Can Volunteers Not Do Criminal Background Checks

On Volunteers who work with children, etc. freeing up municipal staff. Is it a conflict of interest thing or a infringement of union agreements or.......

Volunteers protest doubled fee
Durham Police Services Board to review new $20 cost of criminal database check
March 13, 2007
Carola Vyhnak
Staff reporter

Single parent Nadine Simpson has no money to spare. But she has a little time and a desire to help out at her children's school by reading with the Grade 1 and 2 students.

So the Ajax mother of three was dismayed when she had to scrape up $20 to pay for a police check so she could volunteer. "Just putting healthy food on the table every day is a struggle," she said. "That's $20 less to spend on groceries."

She has no quarrel with the check itself – it's usually required for anyone who works with children, the elderly or disabled. But the fee represents a financial barrier and deterrent to people who want to contribute to the community, she said.

That was the gist of the message from a small delegation that appeared before the Durham Regional Police Services Board yesterday.

Speaking on behalf of volunteers, they criticized the fee for criminal information checks, which doubled from $10 last month. A similar check for employment purposes stayed at the existing rate of $20.

"Durham wants to penalize those who choose to give back to their community," said Karem Allen, an Ajax parent and volunteer. Pointing out that other regions in the GTA charge less, or nothing, she urged the board to raise the fee for employment checks to $40 so volunteers wouldn't have to pay.

Police checks for volunteers involve searching databases for outstanding charges and criminal convictions. Last year, Durham police did 16,800 for volunteers and about half that number for others. The price hike, the first in several years, is to keep up with costs, police said.

The speakers at yesterday's board meeting support the checks.

"I would never put myself on the line for putting a child at risk with a coach who has a history," said Sherri Gauvreau, who volunteers with her kids' soccer club, school and church.

But $20 has a "huge impact" on the number of recruits they can get, she added.

Oliver Forbes, a volunteer and community activist, called the fee a "tax on volunteering" that shouldn't be imposed for doing "something good for society."

Dropping the fee would send a strong signal "that we count while we're out there and that this community encourages volunteering," said another resident, Alex Krebelj.

In Peel Region, criminal-record checks are free for volunteers. They did 18,000 last year.

"Because they're volunteers, we don't think it's appropriate to charge them," a spokesperson for Peel Region police said. Board member and Durham Region chair Roger Anderson told the delegates the police department has to cover its costs.

"We shouldn't be losing money to provide this service."

The irony of his comment isn't lost on Nadine Simpson, who needed several months to come up with the $20 for her police check. "I think what we're doing is worth a lot," she said.

Simpson said she's able to provide the one-on-one time with students that teachers don't have. The occasional hours she's able to volunteer allow her to "give back to the teachers who do such an amazing job."

And there's an added benefit: "When parents are involved with the school, it helps their own kids do better."

The polices services board has asked staff to have another look at the fee issue and report back next month.