FCRSPCA Volunteer Policy
FCRSPCA Volunteer Policy
All volunteers must be 16+. Volunteers under the age of 18 must have parental permission to volunteer, and parents must cosign liability waiver at the beginning of volunteer training (to be provided at orientation for review prior to training), and yearly thereafter.
All volunteers must be onboarded as detailed below, complete initial training as per the current volunteer handbook, and maintain good status in yearly training to continue.
Regional does not accept individuals as volunteers who have a history of animal-related crimes, domestic or child abuse, or any other violent or fraudulent crimes.
All volunteers should have a signed Code of Conduct and Waiver on file and should be resigned yearly. All volunteers should have a copy of the most recent Volunteer policy, and a new Code of Conduct should be signed whenever the policy is updated. Volunteers are expected to always adhere to the Code of Conduct.
Volunteers must be 18+ to be a shift runner and/or have keys. Any volunteer under the age of 18 must be accompanied on shift by a volunteer who is 18+ and must be supervised in the yard with the animals.
Volunteers must be present for their entire shift unless previous notice is given to the Scheduling Coordinator. At least one (1) shift runner needs to always be at the shelter during a shift.
No volunteer is allowed indiscriminate kennel access unless in the case of emergency.
All volunteers must log their hours. Failure to do so may result in an inactive status and dismissal from volunteering. Volunteers are considered inactive if there are no logged hours in a three (3) month time period unless previous arrangements have been made with Management.
Volunteers are expected to stay in contact with Management and other volunteers using the preferred method of contact. Volunteers keep in touch using Microsoft Teams, disseminating necessary information about shelter events, animal care, and shift reports via this medium.
Volunteer Onboarding Process:
Applications are submitted via fcrspca.org or via paper application. Applications are reviewed, and either accepted for processing or denied. Applicants are contacted via email, phone, or letter for denial, or by phone or email to set up a phone interview.
If an Applicant is a good fit after the phone interview, their application is considered in process. The Applicant can take an online orientation module and complete the blue level training before signing up for an in-person, off-shift training session. When these sessions and green level training is in process, a background check will be completed before the Applicant is considered for active volunteer status. If an Applicant wishes to volunteer in a non-shelter setting, the applicant needs to complete blue and green trainings, but will not be eligible for shift work.
Volunteer Inactivity, Dismissal, and Off-boarding
Volunteers are considered inactive if there are no logged hours in a three (3) month time period unless previous arrangements have been made with Management.
Volunteers who are inactive must return all Shelter property, including but not limited to: keys, uniform, business cards, and any other item which may have been furnished to the volunteer to aide in their duties.
Volunteers who are inactive will have their access to Shelter technology terminated, included but not limited to: Microsoft Teams and any SPCA emails (if provided), Admin access to social media, access to any Shelter databases or software.