Topic: Transportation/access to children

01 April 2003

This FYI addresses an Ohio minimum Standards issue.

The Ohio CASA/GAL Association requires programs to meet a rigorous set of minimum Standards of practice to guide quality program and volunteer management. One of these minimum Standards (and one the Association believes is crucial for programs to have in place for liability and other purposes) is a transportation/access to children policy. This written policy should detail the program's stance on both staff and volunteer transporting of children and their parents, and should be written clearly and using firm language.

Considerations

Volunteer and program staff transporting volunteers can be a serious liability for a local program. The two major areas of liability are accidents and the potential for children to be alone and unsupervised with a staff person or volunteer. Because of these liability issues, the Association strongly recommends that programs have a "no transport" policy for staff and volunteers.

However, if a program chooses to allow transportation, by no means should it require a volunteer or staff person to transport children as part of his or her job duties ‑  children or parents is a personal decision and should be completely voluntary. Those programs choosing to permit transportation by volunteers and staff must have a written policy that requires "periodic checks" of the following:

• documentation of a valid driver's license;

•  documentation of a safe driving record; and

•  documentation of automobile insurance with passenger coverage at a    level recommended by the insurance provider.

In addition, volunteers and staff who choose to transport must:

• obtain the permission of the necessary CASA program staff; obtain the permission of the child's parent, guardian, or custodial agency; be knowledgeable about the potential personal risk of liability; and

•  choose to accept the responsibility by signing a document acknowledging personal risk.

"Periodic checks" can be a period of time determined by the program. However, it is recommended that this period be annual or every two years. The appropriate amount of insurance coverage volunteers or staff must have in order to provide transportation of children or parents should be determined by his or her insurance carrier.

It is strongly recommended that program staff that choose to transport provide this service with the oversight of his or her supervisor or by another staff person.