Can You Check Your Files?


Many people in our Community call and ask if we will check our files to see if a person they are considering hiring has received service from us. We understand that the community wants to be reassured about their child's safety when a new teacher is being hired, when a new club master or hockey coach volunteers or when a parent needs a baby sitter. Unfortunately, providing this kind of reassurance is not as simple as checking a database and in this enclosed letter to many of our community partners, we explained why.




December 1999


Dear Community Agency/Service Provider:


Over the past several months there has been much public attention focused on the importance of keeping our community's children safe.


An issue that is very dear to many who provide direct service to children and their families is the importance of being able to hire employees and volunteers who will not take advantage of their role and abuse children. The Provincial government has made several recent announcements regarding its commitment to keep children safe by providing opportunities for all of us to hire the best possible staff and volunteers and to be able to trust their relationships with the children that are served.


As a safeguard, some organizations are asking potential staff and volunteers to sign releases that will provide for a review of our files to determine the person's appropriateness for hiring. We regret to inform you that we are unable to provide this service for several reasons.


While a check of our database might, in fact, reveal the name of the person in question, this not not mean he/she is unsuitable to work with children. People come to a Children's aid Society for many different reasons. Some come as potential foster or adoption parents, some are seeking information or counseling for their families. To determine the exact reason for contact, we require a staff member to read through a file and then to assess the situation and determine whether the reason for contact would prohibit that person from working with a child. This is a very complex task and one for which we receive no funding. If we were to offer this service, we would have to hire at least one, if not two, full time staff.


Secondly, we have been cautioned by our legal staff that such decision making carries with it tremendous liability. To err either way in making such an assessment could leave us and a child in very serious jeopardy.


We trust this will help to clarify a situation that has caused much confusion in our community and even among our funders. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me.


Yours truly,


Judi Shields Director of Planning and Communications