I deal with this with overseas volunteers as well. The problem is usually that the person is insulted--"But you KNOW me!"

 I try to reiterate that it is merely a formality, and that it's not an uncommon practice in the business world.

The bottom line is that this is for the safety of the people we are serving, the background check is non-negotiable. It only takes one incident to tear a church apart. I realize that financial liability is not a very compelling reason from the volunteers' standpoint, but it *is* the bottom line. Since that doesn't work, I would probably try to appeal to the volunteer's wanting to do the right thing and keeping kids safe. It's not easy . . .

I like the title "Motivation for Safety" because it highlights the path that I would want to take - how can I motivate people to see child protection policies as an action towards safety.

As a volunteer I insist on a policy in place before I will work with vulnerable people.   This is to protect me, the families I serve and the church from tension, suspicion and hurt due to misunderstandings and/or false accusations.

Perhaps part of our problem is that we tend to imagine that the abuse will be sexual and that the accusation will be true and that the victim is the child. Very few people will actually be part of this scenario. In fact the victim could be both the child and volunteer who disagree over what happened and the accusation might be of bullying. slapping or grabbing an arm. Children try to express a great many feelings with a limited vocabulary.  Saying "the teacher is mean and picks on me" could mean a variety of things.  With an accusation of this nature without a policy in place we can only start to do reference checks, open door policies and drop in visits by other volunteers after the fact as we try to prove or disprove the allegation.  As a volunteer I would be embarassed to be singled out for this scrutiny and want to quit.  I may even be asked to.  But is that fair and does it help the child?  The suspicion might never be lifted.

My response to this problem of full protection policies has not been popular.  I have taken stance that I will not volunteer if certain policies are not in place.   I want to be held accountable for what happens under my watch and want others to know what is going on in my classroom before a misunderstanding could happen.

Don't know if this helps but it is a different perspective than the insurance requirements and possibility of sexual abuse on the part of the volunteer.

Victoria

I've always stated that the policy, clearance requirements, etc., was to protect the volunteer and have had no problems.