Volunteer Screening Blog

School Volunteer Convicted of Child Abuse

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:50:00 +0000

Penny West served as a volunteer every day at an elementary school in Tucson, Arizona, despite being found guilty of child abuse under circumstances likely to cause death in early August

Tucson Unified School District volunteers are not subjected to fingerprinting or background checks. Rather, they must disclose their criminal histories, and then the decision whether or not to allow a person with a criminal history to volunteer is left up to the principal of the school.

West and her husband, Randall West, will be sentenced on September 22nd. Both face prison time. The jury found that West acted with criminal negligence when she did not seek medical attention for the 16-month old foster child in her care. Pathologists determined that the little girl, Emily, died of blunt-force trauma to her head. West claims that Emily fell backward and hit her head, which the defense doctors said was plausible. The state's doctors contended the injury was a result of being severely shaken or that Emily was struck with something in the head.

The principal of the school where West volunteered, Chad Knippen, agreed to be a character witness on behalf of Penny West, but was never actually called to do so at the trial. He explained that West has been helping the school for years with filing, copying and putting bulletin boards together. She did not work directly with the students.

Tight budgets are a large reason why schools utilize volunteers to assist them with many tasks. However, if schools become more reliant on volunteers, they also need to rely on background checks to protect children.

Volunteer Coach with Criminal Record Arrested Again

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:05:00 +0000

Antwan Burnell, a former player and volunteer for the North Charleston High School basketball team in South Carolina, was arrested this past weekend for driving under the influence and drug possession.

Because the school system implemented a new policy requiring background checks on volunteers, even without this arrest Burnell would have been banned from volunteering based on his multiple previous drug charges and the prison time he served for crack-cocaine possession.

Burnell played on the basketball team and helped them to a state championship in 1997. However, after graduation, he was arrested multiple times for drug possession and had a charge of aggravated assault. During the 2006-2007 school year, Burnell worked as a volunteer statistician for the basketball team.

School officials have stated that Burnell will not be allowed near the students at the high school and his previous record would have prevented him from coming back as a volunteer as they have begun the background check process.

Volunteers to Help with Traffic Citations

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:13:00 +0000

In Midwest City, Oklahoma, city leaders are discussing strengthening a program that allows volunteers to issue parking citations. The program has already been in place, but now the city is proposing to allow volunteers the authority to ticket cars with expired license plates.

Volunteers for the program must pass a background check and complete a 16-hour class. They are then issued citation books and granted the authority to ticket drivers who violate ordinances such as parking in a handicap space or having expired plates. They work at their leisure and while they do not have a badge or uniform, they are issued an identification card.

A key measure to this program makes it illegal for anyone to interefere, assault or obstruct a parking enforcement officer. People who are found guilty of the above face up to a $750 fine and 60 days in jail.

The Chief of Police, Brandon Clabes, hopes this will help get people off the streets that are driving illegally.

Volunteer Firefighter With Criminal Record Arrested Again

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Byron Fritz, 39, recently left his position as a volunteer firefighter in Augusta County, Virginia after two years. The reason? He was recently arrested after trying to sell law enforcement supplies to a Sheriff.

Sheriff Randy Fisher immediately became suspicious of Fritz and his business, and conducted a background check on Fritz. It revealed that in 1994, he was arrested for impersonating a police officer. In 1997, a court issued an order that he could not possess law enforcement items such as badges, patches or even white vehicles resembling those driven by law enforcement.

Shortly after the background check was completed, the sheriff's office raided Fritz's business, seizing dozens of police badges, handcuffs, stun guns, and pepper spray.

Up until the arrest and seizure occurred, Fritz was a volunteer firefighter despite his criminal record. The Augusta County Fire Department is investigating how he was allowed to become a volunteer firefighter. Chief Mike Fisher was quoted as saying, "A lot of those charges against Mr. Fritz were old charges. I mean, in 2006 when he submitted his application, the last time that was charged was over eight years ago, and any probation or anything like that would be well over by then."

We were able to pull up Fritz's prior record dating back to 1993, which included charges of failure to appear, probation violations, possession of a concealed weapon and driving on a suspended license.

Chief Myers has said that many fire departments across the country are desperate for volunteers and he understands how someone, such as Fritz, could "fall through the cracks."

Mother Sues Mormon Church Over Abuse Case

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:12:00 +0000

A mother from Lawrence, Massachusetts is suing the Mormon church for negligence after her son was sexually abused by a volunteer who was a former sex offender. The mother says the church should be held responsible, as they did not perform a background check on the volunteer.

