress is taking steps to keep the children who participate in its programs safe from predators.

As of Aug. 1, all organizations under its umbrella that run youth bowling programs will be required to enter the USBC's Registered Volunteer Program, which will mandate criminal background screenings and require volunteers to abide by a code of conduct.

Volunteers always have been, and always will be, the backbone of the USBC. Most are dedicated, hard-working, unselfish people who have the sport's best interests at heart. It is extremely important in today's world that all volunteers who work with USBC Youth programs understand that USBC is facing the same problem every youth sports and social organization in America is facing: Protecting our kids against a handful of people who prey on the innocence of children. The only practical way to make youth bowling safe is to identify those persons who refuse to abide by acceptable standards of behavior and conduct, remove them from contact with our young people and establish barriers to prevent other predators from gaining access to children who bowl.

Study Finds Troubling Gaps in Volunteer Screening by Nonprofits

One in three U.S. nonprofit organizations conducts no background checks on volunteers, and roughly one in eight does no screening at all, says a report released today by the National Center for Victims of Crime, the nation's leading advocacy group for crime victims. Although the majority of surveyed nonprofit human service organizations conduct some screening, most agencies that serve vulnerable populations could benefit from more thorough and comprehensive volunteer screening practices.

Who's Lending a Hand? A National Survey of Nonprofit Volunteer Screening Practices sought to identify the characteristics of organizations that regularly screen volunteers, the screening methods used, and the role of these screening results in organizational decision making. The urgency of such questions has risen in recent years, as millions of volunteers (61 million in 2006)(1) donate billions of hours, sometimes serving in roles previously reserved for paid staff. Thorough security practices, according to the National Center, play a critical role in protecting vulnerable clients from harm and nonprofit organizations from liability.

Board Proposes Background Checks

The Board of Education recently introduced a policy that would require long-term volunteers at the elementary school to undergo a criminal background check.

Superintendent Stephen LaValva said the proposed policy is intended to ensure the safety of students interacting with volunteer coaches, club mentors and others who help with after-school activities on a regular basis.

Those volunteers, LaValva said, have more responsibility, influence, and, of course, interaction with students.