Volunteer Policies

Equal Opportunity Statement

Meta House pro-actively recruits volunteers in order to expand the volunteer involvement of the community with the agency. We recruit volunteers without regard to gender, handicap, age, race, religion or other condition.

Who May Volunteer

A volunteer must be officially accepted and enrolled in Meta House’s volunteer program before performing any tasks. Volunteers are not considered employees of the agency. Agency clients, relatives of clients and employees may not be accepted as volunteers. Volunteers who have not reached their age of maturity must have the written consent of a parent or guardian prior to volunteering. Many of our positions require that the volunteer be at least 18 years old. Individuals with a history of violence against women or children may not be Meta House volunteers.

Service at the Discretion of the Agency

All volunteers serve at the sole discretion of Meta House. Either the individual volunteer or Meta House has the right to terminate the volunteer-agency relationship at any time and for any reason. Should you choose to end your service with Meta House early, we ask that you notify the Volunteer Coordinator, and either attend an exit interview or fill out the Exit Survey.

Volunteer Placement (Reiteration of Volunteer Procedures)

All potential ongoing volunteers will follow the steps outlined in the Volunteer Procedures section of this handbook prior to the start of their service at Meta House. Volunteers who do not agree to the background check may be refused assignment. All volunteers will be given written job descriptions and will fill out the Meta House Volunteer Application. Special event or one-time volunteers may not be required to attend an interview or complete the entire application, at the discretion of the Volunteer Coordinator.

Volunteer Information

Volunteer personnel records shall be accorded the same confidentiality as staff personnel records. If you would like to have your volunteer hours tracked, please notify your supervisor or the Volunteer Coordinator prior to beginning your service at Meta House.

Volunteer Rights and Responsibilities

Volunteers are viewed as a valuable resource to Meta House. As a Volunteer, you have the following rights:

to be given a meaningful assignment

to have effective supervision

to receive recognition for work done

In return, volunteers shall agree:

to actively perform their duties to the best of their abilities

to remain loyal to the goals and procedures of the agency

Confidentiality

Volunteers are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all proprietary or privileged information to which they are exposed while serving as a volunteer, whether this information involves a single staff, volunteer, client, or other person or involves overall agency business. All volunteers will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to the start of their service at Meta House. Failure to maintain confidentiality may result in termination of the volunteer’s relationship with the agency or other corrective action.

Misconduct

In the unfortunate event that misconduct occurs, Volunteers may be dismissed from further service at Meta House. Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:

violation of Meta House’s Confidentiality policy

failure to satisfactorily perform volunteer assignment(s)

gross misconduct or insubordination

being under the influence of alcohol or drugs

theft of property or misuse of agency equipment or materials

abuse or mistreatment of clients or co-workers

failure to abide by agency policies and procedures

failure to meet physical or mental standards of performance

excessive absenteeism

Exit Interviews (Surveys)

As stated earlier, we’d like to hear from you, either in an interview or by a survey, when you leave Meta House. We would like to know why you are leaving the position, what suggestions you may have for improving the position, and how you might like to be involved in some other capacity with the agency.

Volunteer Procedures

A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Meta House Volunteer

Step One: Complete an Application, which will be reviewed and used during the interview.

Step Two: Attend an Interview with the Volunteer Coordinator to determine your skills, commitment, and interests. At the interview, you will be asked to provide references and fill out a questionnaire for a background check.

Step Three: Meta House will check your References. References may be friends, but not family members. A negative reference may prevent Meta House from being able to accept you into our volunteer program.

Step Four: Meta House will conduct a Background Check (police report). Previous criminal behavior may preclude service at Meta House. Due to the sensitive nature of our clientele, we may not accept volunteers who

fail to disclose previous legal violations on their volunteer application or

have a background of violence against women and/or children

Step Five: Review the Volunteer Opportunities with the Volunteer Coordinator to determine which best matches your skills, interests and availability.

Step Six: Once you have identified which volunteer opportunity you would like to fill, establish a Volunteer Schedule with the Meta House employee who will be overseeing your volunteer service.

Step Seven: Sign Volunteer and Agency Agreements. Due to the sensitive nature of our mission, and to protect the privacy of our clients, you must sign a confidentiality agreement. To prevent any potentially uncomfortable situations, you must also sign an agreement stating that you understand the expectations for Meta House Volunteers, what constitutes misconduct, and the consequences of volunteer misconduct.

Step Eight: Attend an Orientation, conducted by either the Volunteer Coordinator or the Meta House employee for whom you will be working.

Step Nine: Begin volunteering. If you wish to have your volunteer hours tracked or to receive regular performance evaluations (formal or informal), please notify your supervisor before your service begins.

Step Ten: Receive Recognition. Because we value our volunteers and recognize that you are vital to the success of our mission, we will thank you for your service.

Step Eleven: Stay Informed. You will receive information on programs and new initiatives and be added to our regular mailing list.

Step Twelve: Complete Service. Although we’d like all our volunteers to stick around forever, we realize that eventually you will move on, either because our volunteer needs have changed or because your life has changed. We wish you the best in whatever you do, but we hope, before you go, that you’ll complete the Exit Survey or an Exit Interview, if you’re so inclined, to let us know what we’re doing right and what we could be doing better.