You may want to rethink this.   Such people that know that museums deal with
children, and it is an ideal place if you know what I mean.  They use the
loose attitude of museums to get into the establishments to associate and
build their relationships with children working events, meeting in
restrooms, school tours, etc.

Staff as well as volunteers should have background checks.  For example, I
had a volunteer who did photography/drugs with children at XYZ museum.
Another volunteer mentioned that he saw their name in the newspaper in the
crime section.  From then on, police checks (added to our policy and double
checked with our attorney) of all current individuals to make sure all were
clean, as well as new staff and volunteers.

The individual with the problem terminated their employment when they knew I
was doing the police checks.

John

From: "Mark Janzen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: Volunteer Background Checks


> Christina,
>
> We do not currently do so, but it is often a good idea. Our volunteers do
> not currently have any access to to secure areas or sensitive information,
> so it is not seen as a necessity.
>
> As long as it is part of your institutional policy, and it is applied
> universally, then it should not be an issue. Volunteers should not be
> offended unless they feel they are being discriminated against or they
have
> something they do not want you to know.
>
> I would suggest, if you do make it policy, to spell out all the details of
> how you will check their backgrounds, why, and what the results may be in
> the policy itself. You should also run any such policy by legal counsel
> before its implementation.
>
>
> Mark Janzen
> Registrar/Collections Manager
> Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art
> Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection
> Wichita State University
> (316)978-5850
>
>
>
>              Christina Hirn
>              <mergaite76@YAHOO
>              .COM>                                                      To
>              Sent by: Museum           [log in to unmask]
>              discussion list                                            cc
>              <[log in to unmask]
>              SE.LSOFT.COM>                                         Subject
>                                        Volunteer Background Checks
>
>              01/20/2004 11:19
>              AM
>
>
>              Please respond to
>              Museum discussion
>                    list
>              <[log in to unmask]
>                SE.LSOFT.COM>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Good Afternoon,
>
> We are in the process of revising our volunteer policies and looking at
> other institutions.  The questions I have are:
>
> Does your institution require background checks for all volunteers?
> If this is a new policy, did you go back and check current volunteers or
> only new applicants?
> If you did check current volunteers, how was it received by the
volunteers?
> Was it
> worthwhile?  Did it cause any offense?
>
> Thank you for your assistance,
>
> Christina Hirn
>
>
> Christina Hirn
> Museum Educator
> Lake County Discovery Museum
> 27277 Forest Preserve Drive
> Wauconda, IL 60084
> (847) 968-3400
>
>
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