The offender in question is Kevin Curlew and he served a year in a Maine prison about 22 years ago. Curlew volunteered at the church, acting as a baby-sitter and was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, as well as two counts of assault and battery. He was sentenced to 9-10 years in jail with 512 days credit.

The lawsuit was filed in May and is against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (referred to as the Mormon church or LDS), its branch in the town of Methuen, Massachusetts, two male members of the local church and Kevin Curlew.

The mother attended women's meetings while babysitters would look after her son. Curlew volunteered as a church baby-sitter and was allowed to baby-sit alone, contrary to the rules and regulations of church policy, which requires two adults to be present when watching children. Curlew molested the 9-year old boy several times in the church bathroom during 2004.

The lawsuit states that even after a Bishop and another member of the church learned of the abuse, the men told the mother that Curlew would receive counseling and insisted that the issue remain within the church. The complaint goes on to state that Curlew was allowed to continue working as a volunteer after the report of abuse was filed.

The attorney for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harold W. Potter, Jr., admitted the boy was abused but said the church would not accept responsibility. Potter was quoted as saying, "I don't think you could find a church in the United States that does [criminal background] checks on its members."

I'm curious to know if this attorney has done his research in order to back up this statement, as I personally know several churches who conduct background checks on employees and volunteers. In fact, many background check companies offer discounted pricing to churches and other non-profit organizations.

Volunteers Paying for Background Checks

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:27:00 +0000

A few entries back, we talked about entities background checking their employees, and how some opposed background checks as a violation of our civil rights. Out of 36 votes in our poll on the issue, 23 said a background check did not violate these rights.

Now, volunteer organizations are concerned about losing volunteers due to the process requiring the potential volunteers to pay for their own background checks. Depending on what type of checks are run, we have seen organizations charging volunteers anywhere from $20.00 to $80.00, with most checks among the lower range of this pricing scale.

The Calaveras County Animal Services in California is finding itself having to charge volunteers for their own background checks. In the past, it was routine for the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office to run the checks through the California Department of Justice, which charges $32.00. The Sheriff's Office has concluded that they no longer have the money to cover the checks due to the budget crisis in the state.

Volunteers are needed at the shelter to help feed, walk and care for the animals.

The Calaveras County Animal Services must recruit about a dozen new volunteers each year to replace those volunteers who quit or moved away. Debby Beaufort, a Calaveras County Human Society member is concerned that volunteers on low or fixed incomes might not choose to volunteer due to the $32.00 fee.

Belmont Heights Little League Learns to Run Background Checks

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:23:00 +0000

When the umpire of a game for the Belmont Heights Little League in Tampa, Florida failed to show, a man by the name of Byron James Simmons came out of the stands and offered to volunteer to call the game.

Artis Gambrell, president of the little league, recognized the man and coached him in the league when he was young. Simmons' own 10-year old son even played on the team as a second baseman. Gambrell acknowledged that he knew Simmons would know how to call the game and allowed him to volunteer. He did not run a background check because league rules, at that time, did not require one.

A quick background check would have revealed that Simmons was a repeat offender and it only would have taken just a few minutes to complete. Tampa police are now reporting that Simmons raped a 10-year old girl at a park in his van last weekend.

Again, had the league run a background check, they would have revealed that Simmons violated probation stemming from being convicted of possessing a firearm when he was in school. He was then given 270 days in jail. In 2003, he was convicted of the sale and possession of cocaine as well as lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor in between the ages of 12-15 years old. Simmons was given 5 years in prison with credit for time served. Furthermore, he has been arrested for aggravated assault, gambling, theft of a vehicle, marijuana possession as well as fraud.

Gambrell stated that until the present, coaches and other personnel were given background checks, but volunteers, normally parents, were not. The league is going to run background checks on everyone from here on out.

While Simmons didn't register as a sex offender until April of this year and began volunteering in February, a background check would still have picked up his criminal record and prevented him from volunteering.

Volunteer Screening a Violation of Civil Rights?

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:57:00 +0000

As schools begin to expand their background checks for volunteers, more people are complaining about the checks, citing that their civil rights are being violated.

