News & Events
Highlights
Police Information Checks
Great news! The Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta's election promise on February 14th announced welcome news. The cost of Police Information Checks for volunteers serving vulnerable populations as well as children and seniors, could be covered by the next provincial government. Although this will not alleviate all volunteer screening costs, this would be an important step towards removing barriers to volunteerism. Thank you to the hundreds of organizations who responded to the Volunteer Alberta survey around screening costs undertaken in 2006. This success of being on the election radar could not have been accomplished without your contribution.
Please note: When the government dissolves for an election campaign, there is absolutely no way that new spending programs can be announced. So since Alberta is in the midst of an election campaign, we want to be sure that it is understood that this was a Progressive Conservative election platform (only) announcement. It then follows that whoever forms the next government on March 3 will implement their platform announcements once the swearing in happens.
Should you have any questions about how this announcement could affect Alberta's nonprofit/voluntary sector or if you hear that other parties are including Police Information Checks in their platform, please contact Volunteer Alberta.
News Release:
Major Irritant to Volunteerism could be Diminished
Removing the financial cost and administrative burden of police information checks for volunteers engaged in supporting children, seniors and vulnerable populations is a welcome election promise from the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta.
Feb. 14th’s announcement by Premier Stelmach supports the concerns raised by the nonprofit/voluntary sector since spring 2006 when Volunteer Alberta surveyed volunteer organizations province wide and found 87 per cent (87%) of respondents required Police Information Checks (PIC) for potential volunteers.
The survey results showed that 284 participant organizations spent over one million dollars ($1,000,000) for Police Information Checks for volunteer screening in 2005, even though many police services and municipalities partially absorbed the costs. Volunteer Alberta called on the then provincial government to take a leadership role to create a central PIC screening system to reduce costs, ensure the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the information and also provide additional operating funds to cover volunteer screening PIC costs.
The announcement on February 14th provides some volunteer engaging organizations financial relief. Big Brothers Big Sisters Executive Director Liz O’Neill is relieved that the $30,000 annual cost of accessing timely police information checks is one less challenge to finance. ”When the cost for Police Information Checks was instituted in Edmonton by the police, we were concerned not only about the unexpected cost of recruiting our volunteers but that the increased time delay in the entire volunteer recruitment process meant that we were losing potential mentors and volunteers. So our board made the decision to incur the additional cost of fast-tracking both through Edmonton Police Services as well as private firms. Volunteers are much too valuable to BBBS to lose by delaying their screening and training time.”
Volunteer Alberta called on the Alberta government to support the design and delivery of an education program for the voluntary sector on the needs and necessity of volunteer screening, including PIC. The Wild Rose Foundation responded by funding the creation and delivery of seminars on screening volunteers in early 2008.
This announcement will help the nonprofit/voluntary sector’s duty to protect at-risk and vulnerable clients, respect volunteer privacy rights and have the necessary policies and procedures in place for proper risk management practices. Karen Lynch, Executive Director of Volunteer Alberta says, “The additional costs for Police Information Checks and volunteer screening processes were eroding program budgets and straining staff resources for many sector service providers.”
Volunteer Alberta’s approach to the current Alberta election is to encourage volunteers to vote as another primary form of citizen engagement. Volunteer Alberta’s Board decision was to only comment on platform announcements if the announcement subject responded to Volunteer Alberta’s position for relief from the financial and administrative costs of volunteer screening police information checks.