You're almost done!

To complete your enrollment into the program, every volunteer must take the Online Orientation course below. Please review the policies and regulations that pertain to the volunteer program.

This process takes approximately 10 minutes, so please make sure you have time to read through each section.

In order to ensure the safety and privacy of our resident children and students as well as your own safety and well-being, the following safety rules and policies apply to all participants in the Volunteer Program at SDCC. Please take a moment to read all of the information carefully and ask as many questions as possible before you make a commitment at San Diego Center for Children.  Volunteerism at SDCC needs to be considered as if it were a job. 

• Volunteers may not work alone with children under any circumstances; a SDCC staff member must be present. Volunteers must remain in staff sight at all times to ensure safety and protection for everyone.
• Volunteers must be at least 21 years old to participate in special events or projects on campus. 
• Consistency and Punctuality – many of the children have experiences of abandonment and inconsistency. Volunteers are encouraged to be as consistent as possible regarding punctuality and reliability and we ask that you provide us with 24-hrs notice if you’re unable to participate in your designated event or project.
• All communication between volunteers and clients (and/or families) should be in a professional manner. All Volunteers are bound by the HIPAA regulations and the Privacy Act, and are not permitted to:
  • Exchange personal information such as their address, phone number and personal history, or communicate with current or former resident children and students or their families via their personal social networking accounts, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and etc.
  • Disclose confidential or proprietary information regarding the Center or discuss any incidents that occur at a Center Program, or that involve Center clients, via social networking sites.
  • Disclose information regarding a Center client under any circumstances, which includes client photos and videos, due to HIPAA regulations and the Privacy Act, which all Volunteers are bound by.
• Volunteers should dress conservatively when on SDCC grounds (no bare bellies or underclothing showing) and closed toe shoes are recommended.
• Volunteers may not donate, borrow or lend any items or money to students. (In kind gifts can be donated – please ask the Volunteer Coordinator for details.)
• Volunteers may not drive children at any time either in their own or agency vehicles.
• Volunteers must turn off cell phones while on grounds & during volunteer hours.
• Volunteers are not to visit the Center outside of their volunteer duties without staff knowledge.
• Unless otherwise instructed, volunteers must check in with Admin on arrival and log hours by signing in and out.
• A volunteer badge will be provided to wear at all times while on campus.

Policy Statement

It is the policy of SDCC to ensure volunteers maintain appropriate boundaries with SDCC clients and families.

Definitions

Boundary Violation: An act, omission, or pattern of such behavior that does not have a clinical or educational purpose, and results in abuse of the adult/child relationship

Impropriety: The act of being improper through improper language, behavior, or character

Procedure

SDCC expects all volunteers to maintain the highest professional, moral, and ethical standards in their interaction with clients. The interactions and relationships between volunteers and clients should be based upon an understanding of the appropriate boundaries between adults and children in and outside of SDCC, and consistency with the mission and values of SDCC. Volunteers will maintain healthy and professional relationships with the clients we care for and will be sensitive to the appearance of impropriety in their own conduct and the conduct of others when interacting with clients. Volunteers will discuss issues with their supervising manager or SDCC’s Human Resources Department whenever they suspect or are unsure whether conduct is inappropriate or constitutes a violation of this policy.

Appearances of Impropriety

Volunteers must avoid activities that can create an actual impropriety or the appearance of impropriety, therefore, with the exception of assigned duties, volunteers should avoid the following situations and must report the occurrence to their supervising manager or the HR Department as soon as possible: being alone with a client, completely out of others’ view or spending a disproportionate amount of time with a client. SDCC volunteers are expected to be alert for possible problems or misunderstandings with clients, and should never assume that the client understands their intentions.

Unacceptable Conduct

The following is a list of examples of inappropriate boundary violations, and is not exhaustive. Volunteers are expected to immediately notify their supervising manager or the HR Department if they believe an employee or fellow volunteer may be engaging in conduct that violates this policy.

• Any contact with a client outside of SDCC: visiting a client’s home; and/or inviting or allowing a client to visit the volunteer’s home, other workplace, or frequented establishment
• Showing pornography to a client  or making jokes/innuendos of a sexual nature with clients
• Singling out a particular client for personal attention
• Physical contact other than high fives or hand shakes
• Disclosing personal information to clients
• Addressing clients or permitting clients to address volunteers in an overly familiar manner
• Exchanging personal gifts, cards or letters with a client
• Unnecessarily invading a client’s privacy (e.g. walking in on a client in the bathroom)

Violations involving sexual or other abuse will result in a report to Child Protective Services and/or law enforcement in accordance with SDCC’s policy on Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting.

As a volunteer of the San Diego Center for Children you are a representative of our organization. It is possible the media may turn to you for a comment on the work we do or a mental health issue etc. To ensure the proper messages are communicated and SDCC avoids involvement in stories that carry unnecessary risk or controversy, it is imperative that our media protocol is followed. It is the policy of the San Diego Center for Children to only allow designated spokespeople, approved in advance, to talk with Media Representatives.

