Volunteers have trouble with clearance

Florida Governor Rick Scott recently formed a task force to come up with an effective way to share background check information between nonprofit organizations, News 13 reports. Nonprofits believe it's unnecessary for each organization to require separate background checks for its volunteers. The process is not only costly, but can hinder the motivation of potential hires. "If you tell them to come back in six or eight weeks when (their background check) is cleared, first off you've lost their participation during that period of time and secondly, they may not be as enthusiastic when they come back," Heart of Florida United Way president Robert Brown told the news source. Most nonprofit agencies pay around $50 per screening - money that could be saved if a network were available to share such information. Scott's task force has until mid-November to develop a feasible plan. The Vancouver Sun reports similar frustrations, as a police background check for volunteer work can take as long as three months to clear. New regulations in British Columbia have reduced the number of search terms police can use when running a volunteer through their database, resulting in an overabundance of red flags for vague or nonviolent offenses.