Robert Smith, a parent of a kindergarten student at West University Elementary School in Houston, Texas, was surprised to learn that he was required to undergo a criminal background check in order to attend his son's field day. He agreed to the background check under protest stating, "There go more of our civil rights." School officials later told him that he could have attended without a criminal background check, but he would have been required to stay behind a fence in a restricted area.

West University Elementary is also going to require criminal background checks for any parents wishing to join their children for an end of the school year celebration. The principal of the school, John Threet, has said the checks are important because not everyone in attendance can be monitored by teachers and staff.

West University Elementary is one of the schools found who is remarkably strict about running background checks, but more and more schools are adopting a policy of screening all of their volunteers. Opponents have stated that schools will lose prospective volunteers because of background checks and submitting to the checks is a violation of civil rights.

What do you think?

Bill in Minnesota Would Require Background Checks for School Volunteers

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:26:00 +0000

A bill in Minnesota is currently on its way to the Governor of the state. The bill would require criminal background checks for certain volunteers working in schools. Some school districts are fighting this change.

Opponents of the bill have cited costs as one of their reasons for not conducting background checks, saying the school districts would not be able to afford them. Opponents also state that criminal background checks would scare potential volunteers away who may have had DWI convictions. The concern is that schools will lose needed volunteers.

Some school districts, however, are in support of the bill and feel that background checks are especially important on sports activity volunteers. They say not all criminal offenses would disqualify a person from volunteering, but the districts need to have correct information to make informed decisions.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously and passed in the House with 112-15. It is now awaiting the signature of Governor Tim Pawlenty who has expressed his support of the bill.

The requirement would include background checks on all coaches and adults who assist with extracurricular activities in schools, either employees or volunteers. It would not apply to volunteers who read to children in classrooms or who help out with other classroom activities.

Registered Sex Offender Tried to Coach T-Ball

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Anthony Littleton Cannon, 30, is a registered sex offender in Gulfport, Mississippi. This spring, he volunteered to help coach a T-ball team of children, ages 4 to 6 years old. Cannon is registered in accordance with the law, but failed to give written notice to the organization.

Cannon’s step-son plays on the team and someone at the ball park recognized him as a registered sex offender on opening day, March 29th. Cannon had volunteered to help coach the Yankees, a team within the Gulfport Youth Sports Association.

The association President, Ricky Dombrowski, logged onto the sex offender website and located Cannon after he had been made aware. He said, “…there he was. If we had known about his conviction, we wouldn’t have allowed him to volunteer.”

This experience has prompted the association to now require criminal background checks on all coaches, assistants and volunteers and will charge a $6 fee for doing so.

Cannon was convicted on three counts of sexual assault involving a teenage girl when he was 20-years-old. This occurred in Denton County, Texas in 1998. State law does require registered sex offenders who want to do volunteer work to notify the organization in writing.

Sheriff Melvin Brisolara and Dombrowski said they have no reason to believe Cannon had any inappropriate contact with the children. Dombrowski said, “Had we known, I think we would have allowed him to come to the park to watch (the child) play, but we would not have allowed him to be involved with anything else.”

Cannon was arrested for failing to give written notice of his previous charges on April 16, 2008, and he was held at the Harrison County jail on a $25,000 bond.

Volunteer Firefighters with Criminal Backgrounds Not Welcome in Parker County, Texas

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Steve Anderson used to be a volunteer firefighter in Reno, Texas until a background check uncovered a felony conviction of burglary of a habitation, which occurred over 20 years ago. Anderson had to turn in his gear and quit when told by his chief at the Reno Volunteer Fire Department that they could no longer contract with volunteers who had been convicted of felonies or misdemeanors.

Parker County officials cited liability and a standardization of contracts with its 20 volunteer fire departments as reasons for the change. Many of the volunteer fire departments already had rules set up for not working with volunteers who possessed criminal backgrounds.

Anderson is protesting and stated, “I understand not wanting sex offenders or people with multiple DUI’s, but I was just young and stupid. We have some big grass fires out here, and we need all the men willing to help that we can get.”

Parker County Fire Marshal Shawn Scott said only about a dozen of the 400 volunteer firefighters had criminal records and their removal has not impacted the fire fighting coverage. Parker County made the decision to begin background checking volunteer fire fighters late last year after discovering that not all of the departments were doing so.

Anderson’s former fire chief described him as a reliable firefighter and stated, “He’d always show up to fires and his job. I didn’t want to let him go but, if I didn’t, it would probably have jeopardized the department.” He acknowledged that Anderson had told him that he had been in trouble with the law, but did not go into specifics. Furthermore, the department did not complete a background check.

