WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
Your Go-To Guide to Volunteer Background Checks
Rosterfy has pulled together a go-to guide for best practice when it comes to volunteer background checks.
Learn why nonprofits run background checks on volunteers, what appears in these checks, and how to streamline volunteer screening.
Volunteering can make a big difference in sectors involving vulnerable groups, such as healthcare or special education. Especially in communities where proper care often depends on a nonprofit organization because other solutions wouldn’t be viable, it’s critical to streamline the volunteer background screening.
Patient care is all about ensuring safety and trust, and for a volunteer organization, that means thorough onboarding and volunteer background checks. They help verify that each staff member is suitable for their role, providing peace of mind to nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve.
Effective volunteer background checks not only ensure safety but also enhance engagement and the return on investment (ROI) for nonprofits. When you’re confident your volunteers can be trusted, you can better focus on making a positive impact.
Here’s everything you need to know about handling volunteer screening effectively.
Who Needs a Background Check, and What Should Volunteer Management Look Out For?
Volunteer background checks implement each state’s requirements to ensure patient safety and compliance with laws. That’s why they’re mandatory for volunteers in healthcare, child services, and elder care, although their validity period and requirements may vary.
In the U.S., regulations like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Volunteers for Children Act (VCA) and Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 govern background checks. Federal and state regulations must be followed thoroughly.
Types of Checks
Most regulations will require a combination of nonprofit background checks applying to:
- Criminal record.
- National sex offender registry.
- Reference checks.
- Education verification.
- Credential verification.
Different roles require various levels of scrutiny, with unique rules applying by state. For example, California’s AB 506 mandates that volunteers in youth organizations must undergo fingerprinted background checks, whereas in Colorado, even advertising a position is subject to certain laws.
Irrespective of your location and legal requirements, it's important to monitor current volunteers continuously and renew checks periodically while considering local legal frameworks. This helps maintain compliance and ensures no new red flags arise.
These red flags can include findings of criminal activity or false information in the application. Your organization should aim to handle this information legally and professionally to ensure compliance and fairness toward all volunteers.
Using tools like Rosterfy can help in documenting and securely storing background check data. This ensures that sensitive personal information is protected and staff is reminded when background checks expire.
Efficiently Processing Background Checks To Enhance Volunteer Engagement
Using technology can make the background check process faster and more accurate, giving staff more time to focus on helping their community. For instance, Rosterfy integrates with tools like Sterling Volunteers, which can streamline your volunteer background checks and trigger necessary actions.
An automated system like this can provide reminders for renewals and track compliance, giving peace of mind to your staff and the community they serve. Updating records manually takes away time from actual patient care while introducing room for human error, both of which will erode the trust in your organization, be it healthcare professionals, patients, or donors.
Automated background checks, in turn, come with a range of benefits:
- Saves time: Automating the process reduces the time spent on manual entry.
- Saves money: Less staff is needed to manage the process.
- Increases accuracy: Automated systems reduce human error.
- Better reputation: Thorough background checks improve the trust in your volunteers.
- Higher volunteer retention: If paid staff knows your volunteers were properly vetted, this leads to more meaningful engagement, which increases volunteer retention and satisfaction.
When the Dallas Sports Commission implemented Rosterfy, it not only helped streamline background checks, enhancing event security. It also allowed them to revamp the entire onboarding and recruitment process, which has resulted in better reach and volunteer retention.
This goes to show that reducing volunteer turnover boosts your organization's effectiveness and ROI, as a committed volunteer base, built on trust and transparency, enhances overall engagement.
Simplify Background Screening While Onboarding More Verified Volunteers
Every organization understands the necessity of background checks in providing a safe environment for patients. However, with overworked staff and the increasing amount of documentation requirements, it’s understandable that they can sometimes feel like a burden distracting from your organization’s actual mission.
It’s important to remind yourself of the ideas and intentions behind those regulations to recognize that they’re really part of the core values driving professionals and volunteers in healthcare. Using a system like Rosterfy, paired with Sterling Volunteers, helps streamline the process and make it easier for volunteer managers to approve volunteers quickly.
Rosterfy helps you fine-tune onboarding and training workflows to match your state’s legal requirements while enhancing volunteer engagement. You can easily create online application forms to collect volunteer information and automatically send applicants’ data for screening.
Book a call now to see how Rosterfy can help your organization and create a positive experience for both patients and volunteers.
About Rosterfy
Rosterfy is used by nonprofits, charities, sporting federations, local governments, and more to better manage their volunteer programs by improving how they can recruit, screen, train, and retain volunteers.
Our market leading technology helps you create an engaging experience throughout the whole lifecycle of your volunteer journey.
Book a call today.
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