Volunteer screening and safeguarding

This guide is for small charities whose volunteers work with children, older adults, people with disabilities, or anyone else who may be at risk of harm. Keeping people safe is not about suspecting volunteers. It is about building a place where harm is hard to do and easy to report. After reading, you will be able to screen volunteers fairly, follow the federal rules for background checks, set simple safety rules like the two-adult rule, and know how to report a concern.

What safeguarding means

Safeguarding means the steps you take to protect people, especially children and vulnerable adults, from abuse, neglect and exploitation while they are in your care or taking part in your programs. A vulnerable adult is someone over 18 who may find it hard to protect themselves, for example because of age, illness, disability or their circumstances.

Screening is only one part. In 2007, the CDC described six key parts of preventing child sexual abuse in youth-serving organizations:

1. Screening and selecting employees and volunteers
2. Guidelines on how adults and young people interact
3. Monitoring behavior
4. Ensuring safe environments
5. Responding to inappropriate behavior, policy breaches, and concerns
6. Training

A background check alone doesn't make a program safe. Most people who harm others have no criminal record. Your everyday rules matter just as much.

Match screening to the role

Not every volunteer needs the same checks. Think about risk:

• Lower risk: helping at a public fundraiser, sorting donations in a group.
• Higher risk: working with children or vulnerable adults, especially one-to-one; driving people; handling money; going into people's homes; seeing sensitive records.

Write down which roles need which checks, and apply them the same way to everyone in that role.

Screening steps

A good screening process often includes:

• A written application with past volunteer or work experience.
• A conversation where you explain your safeguarding rules and ask how they would handle situations.
• References, ideally including someone who has seen them work with the same group of people.
• Identity check before any background check.
• A background check for higher-risk roles.
• Training before they start, and a trial period with supervision.

Free public tools can help. The U.S. Department of Justice runs the National Sex Offender Public Website (nsopw.gov), which searches state, territory and tribal sex offender registries in one place. Your state may have its own checks for people working with children, sometimes required by law or by funders. Ask your state agency, your insurer, or any youth-serving umbrella group you belong to.

Using a background check company: FCRA basics

If you use a company that compiles background reports, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) applies. This federal law protects people's rights when their background information is used. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces it.

The FTC's guide is written for employers. It doesn't spell out how the rules apply to volunteers, so many charities follow the same steps for volunteers to be safe. According to the FTC, before you get a report you must:

• Tell the person in writing that you may use the information for decisions. This notice must be a stand-alone document, not buried in an application form.
• Get their written permission to do the check. This can be part of the same notice.

If you decide not to accept someone because of something in the report, the FTC says you must first give them:

• A notice that includes a copy of the report you relied on, and
• A copy of "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act," which the screening company should give you.

After you make the decision, you must tell them about it and give them certain other information listed in the FTC's guide.

Store reports securely, limit who can see them, and dispose of them safely when you no longer need them (see our data privacy guide).

Everyday safety rules

These rules protect the people you serve and your volunteers. Write them down and train everyone on them.

• The two-adult rule. At least two screened adults are present whenever volunteers work with children or vulnerable adults. No adult is alone and out of sight with a child. If a one-to-one meeting is truly needed, hold it in a visible place, with the door open, and with another adult nearby who knows.
• No private contact. Volunteers don't contact children through personal phones, private messages or social media. Use group channels that a parent or staff member can see.
• No unapproved transport. Volunteers don't drive children or vulnerable adults alone without written permission and a clear policy.
• Appropriate touch. Agree what is and isn't acceptable for your program.
• Gifts and money. Volunteers don't give personal gifts or money to participants, or take them.
• Photos. Only with consent, only on charity devices, never shared privately.
• Bathrooms and changing areas. Have clear supervision rules.

Responding to concerns

Everyone, including volunteers, should know: if you see something worrying, tell someone. Make it easy.

• Name a safeguarding lead (and a backup) that anyone can go to.
• If someone shares a concern, listen calmly, don't promise secrecy, and write down what was said in their own words, with the date and time.
• Don't investigate yourself. That is the job of authorities.
• Act promptly. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911.

Reporting abuse

Every state has its own laws on who must report suspected child abuse or neglect (often called mandatory reporters) and how. The Child Welfare Information Gateway, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, explains these laws and lists where to report in each state. Find your state's rules and reporting number now, and put them in your policy.

The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline can be reached by call or text at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-CHILD). The Child Welfare Information Gateway describes it as offering crisis intervention, information and referrals, 24 hours a day. It can help you find the right place to make a report.

For concerns about an older adult, the Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116), a public service of the Administration for Community Living, can connect you with local services. Concerns about abuse of vulnerable adults usually go to your state or county Adult Protective Services or to the police.

Your safeguarding checklist

• Write a short safeguarding policy, including the two-adult rule
• List which roles need which checks
• Use a stand-alone written notice and permission form for any background check company
• Keep a copy of the FCRA "Summary of Your Rights" ready
• Name a safeguarding lead and a backup
• Find and record your state's reporting rules and numbers
• Train every volunteer before they start, and refresh yearly
• Store screening records securely and limit access

Safeguarding is everyone's job. Clear rules, steady training and a culture where people speak up will protect the people you serve far better than any single check.

If you want help writing your safeguarding policy, ask a member charity for help through the Exchange.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change and every situation is different, so check the official sources and talk to a qualified professional before you act.