Volunteer Screening: Not Only a Good Idea, but Often a Mandate
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) dependent on federal and state funding to successfully serve their clients and community often have their hands full dealing with extensive laws and regulations.
One area frequently mandated by state and federal governments is background screening. If your organization provides day care or child care services, or in the course of providing services brings employees or volunteers into contact with minors or vulnerable adults, you may be required to perform background checks on all employees and volunteers.
Programs that use federal funds or are under federal contracts are required to conduct criminal background checks on both employees and volunteers. Additionally, many states require all of an organization’s employees and volunteers to undergo background criminal checks if any state funds are used by the organization.
To implement background screening, you must notify the potential volunteer that it will be performed. If your organization is subject to mandated screening, and does not already have a formal application procedure, you should implement one immediately. Have the potential volunteer give written consent by way of a signature on a notification page, ideally separate from the application.
Be sure to document everything! Each interaction with a potential volunteer, along with copies of background checks, credit checks, or criminal background checks, must be filed securely and preserved. You never know when you might need to prove that you took the proper steps to protect your clients and community members in your volunteer recruitment and placement efforts.
Tags: Mandatory Background Checks, Nonprofit Management, Volunteer Background Checks, Volunteer Background Screening, Volunteer Management