Anderson still hopes to appeal his volunteer status with the board. Chris Barron, executive director of the State Firemen and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas said that the Parker County background checks were not unique and many departments across Texas are adopting the same practice. Barron said, “I’m happy [Anderson] is making a living and doing well with his life, but we have to know and be careful about who we’re sending out into homes and businesses.”

Registered Sex Offender Found Volunteering in Kindergarten Class

noreply@blogger.com (JenWiehl) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:57:00 +0000

A man volunteering at Harloe Elementary School in Arroyo Grande, California was discovered as having been a registered sex offender. He was discovered after one of the children’s parents, who works for the local police department, recognized the man’s name.

The man did not appear on the Megan’s Law website because his offense was considered low-level, and a “low-level” designation does not require that an offender’s name and photograph be listed on the website. He was arrested at Pirate’s Cove in 2001 for indecent exposure.

The school sent a letter home with children notifying parents that a sex offender had been supervising their children. Principal Juan Olivarria reported the man was never left alone with the children, and that no incidents have been reported.

A simple background check would have prevented this occurrence from happening. Even the local police department was surprised that no background check was completed. The school has stated that the man is no longer volunteering and is not allowed on the school campus any longer.

Politic Poll Results

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:34:00 +0000

After conducting a (very non-scientific, by the way) poll, it seems that the majority of our readers feel that political volunteers should have their backgrounds checked, but the volunteers should be asked to pay for the checks themselves.

This makes for an interesting situation. With political volunteers already seemingly unpaid, fronting the cash for a background check may turn away scores of casual volunteers.

On the other hand, most background checking companies will negotiate a discount dependant on volume. When combined, these volunteers number (dependant, of course on the campaign, and the office the candidate is hoping to fill) somewhere in the thousands. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a company that's not willing to offer a discount to an entity that wants to screen thousands of volunteers within the scope of a few months.

Either way, according to the votes, something should be done, (there was only one vote in the "no" column).

Presidential Volunteers not screened

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:58:00 +0000

Here's something that's not surprising;
A recent study shows that less than 5% of volunteers for the Presidential Candidates' campaign offices are screened with background checks.

While it's obviously not a priority, and money can be spent elsewhere, it does seem like anyone dealing with a possible future president (yes, one of the candidates will eventually be president) should have at least a once-over on their background before being allowed to volunteer.

What do you think?

A Call for Background Checks

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:12:00 +0000

The Indianapolis office of the Salvation Army said that recent allegations about a volunteer’s theft won’t change the way they screen volunteers for the holiday season.

Salvation Army volunteer Sean Sayers was arrested for stealing from the Wal-Mart where he was volunteering as a bell ringer, which violated his probation on a previous stealing charge.

"It always makes me sad," said Major Richard Hartman of the Salvation Army about the Anderson case. "You don't have to steal."

The allegations however, won’t change the way the Christian charity organization screens for volunteers and officials say they won’t probe any deeper into the personal lives of those already volunteering.
The fact that a number of bell ringers are placed there as punishment by the courts, would lead some to think that a background check would be an obvious step, but that’s not the way the SA sees it.

Major Hartman says he's “reluctant to offend” the volunteers and the paid employees who offer their help, not to mention the dent it might make in donations.
"You know, they're helping us out," he said. "I just think it would be prohibitive to do a background check on everyone that rings a bell for us."

"Most of them are pretty good joes," he said.

But what about the ones that aren’t pretty good joes? Call me crazy, but if someone were dressed up like Santa Claus ringing a bell for charity outside of a department store all winter long, I’d want to know if he (or she) were a sex offender, a thief, a felon, drug addict, etc. I think that background checks are cost effective enough that the danger far outweighs the price. Charity organizations have a responsibility to the public to make sure they’re not putting people in danger.

Volunteer Screening Poll Results

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:20:00 +0000

In my research and experience, one of the biggest issues that seem to keep coming up about youth sports is the background checks being run on coaches. The issue doesn’t seem to be whether or not to check a coach’s history, as everyone seems to be pretty much on the same page that background checks should be done.

The issue, it seems, is whether or not to allow a volunteer coach to keep working despite derogatory information, or a criminal history once a background check is done.

While I think that everyone agrees that registered sex offenders shouldn’t be allowed to coach (especially youth teams) opinion seems to differ on other crimes.

