3. Guidelines for the Recruitment and Training of Volunteers

A. Faith and Non-Faith Communities

Volunteers come from many walks of life. It is recommended that local faith communities be approached for help in recruiting volunteers. While volunteers do not necessarily have to belong to a faith community (indeed, there are many who do not), it is recognized that volunteers from the faith community bring with them a set of core values that support COSA values.

Volunteers can also be recruited through the local Volunteer Recruitment Centre, by word-of-mouth, by contacts made during public speaking tours or public forums, and through newspaper/electronic media advertisements.

Potential volunteers should be invited to "Orientation Sessions" as described in the Guide to Training Potential Volunteers 2002. Several of these sessions may be required before a group is ready to proceed to Phase I of the training program. Volunteer recruitment should follow the process recommended in the Training Flow Chart found in the Guide to Training Potential Volunteers 2002 (2002, p.11).

The Orientation and Phase I portion of the training process can provide an opportunity for initial recruitment. It can also act as a community service providing public education about the various aspects of sexual offending and how a community might respond. During these encounters, both potential volunteers and LPC's have the opportunity to decide if they might work together at a future time. In fact, very often during the public education sessions, some potential volunteers recognise that COSA is not a good match for them.

B. Volunteer Application Forms

Readers are referred to pages 11 (Training and Circle Development Flow Chart) and 29 (Section H) of the Guide to Training Potential Volunteers 2002. Please note that a formal Volunteer Application Form is not requested until potential applicants have completed the Orientation portion and Phase I of Training. Once these training modules have been completed and both the LPC and the potential volunteer have decided to proceed with further training, the individual is asked to complete an application form.

C. Resumes and References

Potential volunteers should be asked to supply a written résumé (or work record if they do not have a résumé) with their Volunteer Application Form. Résumés help LPC's to structure a good application interview by directing them to pertinent areas of an applicant's history.

At least three references should be requested. Two references should come from community members (not relatives) who can vouch for the potential volunteer's status in the community. A third should come from a professional source (e.g. priest, pastor, medical doctor, professor, and instructor) who is likely to belong to a professional regulatory body and is bound by a professional code of ethics.

References must always be checked. Each reference check is capable of generating other references, and the LPC should not be hesitant about making further enquiries as the need arises.

The purpose of using résumés, references and interviews is to assist LPC's in gaining a better understanding of a person's life history or story, including the strengths the person brings to this type of work, and his or her areas of particular vulnerability.

Potential volunteers should be well-known community members in good standing with their peers. The interview is intended to assist in selecting the most suitable volunteers. Some indicators for identifying potential volunteers follow (refer to Appendix C for a sample interview format that addresses these guidelines):

1) Stability in the community:

1. there should be a balance with potential volunteers.
2. Some should reside in the community in which the COSA is to be formed. Their residence in that community should be stable (i.e. have resided there for two years or more).
3. They should not be looking to COSA's as a stepping-stone towards employment in the criminal justice field. Others may be relative newcomers to a community, but should still be known within the community and demonstrate their intention to remain in the community for the foreseeable future.
4. Some COSA projects have found that mature graduate students, recruited early in their graduate study programs, make excellent volunteers.

2) Maturity:

While this quality is difficult to specify, it is generally refers to someone with experience in dealing with conflict, evidence of emotional "maturity," evidence of sound problem-solving skills, and a general awareness of the issues around crime and sexual offending.

3) Age:

Wisdom and balance is needed when developing a volunteer team. Selecting volunteers across age groups can be helpful as long as the volunteers have the general maturity and the ability to work with the Core members. Certainly under-age people (e.g. youth and children) must never be included as part of a COSA.

4) Balanced Lifestyle:

Potential volunteers should have other interests outside of criminal justice and should not be reliant on COSA as their primary interest. A good question to ask during a screening interview is, "What other interests, such as hobbies, sports, recreational activities, do you have besides COSA?"

5) Balanced Perspective:

Potential volunteers should have a balanced point of view when it comes to criminal (in particular sexual) offending. They should be able to recognize the needs of both victims and offenders. Volunteers who are only interested in "supporting" core members without also wanting to help them be accountable should be screened out. However, it is difficult for volunteers to be perfectly balanced in this area; thus, wisdom would dictate that each COSA group should reflect a balance between the needs of victims and core members.

