April 5, 2007 — To prevent people with less-than-stellar intentions from joining the ranks of its volunteers, the American Red Cross is now requiring that all volunteers and staff members submit to a background check. According to one local volunteer, the new requirement isn't sitting well with some volunteers.
While Red Cross volunteers and staff based in the Virgin Islands usually know each other, that's not the case when it comes to sending volunteers to disasters elsewhere or when volunteers from other locations arrive to assist with disasters in the territory.
Jane Wherren, the Red Cross director for the local V.I. chapter, said the organization learned a lot during 2005's Hurricane Katrina, when it was forced to put many people to work quickly.
"People came out of the woodwork. They were not all outstanding citizens," Wherren said. In the aftermath of Katrina, she said there were many instances of embezzlement involving volunteers.
In a letter to Red Cross chapters around the country, interim Red Cross President Jack McGuire said that when the organization launched the background check initiative in July, the organization "understood that safeguarding our donated resources and creating the safest possible environment for our workers and the public meant that we had to conduct background checks on all Red Crossers in a fair and consistent manner."
This new background check requirement does not sit well with at least one local volunteer. "I feel the risk for identify theft can be quite high," said one volunteer, who did not want to be identified.
While Wherren said she knows of only two people who have refused to have background checks done, the volunteer said there are many.
Wherren said the background check requires that volunteers and staff enter their Social Security number into the website of the company hired by the Red Cross, www.mybackgroundcheck.com.
The background check application asks for name, address, phone number, birthday, Social Security number and optionally, a driver's license number and mother's maiden name.
According to the company's website, the company gets its information "from private and/or public-record sources, including sources identified by you or through interviews or correspondence with your current or former employers, or educational institutions. The types of information that may be obtained include, but are not limited to: Social Security number verification, criminal records checks, public court records checks, driving records checks, educational records checks, verification of employment positions held, personal and professional references checks, licensing and certification checks, etc. "
It comes with a caveat: "while the information contained in the report or reports provided has been obtained by various third parties from public-record data sources deemed reliable, their accuracy cannot be guaranteed due to potential human error in the actual recording or retrieval of the record."
Wherren said she and other Red Cross officials do not see the actual information generated by the background check. Rather, they are notified that there is a problem. "I don't get the particulars," she said.
Wherren said that while the national organization initially picked up the tab for the background checks, the local organization now must pick up the tab. The deadline for complying was March 31.
She said that any volunteer who does not have a background check done will be listed as inactive.
Wherren said that when Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the local chapter sent 15 volunteers to help out.
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