Should you receive a request from a reporter, please forward it to Alison Beck, Director of Development and Communications at the San Diego Center for Children. Alison can be reached by phone at 858-569-2112 or by email at abeck@centerforchildren.org

SOCIAL MEDIA PROTOCOL

It is the policy of San Diego Center for Children to ensure clear boundaries between volunteers and clients and their families by providing clear direction regarding communication between clients and volunteers via social media websites.  All communication between volunteers (and/or families) should be in a professional manner.

It is strongly recommended that Center volunteers do not “gossip” about, harass, or make inappropriate comments regarding Center employees or fellow volunteers/interns/contractors on a social networking site.

It is strongly recommended that Center volunteers who have direct interaction with clients, take all necessary precautions to ensure their personal and private information, contained within in social networking accounts, cannot be accessed by clients or clients’ family members.

In addition, Center volunteers are not permitted to:

• Communicate with current clients, nor with a client’s family members, via their personal social networking accounts, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and etc.
• Communicate with former clients, nor a former client’s family members, via their personal social networking account.
• Use the Center logo, letterhead, or any other Center material, unless they are specifically authorized to do so.
• Discuss any incidents that occur at a Center Program, or that involve Center clients, via social networking sites due to HIPAA regulations and the Privacy Act, which all Center volunteers are bound by.
• Disclose information regarding a Center client on a social networking site, which includes client photos and videos, due to HIPAA regulations and the Privacy Act, which all Center volunteers are bound by.
• Disclose confidential or proprietary information regarding the Center on a social networking site.

San Diego Center for Children intends to provide a work environment that is pleasant, healthful, comfortable, and free from intimidation, hostility or other offenses which might interfere with work performance. Sexual and all other forms of harassment including harassment on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, gender, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, national origin, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected under federal or state law or local ordinance.

Sexual harassment is unlawful. Each incident or harassment contributes to a general atmosphere in which all persons who share the victim’s sex suffer the consequences. Sexually oriented acts or sex based conduct have no legitimate business purposes. Accordingly, the employee who engages in the conduct should be and will be made to bear the full responsibility of that unlawful conduct.

Harassment can take many forms. It may be, but is not limited to: words, signs, jokes, pranks, intimidation, physical contact, or violence.

Verbal Harassment-such as jokes, epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping, and unwelcome remarks about an individual’s body, color, physical characteristics, appearance, or talents, reference to women as “honey,” “doll,” or “sweetheart,” questions about a person’s sexual practices, patronizing terms or remarks or unwanted sexual advances.

Physical Harassment-such as physical interference with normal work, impending or blocking movement, assault, unwelcome physical contact or sexual advances, staring at a person’s body, and threatening, intimidating or hostile acts that relate to protected characteristics.

Visual Harassment-such as offensive or obscene photographs, calendars, posters, cards, cartoons, drawings, and gestures, display of sexually suggestive or lewd objects, unwelcome notes or letters, and any other written or graphic material that denigrates or show hostility or aversion toward an individual, that is placed on walls, bulletin boards, or elsewhere on the employer’s premises or circulated in the workplace.

There are two distinct categories of sexual harassment:

1. Sexual harassment occurs when an individual’s submission to or rejection of unwelcome sexual conduct is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting the individual including granting of employment benefits.
2. Sexual harassment occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct unreasonably interfered with an individual’s job performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment, even if it does not lead to tangible or economic job consequences.

Any incidents of harassment much be immediately reported to a manager or other management representative. Appropriate investigation and disciplinary action will be taken. All reports will be promptly investigated with due regard for privacy of everyone involved. The results of investigation will then be communicated to the affected person, including the employee who initiated the investigation. Policy violations shall be met with appropriate disciplinary action, which may include termination. Efforts will also be made to ensure that further acts of harassment do not occur. The Agency will take appropriate action to remedy any injury to the complaining party from the policy violation.

Please be assured that we are serious about this policy. No individual will suffer any reprisals for reporting any incidents of harassment, or perceived harassment, for making any complaints of harassment or for participating in any investigation of incidents of harassment.

It is the obligation of all employees to cooperate fully in the investigation process. Disciplinary action may be taken against employees who do not cooperate and those who interfere with a co-worker using this procedure.

If you believe this procedure has not adequately resolved your concerns, you may file a claim with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) within one year of the harassment. DFEH will serve as a neutral fact-finder and will attempt to assist you and the Agency in resolving the matter. If DFEH concludes that harassment has occurred but is unable to achieve voluntary resolution, you may seek a public hearing before the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission or you may file a civil lawsuit. If

I recognize that any discussion of a patient or patients outside of the San Diego Center for Children is confidential, and may be grounds for immediate dismissal from the Volunteer Program

I recognize that the unauthorized release of confidential information may make me subject to civil action under provisions of the Welfare and Industries Code, and Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations Part 2, as follows:

Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5330: Any person may bring an individual who has willingly and knowingly released confidential information or records concerning him in violation of the chapter, or of chapter 3 (commencing with Section 4330) of Part of Division 4, for the greater of the following amounts:

1) Five Hundred Dollars ($500)
2) Three times the amount of actual damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff.