We created a poll to try and test the water, and learn about the responses given.

As of today, the results are:

• 71% -- no matter what the crime is, criminals should not be allowed to coach
• 18% -- as long as the crime was non-violent, it’s not a problem
• 12% -- as long as the crime didn’t involve children, it’s not a problem
• 0% -- it doesn’t matter at all

What this tells us is that overwhelmingly, people are concerned about criminal pasts, that a background check should be done, and that the majority of people wouldn’t be comfortable with a criminal of any sort coaching their children.

Volunteer Screening Poll

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:22:00 +0000

Should youth coaches be allowed to work with children despite criminal history?

Never, no matter the crime
Always, no matter the crime
As long as the crime was non-violent
As long as the crime didn't involve children

Milford makes tough decisions

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:13:00 +0000

The city of Milford, CT is faced with an interesting problem. As the city plans to conduct background checks on employees and volunteers, the Park, Beach and Recreation Commission has a plethora of checks to run, but no one to pay for it.
As the New Haven Register reported, the commission set out to create a screening program for adults who work with children, and little headway has been made. The commission still needs to decide on virtually every detail of a screening program, including who will be screened, what they will look for and of course, who is going to pay for it.

Recreation Director William McCarthy has been given the tough task of making these decisions.

McCarthy said the slow progress is a result of an extremely complex issue that he wants to make sure is handled correctly.
"This is like wrestling with alligators here," he said. "I’m just trying to make sure we don’t get bit."

"There’s so much to talk about here," said commission Vice Chairwoman Ann Fabian. "Theoretically I think it’s a good idea, but it’s a huge issue and checks and balances need to be there to protect privacy."

Generally, the council is in agreement about a few things; that every adult who works with children should be checked, lifeguards, coaches, referees, instructors, and volunteers included, which could be as may as 300 people, at $15 to $20 per background check.

"This is another issue where we’re walking on eggshells here," McCarthy said. "Do you ask someone who’s already volunteering their time to pay to have a background check done on themselves?"

The idea of screening employees and volunteers was a hot button in Milford after news recently broke that a youth basketball coach had an affair with a high school student on his team.

Union County volunteer with criminal history is hired despite background check

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:34:00 +0000

Union County, NC public schools are likely to make a change for the better, with probable background checks for school volunteers on the horizon due to a recent volunteer with a criminal record.

School spokeswoman Luan Ingram said school officials checked the background of 43-year-old Antonio Massey before he took his position as a volunteer football coach for eighth graders at Parkwood Middle School.

The background check did its job, and turned up a robbery conviction, but it was overlooked by the school, and Massey was allowed to volunteer as head coach.

Massey was suspended from his coaching job after a worried parent sent an anonymous e-mail, tipping off school officials to his record.

"It was a mistake, and we're taking steps right now to make sure things like this don't happen here again," Ingram said.

Lori Linthicum, whose son is on his football team said "I don't appreciate him coaching my kid, because my son was on his team. I can't believe this got past the school system".

Superintendent Ed Davis is considering several changes. He'll review the criteria regarding what specific crimes prevent an applicant from being hired for paid and volunteer positions.

School officials will also review how far back a criminal record should be relevant when it comes to hiring. They said that policy review will begin immediately.

According to a poll published on the WSOCTV website, the majority of people surveyed still believe that volunteers should be given a chance, depending on the nature of the crime when working with children.

Should someone with a criminal background be allowed to work with children?
Choice Percentage of 86 Votes:

Yes 8%
No 33%
Depends on the crime 50%
Depends on how long ago the conviction was 9%

Racine Schools to screen volunteers

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:55:00 +0000

Racine Unified School district in Racine, WI recently announced that all volunteers will undergo a mandatory background check before being able to volunteer at the school. School district spokeswoman Stephanie Kratochvil said that staff will conduct background searches on anyone who would have access to children, no matter the capacity.

“We ran into a couple of issues with parents who had convictions,” Kratochvil said. “Basically, we’re looking out for any kind of convictions for drugs, violence, battery or sexual assault.”

New Jersey Ordinance Requires Background Checks for Volunteers.

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:36:00 +0000

The Pemberton Township in New Jersey has passed a new ordinance requiring all volunteers to be screened for criminal backgrounds before working with youth teams and clubs.

