Handbook Revision, August 2009
This revision of the Volunteer and Community Engagement Policy Handbook was published on August 11, 2009. Summaries of new or revised items are provided below.
Background Check Policy
Various changes have been made to the volunteer application processing policy to ensure it reflects background check changes made to employee policy in October 2008, and to improve understanding of roles and processes. The section has also been rearranged to improve flow of information to the reader. See:
6000 Volunteer Applications and Processing: Overview of DFPS Requirements
6100 Working With Specific Types of Volunteers
6110 Student Interns
6120 Youth Volunteers
6130 Court Ordered Community Service Volunteers
6200 Volunteer Groups
6300 Qualification Levels
6310 Volunteers With Direct Access
6320 Volunteers With No Direct Access
6400 Background Checks
6410 Background Check Procedures
6420 Unsatisfactory Background Check Results
6421 Volunteers With Previous DFPS Case Histories
6422 Volunteers With Current DFPS Cases
6423 Relaying Unsatisfactory Results
6430 Background Check Restrictions and Exceptions
6440 Background Checks for Employees of Donating Vendors
6450 Background Checks for County Appointed Child Welfare Boards (CWBs)
6460 Background Checks for Adult Protective Services Boards
6500 Confidential and Sensitive Information
6600 Granting Computer Access to Volunteers
6610 Allowing Computer Access
6620 Appropriate Use, Confidentiality, and Prohibitions
6621 Criteria for Computer Access
6622 Move/Add/Remove Change Request
6623 Use of IMPACT by Volunteers
6624 Sign-Ons
6625 Volunteers Who Receive Benefits or Have Relatives Who Do
6630 Security Related Training and Computer Use
6700 Transporting Clients
6710 Prerequisites to Transporting Clients on Behalf of DFPS
6711 Supervisory Responsibilities
6712 When a Driving Record Check Cannot Be Obtained
6800 Tuberculosis Testing
6900 Identification
The items below have been removed from the 5000 section and incorporated into the 6000 section. See:
5400 Working With Specific Types of Volunteers
5410 Involvement and Placement of Student Interns
5420 Involvement and Placement of Student and Youth Volunteers
5430 Large Groups and Activities
5440 Court Ordered Community Service Volunteers
Cross-references to renumbered and retitled items in the revised 6000 section have been made in the items listed below. See:
8200 Maintaining Required Documentation
1130 Provision for the Safety of Clients
7731.3 Excess Auto Liability Coverage
Instructions for Using Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)
Changes were made to clarify appropriate use and importance of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and to add links to current templates residing on the DFPS intranet. See:
1000 Community Partner Relations
1100 Community-Based Groups and Other Partnerships
1110 Formal Partnership Agreements
Links to renumbered items have been updated in the items below:
1210 Staff Expenditure of Personal Funds
1312 Initiating an ERR
Client Safety and Confidentiality
The items below have been revised to clarify specific instances where a client's safety may be at risk, and that appropriate policy is available to prevent this from occurring. Other minor revisions were made. See:
1120 Protecting Client Confidentiality
1130 Ensuring Client Safety
1140 Roles of DFPS Staff and External Partners
1141 DFPS Staff Service on Community Partner Committees and Boards
1210 Staff Expenditure of Personal Funds
1300 Emergency Resource Rooms (ERRs)
1310 Protocol for the DFPS Relationship With ERRs
1311 Dedicated Resource Room Staff
Miscellaneous Updates
Various minor changes were made to the policy text to simplify or clarify information in certain areas. Some changes included corrections to previous typos. See:
2110 Prohibition Against Soliciting on Behalf of DFPS, Its Programs, or Employees
2120 Permissible Solicitation on Behalf of DFPS Clients
2220 Use of State Time for Charitable Activities
4510 APS and CPS Regional Community Initiative Specialists
5000 Volunteer Management
5232 Interviewing Techniques
5300 Determining Appropriate Volunteer Placement
7700 Liability, Agency Responsibility, and Immunity
7710 Liability and Agency Responsibility
8200 Maintaining Required Documentation
8220 Documentation of Volunteer Involvement With Clients
8230 Use of the Automated Volunteer Tracking System