An arts organization should not request a police background check or a vulnerable sector verification until it has decided that the person is otherwise suitable for the position (whether paid or volunteer) and has made an offer of engagement, conditional on a satisfactory police check. The police background check should be limited to information that is relevant to suitability for the position or work in question. The information about the individual is subject to Canada’s privacy laws and the organization must use it appropriately and keep it confidential.
The police will not conduct a background check unless an individual applies on his or her own behalf or has provided consent in writing to the arts organization making the background check. …show more content…
Often the individual is required to pay the fee. Some organizations pay the fee on behalf of applicants they are screening. Some organizations make an arrangement with their local police agency to screen volunteers at no charge.
It can take two weeks to ten weeks, depending on the jurisdiction, to get a police background check or vulnerable sector verification. If finger-print verification is required, it can take up to 120 days.
The Limitations of Police Background Checks
Police background checks and vulnerable sector verifications have an important but limited use. Some abusers and offenders have records in other countries that are not captured in the CPIC database. There are sometimes gaps in Canadian police records if a conviction has not yet been registered. If the person was pardoned or convicted under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, information will not be available.
In any case, many abusers and sex offenders have never been convicted of a crime. As some incidents of inappropriate or harmful behaviour never reach the attention of the police, other ways must be in place to detect them.
For this reason, arts organizations are advised to have a broader vulnerable sector screening program within their organizations as part of their human resource policy and
The police will not conduct a background check unless an individual applies on his or her own behalf or has provided consent in writing to the arts organization making the background check. …show more content…
Often the individual is required to pay the fee. Some organizations pay the fee on behalf of applicants they are screening. Some organizations make an arrangement with their local police agency to screen volunteers at no charge.
It can take two weeks to ten weeks, depending on the jurisdiction, to get a police background check or vulnerable sector verification. If finger-print verification is required, it can take up to 120 days.
The Limitations of Police Background Checks
Police background checks and vulnerable sector verifications have an important but limited use. Some abusers and offenders have records in other countries that are not captured in the CPIC database. There are sometimes gaps in Canadian police records if a conviction has not yet been registered. If the person was pardoned or convicted under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, information will not be available.
In any case, many abusers and sex offenders have never been convicted of a crime. As some incidents of inappropriate or harmful behaviour never reach the attention of the police, other ways must be in place to detect them.
For this reason, arts organizations are advised to have a broader vulnerable sector screening program within their organizations as part of their human resource policy and