Safe Harbor Resources
11 January 2004
June 10, 2002
Safe Harbor Resources, an Ohio nonprofit startup, will be offering central credentialling of workers in children’s religious and athletic programs. Although many sources of public record information and elaborate procedure are available, background checking is a costly do-it-yourself proposition with many hidden privacy and liability implications that stall actual implementation. Safe Harbor Resources intends to actually perform all the work including installation and monitoring of an Appropriate Precautions infrastructure at the program’s leadership location.
Volunteers will become members of Safe Harbor’s IntellAssure Registry, ( www.IntellAssure.com ) and will receive a portable credential attesting to the fact that public records indicate no entries which by themselves would disqualify the volunteer from having unsupervised regular access to children, or discourage their program leaders from employing them in that role. IntellAssure will attest to the status of the credential for other participating “qualified entities” (organizations) so that the costs and delays of requalifying the volunteer are avoided. The credential expires and needs to be renewed at least annually. Arriving data which disqualifies a volunteer will result in a credential being reclassified from “active” to “pending::inquiries ceased” effectively pulling the credential while avoiding the onus of maintaining a blacklist. Obtaining a volunteer’s credential requires filling out an application with required disclosures and fingerprints. Individuals cannot initiate application on their own. Applications are received pursuant to a participating organization’s identified youth or children’s program so that appropriate precautions infrastructure can be installed. Records results automatically go to applicants if derogatory entries exist. Program leaders do not see the data unless the applicant shares it. Leaders agree to only utilize cleared volunteers. Data is obtained from large national sources of solid repute. Institutions including churches and youth athletic leagues who participate will become advisory board members who agree to receive, implement, and be inspected for compliance with, an Appropriate Precautions procedures package. Smaller groups may utilize less elaborate procedure. Pricing is being developed. A proposal of “a dollar a week” to maintain the credential and the infrastructure in which it is used, is on the table. Initiation support is being sought from major denominations and grant makers. Organizations wishing to be part of an Ohio pilot project should inquire. For more information contact the websites, or Dave Allburn, trustee, Glouster First UMC, 740-767-3853 email address < info@safeharborresources.org >.