Volunteer Background Screening & Child Protection Policy

Policy Statement

The Walker Foundation is committed to maintaining a safe, secure, and supportive environment for children, families, volunteers, staff, partners, and community members participating in its programs and events.

To support this commitment, The Walker Foundation requires background screening for designated volunteers, employees, contractors, interns, mentors, program personnel, and other individuals whose responsibilities may involve direct contact with children or other vulnerable populations.

Background screening is one component of The Walker Foundation's broader child-protection and risk-management practices.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish consistent background-screening requirements, protect children and vulnerable participants, establish appropriate standards for volunteer eligibility, reduce organizational safety and liability risks, protect confidential screening information, establish procedures for reviewing and responding to screening results, and maintain professional standards throughout all Walker Foundation programs and events.

Scope

This policy applies to individuals serving The Walker Foundation in positions designated by the Foundation as requiring screening, including certain volunteers, employees, interns, contractors, mentors, hair-care professionals, barbers and cosmetologists, program assistants, event personnel, youth program personnel, drivers or transportation volunteers, and individuals with regular or unsupervised access to children.

The Walker Foundation may require screening for additional positions based on the responsibilities and risk associated with the role.

Background Screening Requirements

Individuals assigned to covered positions must successfully complete the background-screening process before receiving final clearance for applicable duties.

Screening may include, as legally permitted and appropriate to the position, identity verification, criminal history searches, national or multi-jurisdiction criminal database searches, state and county criminal searches, sex offender registry searches, address history verification, motor vehicle record checks for authorized drivers, and other job- or role-related screenings deemed appropriate by The Walker Foundation.

Authorization and Compliance

Background screenings will be conducted in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Required disclosures, notices, and authorizations will be provided when applicable.

The Walker Foundation may utilize an approved third-party screening provider to conduct background checks and securely collect information required for screening.

Clearance Before Service

Individuals in positions requiring background screening must receive appropriate clearance before being permitted to perform unsupervised child-facing duties.

Individuals awaiting screening results may be restricted from child-facing or other sensitive responsibilities until clearance has been completed.

Evaluation of Results

A criminal record will not necessarily result in automatic disqualification. When legally appropriate, The Walker Foundation will evaluate relevant circumstances, including the nature and seriousness of the offense, relationship of the offense to the volunteer position, time elapsed since the offense, responsibilities and level of trust associated with the position, potential access to children or vulnerable individuals, potential access to confidential information, finances, facilities, or transportation, evidence of rehabilitation when appropriate, and applicable legal requirements.

The Walker Foundation reserves the right, consistent with applicable law, to approve, restrict, reassign, suspend, or deny an individual's participation based on legitimate safety and organizational considerations.

Child Protection Standards

All individuals serving children through The Walker Foundation are expected to maintain appropriate professional boundaries and follow all child-safety requirements.

Abuse, neglect, exploitation, harassment, intimidation, inappropriate physical contact, sexual misconduct, grooming behavior, or other conduct that threatens the safety or well-being of a child is prohibited.

The Walker Foundation may immediately remove an individual from duties when a credible child-safety concern arises while the matter is appropriately reviewed or reported.

Supervision and One-on-One Interaction

The Walker Foundation will seek to structure youth programs so that interactions between adults and children are appropriately supervised and observable.

Unauthorized isolated one-on-one interactions with minors are prohibited.

Program-specific procedures may establish additional requirements regarding supervision, transportation, electronic communications, photography, video recording, social media, and physical contact.

Reporting Safety Concerns

Individuals covered by this policy must promptly report suspected child abuse, neglect, exploitation, misconduct, or significant safety concerns through appropriate organizational procedures and as otherwise required by applicable law.

The Walker Foundation prohibits retaliation against individuals who make good-faith reports of safety concerns.

Confidentiality

Background-screening information will be treated as confidential. Access will be limited to authorized personnel with a legitimate organizational need to review or administer screening information.

The Foundation will take reasonable measures to protect sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure, access, or use.

General volunteer records should identify screening status rather than unnecessarily reproducing detailed criminal-history information.

Re-Screening

The Walker Foundation may require periodic re-screening based on the individual's responsibilities, organizational requirements, legal requirements, insurance requirements, partner requirements, or risk-management practices.

Additional screening may also be required when an individual moves into a higher-risk position, begins transporting participants, returns after an extended absence, assumes substantially different responsibilities, or is otherwise required to undergo updated screening under applicable organizational procedures.

Failure to Comply

Failure to comply with this policy may result in delayed volunteer approval, restriction from certain responsibilities, reassignment, suspension, removal from a program or event, or termination of volunteer or service status.

The Walker Foundation reserves the right to take immediate protective action when reasonably necessary to protect children, participants, staff, volunteers, or the organization.

Recordkeeping

The Walker Foundation will maintain appropriate documentation of background-screening completion and clearance status in accordance with applicable legal requirements and organizational record-retention practices.

Records may include screening completion date, clearance status, position approved, re-screening or expiration date, and administrative notes necessary for compliance.

Sensitive screening reports will be maintained separately or through the authorized screening provider whenever appropriate.

Administration

The Walker Foundation leadership or its authorized designee is responsible for administering this policy, coordinating required screenings, maintaining appropriate records, and ensuring individuals are not assigned to restricted positions before required clearance.

Policy Review

This policy should be reviewed periodically and may be amended by The Walker Foundation to reflect changes in organizational operations, child-safety practices, screening standards, insurance requirements, or applicable laws.

THE WALKER FOUNDATION

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