Any person may, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 3 (commencing with Section 525) of Title 7 of part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, bring an action to enjoin the release of confidential information or records in violation of the provisions of this chapter, and may in the same seek damages as provided by this section.

It is not a prerequisite to an action under this section that the plaintiff suffers or be threatened with actual damages.

Title 42, Code of Federal Regulation, Part 2 Section 214 (for drug and alcohol abuse patient records and information): Any person who violates any provision of the authorizing legislation or any provision of this part shall be fined nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500) in the case of a first offence, and not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) in the case of each subsequent offense.

For a defendant who has committed one offense under either section authorized by that section, any offense thereafter committed under the same or any provision of this part authorized under that section shall be treated as a subsequent offense.

I recognize that effective credentialing; peer review and quality assurance cannot be achieved unless the confidentiality of all discussions, deliberations, records and other information generated in connection with these activities is maintained. I further recognized that such confidentiality is necessary to ensure the candid participation of SDCC volunteers and in these activities which are critically important for the evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered in the San Diego Center for Children.

Therefore, I agree to respect and maintain the confidentiality of all discussions, deliberations, records and information related to these activities, I agree not to disclose voluntarily any such information to anyone, except to persons authorized to receive it in the conduct of SDCC affairs or as directed by the SDCC Executive Committee or the San Diego Center for Children’s Operating Board. If I have any questions regarding whether information is confidential, I will consult with the SDCC administration prior to disclosing it.

I understand that the San Diego Center for Children and its Staff are entitled to undertake such action as deemed appropriate to ensure that this confidentiality is preserved. I further understand and acknowledge that any breach of this agreement, or threatened breach of this agreement, will be grounds for termination of Internship. It may also subject me to legal action to prevent disclosure.

STATEMENT OF PRIVACY LAWS AND SDCC POLICY

It is the legal and ethical responsibility of SDCC to ensure that all individuals associated with our agency and who come into contact with Protected Health Information (PHI), preserve personal and confidential patient, employee, and SDCC business information in accordance with state and federal laws and SDCC policy.

Laws controlling the privacy of, access to, and maintenance of confidential information include, but are not limited to, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), the HIPAA Final Omnibus Rule, the California Information Practices Act (IPA), the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), and the Lanterman- Petris-Short Act (LPS). These and other laws apply whether the information is held in electronic or any other format, and whether the information is used or disclosed orally, in writing, or electronically.

“Confidential Information” includes information that identifies or describes an individual, the unauthorized disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Examples of confidential client, employee and SDCC business information includes, but is not limited to home addresses, telephone numbers, Medical record numbers, birthdates, social security numbers, relative names, treatment records, income tax withholding data, performance evaluations, proprietary information, and peer review/risk management information and activities.

Unauthorized use, disclosure, viewing of, or access to confidential information in violation of state and/or federal laws may result in personal fines, civil liability, licensure sanctions and/or criminal penalties, in addition to University disciplinary actions.

Additional Training: Volunteers handling PHI as part of their volunteer work will be required to take a more in depth and comprehensive training, which includes HIPAA regulations and SDCC policies and procedures.

STATEMENT OF ACCEPTABLE USE<

SDCC volunteers are required to follow all policies related to the use of SDCC’s Internet, Intranet, and Extranet related systems. These systems are to be used for business purposes in serving the interests of the company, and of our clients and customers in the course of normal operations. Volunteers must refrain from personal use of these systems, and under no circumstances is volunteer authorized to engage in any activity that is illegal under local, state, federal or international law while utilizing SDCC-owned resources.

Additional Training: Volunteers working with SDCC’s Internet, Intranet, and Extranet related systems as part of their volunteer work will be required to take a more in depth and comprehensive training, which includes a full review of SDCC policies and procedures related to acceptable use.

In consideration of being allowed to voluntarily participate in San Diego Center for Children’s (SDCC) Volunteer Program, I acknowledge and agree that:

1. SDCC does not maintain health insurance for injuries to the volunteer that may arise out of involvement in the Volunteer Program. By virtue of participation, participants risk bodily injury including, but not limited to, paralysis, dismemberment, death, and other loss including damage to property and I knowingly and freely assume all such risk for myself.
2. I release and hold harmless and promise not to sue SDCC, its officers, agents or employees with respect to any and all such injury including, but not limited to, paralysis, dismemberment, death or loss except that injury or loss which results from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct of one of those individuals or organizations.
3. I hereby authorize and give my consent for medical care to be given to me in an emergency situation while volunteering.
4. This agreement is binding on my heirs, personal representatives, next of kin, spouse and assigns. 
5. I hereby give permission to be photographed, videotaped or recorded for publicity purposes and that I waive all claims for compensation. 
6. I certify to the best of my knowledge, that my current physical condition is satisfactory for enrollment, and that I am free of any health problems that would affect my ability to participate. If health concerns arise after enrollment into the Volunteer Program, I agree to notify the Volunteer Coordinator.
7. I have completed the neccesary Online Orientation Course and understand that my enrollment into the Volunteer Program may be contingent on completing additional security and health screening, and training by a Center staff member.