From: jeanpetrie
Date: Tue 26 June 2007, 22:58
Our paid support staff have criminal record checks, but should the volunteers with learning disabilities have them as well? they are going into the homes of vulnerable elderly people, but are always accompanied by a support worker.
From: Lynne1
Date: Tue 26 June 2007, 23:40
At a recent conference I attended on the new Safeguarding Adults and Vulnerable People Bill, the speaker placed great emphasis on the legal responsibility placed on employers and voluntary groups in respect of checking any staff/volunteers who were being placed in the situations provided for by this new legislation (which inlcuded level of contact ie intermittent, regular etc). I would therefore suggest that you check out the categories where checks are mandatory to ensure you are keeping within your legal responsibilities. For many occasions, it does depend on whether there are any unsupervised times that your volunteer would be left on their own - or the likelihood of it occuring sometimes.
From: jessabbo
Date: Tue 26 June 2007, 23:40
These are obviously useful for protection of both parties - personal experience suggests all might not be more than 'spin' sometimes. As one of many interviewees for some exam invigilation work, I discovered no CRBs had actually been entered, despite their being announced.
From: dianed
Date: Tue 26 June 2007, 23:40
I think I would carry out an assessment of the risks involved before making a decision on this. What are the chances that the volunteers would be left unattended in someone's home and what the consequences might be should that be the case? Perhaps it could be carried out as part of the health and safety risk assessment. My experience has been that many voluntary organisations can be a little over zealous when it comes to CRB checks.
From: Dianayoung
Date: Tue 26 June 2007, 23:41
I think it is important to put as few barriers as possible in the way of getting people to volunteer. You only really need a CRB check if volunteers are seeing people on their own. So, I would suggest 'no'.
From: lizzie
Date: Sun 26 April 2009, 17:15
Criminal record checks do not keep anyone safe. I recommend that volunteers are paired into learning couples for support and learning. This way volunteers are protected by having somebody with whom they can share and anxieties they may have and a witness if allegations are made against them. A criminal record should not prevent people from volunteering but policies need to be put into place to define procedures i.e. what to do if a person has a offence - is it relevant, what were the circumstances it was committed, have they been reformed since the offence . It must also be the policy of the organisation that staff and volunteers must inform them if they subsequently are found guilty of an offence when brought before the courts.
Would it be reasonable to advise that volunteer policy should include requiring volunteers accused of an offence in another setting to declare this where they are volunteering - would it be logical to do so