The ordinance specifies that a check must be done on “any adult involved with sporting activities, passive recreation groups, clubs or camps, trips or other activities whereby some control and responsibility for children under the age of 18 is assigned to some person other than a parent or caregiver.” The Achilles-heel of the ordinance, though, is that it covers only groups that use property owned by the township or the school district and groups that are funded by the township, which, sadly, leaves a lot left-out.

The biggest plus of this plan, though, is that the Township itself is covering half of the $36 required to run the required checks, which could have been the KO punch for some already floundering after-school programs. In addition, for the first year, the Meghan Kanka Foundation has agreed to cover the remainder of the cost.

The Meghan Kanka Foundation was started by the family of Megan Kanka, the Hamilton Township 7-year-old who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender. Megan's Law, which created a statewide sex offender registry, is named for Megan Kanka.

NJ School Volunteer Background Checks Bill Signed Into Law

noreply@blogger.com (Richard St.Ofle) — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:49:00 +0000

Schools in Trenton, NJ are finally allowed to do background checks on volunteers thanks to a new law signed into effect on May 4^th. The law, dubbed the “School Volunteer Background Checks bill” will allow school boards, as an independent entity, to decide whether they want to check the criminal histories of their volunteers.

The background checks would cost tax payers $85 each, which is obviously a bargain for the piece of mind that comes with knowing that the volunteers at your child’s school don’t mean harm. As Sen. Nicholas Sacco, (D-Hudson) put it, “With all we hear in the news with child molesters and other others who mean harm toward children working in different child-serving groups, we can't be too careful when interviewing volunteers".

Some states have similar laws, allowing criminal background checks, or National Sex Offender database checks for volunteers, because we really can’t be too careful.

CASA Volunteers are Screened to Ensure the Success of the Program

noreply@blogger.com (Beth) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:41:00 +0000

The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Camden County, GA, has successfully placed abused children with volunteer advocates. This non-profit agency provides trained, screened, and supervised volunteers, appointed by the judge, to speak for the interests of abused and neglected children involved in juvenile court proceedings.

Candidates who want to participate in the program have to undergo a screening process that includes fingerprinting, a background check, and thorough interviews. After this initial screening process, volunteers are then required to attend 28 hours of training and spend a minimum of 12 hours observing court proceedings before they are qualified to be child advocates.

Once volunteers are screened, they are able to participate in this program and provide a voice in court for abused and neglected children. Ensuring the safety of all of those involved, by conducting background checks on the volunteers, the CASA program is able to experience continued success in their matches.

Texas Realizes the Necessity of Running Reliable Background Checks on Volunteers

noreply@blogger.com (Beth) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:55:00 +0000

Nonprofits across Texas are realizing that although they are paying thousands of dollars for background checks, they are running searches which are far from foolproof. Aimed at keeping sex offenders and others with a criminal past from volunteering at their facilities, the checks often are incomplete in their results and do not catch hits in the records of volunteers.

The most comprehensive checks available are often too expensive many nonprofit officials said, and can often cost upwards of $60 per volunteer. Running these in-depth searches on volunteers would take money away from core services. Thankfully, the Department of Public Safety has just recently opened up their records to many nonprofits, which otherwise would not be available to the public. These records include arrests and warrants throughout the state. Although not as comprehensive as it could be, this search through the DPS drastically improves the probability of a nonprofit finding a volunteers' criminal past if there is one.

More states need to follow the example set by Texas and grant nonprofits access to certain government criminal database searches for free or at a minimal cost.

National Organization Moves to offer Background Checks for Volunteers

noreply@blogger.com (Beth) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:42:00 +0000

With the help of several companies, the National Recreation and Park Association developed a new background screening program in order provide a safer environment for children. This new program screens both youth coaches and volunteers for criminal offenses as well as provides cleared individuals with proper photo ID cards before they coach on a field or volunteer in a senior citizen’s center.

“It all goes back to the whole desire for families to have a safe environment for kids to feel secure” said Joe Lindenmayer of Duluth, GA based TSS Photography, one of the program’s three founding companies.

To date, since the program’s launch last fall, more than 56,300 volunteers in 34 park districts across the country have been or are currently in the process of being screened. Thus far, the program has turned away 4,500 potential volunteers who have failed the background check due to sex offenses, violent crimes, or other felonies on their records.

Kathryn Reichert of the Ashburn, VA based Parks and Recreation Association stated, “There’s no other program that does both qualifying, credentialing with ID’s, and training…this is a focus on making communities safe…and the notion we are attracting the very best volunteers.”