Screening of Potential Volunteers

Screening of volunteers is often a touchy subject. Both volunteers and volunteer managers may have strong opinions on what constitutes a "good" screening policy. Some people question if volunteers should be screened at all.

When hiring staff, most organizations do reference checks on potential employees. So why the hesitation about following a similar procedure for volunteers? Many literacy learners can be considered part of a "vulnerable" population and according to The Screening Handbook:

Voluntary and public sector organizations which provide services to vulnerable clients must do everything they reasonably can do to provide adequate, appropriate, safe, and well-managed programs. They have moral, ethical, and legal obligations, both implicit and explicit, to exercise reasonable care to protect the individuals in their care, as well as their staff, the community-at-large, and the organization... One way organizations can fulfill their obligations is through proper and thorough screening...¹⁴

The purpose of screening is not only to protect your clients, your staff, yourself and/or your organization. It also helps you further refine the recruitment process to ensure that you have indeed found the right volunteer for the job.

Screening can be conducted informally (during an interview) or by using more formal tools such as police or reference checks.

To find out more about screening in Ontario, visit Volunteer Canada's website (at http://www.volunteer.ca) and follow the links to the Ontario Screening Initiative or go directly to the provincial government's website at http://www.gov.on.ca/MCZCR/english/citdiv/voluntar/osi.htm

Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO) has recently published Volume 2 of Policies & Procedures for Ontario Community Literacy Agencies. Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 are jam-packed with information and sample policies. Screening is covered in Volume 2. For more information, please contact CLO at cosburn@bconnex.net or kaattari@bconnex.net.