6) Personal "Victim Issues" Satisfied:

Experience and research have shown that many people have been victimized by crime. Potential volunteers should be asked about their experience as victims of crime, particularly sexual crimes. This inquiry should extend to the volunteer's immediate family (e.g. have you or any members of your immediate family been the victim of a sex crime?). If a history of victimization is found, careful and sensitive interviewing should attempt to determine whether or not the applicant is capable of functioning as an effective volunteer. Under no circumstances should a volunteer expect to resolve victim issues through working with COSA^{Footnote 3}.

7) Offence Type:

Some potential volunteers might have greater difficulties working with offenders who have committed a particular type of crime. Exploring the applicant's point of view towards particular crimes may be important. However, difficulty with a particular type of crime does not indicate an inappropriate potential volunteer. Each case should be decided individually.

8) Sexual Orientation:

It is necessary to discuss with potential volunteers their attitude toward working with core members whose sexual orientation may differ from their own. Certain volunteers may choose not to work with homosexual core members but may otherwise be excellent volunteers.

D. Criminal Records Check

All volunteers must agree to a criminal records check. In some communities, the local Police force has assisted with the checks. Some police forces have agreed to waive the fee unless fingerprint records are required for confirming the presence or absence of a record. The waiving of fee's could be explored in each community. A potential volunteer with a criminal history is not automatically excluded from volunteering; however extra care in screening should be observed.

An applicant with a history of sexual offending is not necessarily excluded, but should be carefully interviewed (e.g. attitudes toward women, trends towards minimizing the effects of sexual misconduct, attitudes toward police, correctional officials and the courts). It is recommended that 5 to 10 years should have elapsed since the end of the last sentence (note: not since release, but sentence expiry) arising from a conviction for a sexual offence.^{Footnote 4} There should not have been further doubts about the potential volunteer's sexual conduct during that period of time. The potential volunteer should not be a "person of interest " to the police^{Footnote 5}. The potential volunteer should also be encouraged to apply for a Pardon through the National Parole Board^{Footnote 6}.

E. Previous Criminal Record

In the case of a person who has previously been convicted of sexual offences, it is strongly recommended that the interview process establish the applicant's willingness to be open and frank about his or her past offence history. Such openness is required of Core members, and COSA volunteers must be willing to meet the same standard.

In such cases, it is also advisable that the applicant provide preferably two or three references but at least one reference, from a non-related community member of good standing who is also fully aware of the applicant's past.

Once again, each case should be decided upon individually. A final decision should be made through referring the matter to the Steering Committee, Advisory Panel or Board of Governance whenever possible.

Some Criminal Justice Officials will object to persons with criminal histories becoming involved with COSA, particularly if they involved sexual offences, and especially when against children. Their concerns ought to be taken seriously and their advice sought. However, COSA also stand for the safe integration of former offenders within their community, and endorse the healing principles of Restorative Justice. These considerations must be balanced with the greater need for community safety when making decisions to include or exclude an applicant from working with COSA.

The volunteer screening and training process must demonstrate an exercise of due diligence on the part of the local initiative. This means that thorough background checks and careful interviewing of all potential volunteers must occur. However, in the case of former offenders, the applicant should have initiated full and voluntary disclosure and be prepared to make a full and voluntary disclosure to fellow volunteers. As well, the LPC ought to prepare and articulate a clear strategy for meeting public concerns, especially those around issues of safety. This should include a consultation with the Regional Co-ordinator and Regional Chaplain. If these steps are taken, most objections can be met.

Objections are best met with a call to the principles of a restoring, transforming, healing justice based on integration rather than extradition and exclusion. The need of former offenders to contribute positively to the safety, well being and quality of life within a community, which they have formerly offended against, is a value that COSA should be prepared to support.

The Gospel tradition of radical hospitality is at the heart of this philosophy.

"My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours." We belong in a bundle of life. We say, "A person is a human because I belong. I participate, I share …" Harmony, friendliness, community are great goods. Social harmony is for us the summum bonum - the greatest good. . . To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. What dehumanizes you inexorably dehumanizes me. It gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and merge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them (p. 31)." "One such universal law is that we are bound together in what the Bible calls 'the bundle of life." Our humanity is caught up in that of all others. We are humans because we belong. We are made for community, for togetherness, for family, to exist in a delicate network of interdependence. Truly 'it is not good for man to be alone," [Genesis 2:18] for no one can be human alone. We are sisters and brothers of one another whether we like it or not and each one of us is a precious individual (pp. 196 & 197).";

Wayne Northey (2002), in his review of No Future Without Forgiveness, Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Image, 1999.