There are a number of reasons why a volunteer may not be returned against an assignment, these range from small oversights/omissions on the system to a change in volunteer circumstance; which could include upcoming re-certifications for one or more of the volunteer household.
It is unrealistic to expect any staff member to be aware of the individual circumstances surrounding each and every volunteer at all times; so to ensure we are always keeping volunteers and the families they are supporting as safe as possible, it is crucial that all assignments are added to the system and matched to the appropriate volunteer(s) before they occur.
Volunteer Switched Off:
The first thing worth checking is whether the volunteer you were expecting to see returned is still switched on.
Search for the volunteer through the dashboard or an appropriate volunteer view to see their status alongside the returned results.
Enter the record to see more information about the volunteer status through the Supporter Overview.
If the volunteer is switched off, the reasons for this should be displayed below but may still require some investigation prior to any further progress with their support of the assignment.
Volunteer Roles:
The next thing to check is that the volunteer has the role required for the requested assignment.
The roles next to a volunteers name indicate the roles they would like to volunteer for snd the current status of each of those roles:
Volunteers can be approved for roles that they later decide to step back from; therefore, it should not be assumed that because a volunteer has hosted or befriended before, that they are still in a position to do so now.
Approval Status:
If a volunteer is switched on, has the required role but is still not coming back in the search; check their approval process to confirm they have also been approved for that role.
Example:
A volunteer could have applied to be a Host Family and Family Friend, have the host role, have been through panel and marked as approved to start supporting as a Family Friend but not yet been approved as a Host Family.
The reasons for this could be along the lines of missing information for another member of the volunteer household or awaiting details/updates to complete the home safety check for the volunteer.
If a volunteer had their DBS completed virtually, they will not come back for Assignments until their ID has been checked face to face and a date added to the box to confirm.
It is also possible that the volunteer has everything in place to be approved for both roles and just requires the approval field to be completed.
DBS/PVG/ANI/Re-certification:
If all of the above steps have been confirmed; the next step would be to check the DBS/PVG/ANI status of the volunteer and other eligible household members to ensure that all members of the household have a completed and up to date DBS/PVG/ANI (including DBS/PVG/ANI Re-certification).
In some cases, it could be that the DBS/PVG/ANI portion of the re-certification has been completed but that the volunteer is awaiting Training before completing their re-certification.
It is also possible that the volunteer has completed all appropriate re-certification steps but requires the Confirm Recertified button to be pressed to update their approval process accordingly.
Volunteer Availability:
Volunteers and staff have the ability to update a specific volunteer calendar to mark periods where they are unavailable to support families.
Any volunteers marked as unavailable for the start of a request for befriending support or the entire period for a request for hosting support will not be returned in the list of potential volunteers against an assignment.
When appropriate, it is possible to ignore availability for host assignment requests. See Adding a Host Family Assignment.
Other factors that can result in your expected volunteer not showing:
- Is the Home Safety Checklist complete, does it require renewal or has it expired?
- Has the assignment been restricted to a particular church?
- Gender of volunteer requested
- Is a driver required?
- Is it an emergency assignment?
- Who is befriending for?
- Weekday/Weekend befriending
- Hosting ages preferences
- Parent & Child hosting
- Distance searched
- Hosting matches on the lead so should be considered when using specific volunteer
- Befriending with at home care
ID Checked Face To Face.
For more information see Adding a Family Friend Assignment or Adding a Host Family Assignment.