Requirements change for 4-H volunteers

CHILLICOTHE – Jennifer Huff understands the reason behind upcoming stiffer requirements for people who want to volunteer their time to help with 4-H programs, but she said the new regulations may pose a problem in attracting adult involvement in clubs like her Deerfield Happy Helpers.

“There have been some people that have said this is a volunteer thing, and it’s just getting to be too much,” Huff said.

Beginning in June, volunteers of 4-H and all other Ohio State University programs involving minors will be required to get regular background checks and attend an annual child abuse awareness class. Letters were sent out to volunteers and club advisers last year stating the changes were coming to allow time to prepare for the possible effect.

Previously, volunteers would only be required to submit one background check, which would allow a lifetime of volunteering. Now, a new background check will be needed every four years.

Background checks don’t come cheap. The Ross County Sheriff’s Office charges $29 for a statewide check and $31 for an FBI or national check. In most cases, the statewide check will suffice. But if the volunteer has lived out of the state for any period of time, the state will require both state and federal backgrounds to be run.

Neither the university, nor any county extension office, has indicated it would pay for or reimburse those costs, meaning it is mostly up to the volunteer to dip into his or her own pockets.

Kirk Bloir, associate state 4-H leader, says that in some counties, 4-H clubs and committees are reimbursing partial or full costs of the checks. Ross County is not one of them.

“I have encouraged clubs to consider covering that cost,” said Katie Feldhues, Extension educator for 4-H development in Ross County.

Bloir said that if a club has a serious monetary issue, there is the possibility of state assistance with paying for background checks under certain circumstances.

Before the rules were implemented, the classes were only required for mandated reporters to the state. Now, Ohio State has termed the volunteers as their own mandated reporters, requiring some volunteers to take the class twice, once for the state and again for the 4-H program.

“This is OSU volunteer policy,” Feldhues said. “Everyone didn’t go this year. It’s based off of when they first got enrolled in the 4-H system.”

Every year, about a quarter of volunteers will need background check renewals for any OSU program involving the “care, custody, or control” of minors or the elderly. The child abuse awareness classes will remain annual until either OSU or the individual counties decide to edit that policy.

It is similar to the way schools require background checks of parent or coaching volunteers who will be working with students. It’s all part of a measure to ensure minors are safe, Bloir said.

“We’re very trusting of our volunteers, but we need to have that check in place to make sure the youth are safe,” Bloir said. “We rely on self-reporting for our employees and volunteers, but just in case, we have this process.”

But how will this new process influence volunteer rates? Bloir said he does not ask his office to keep track of statewide numbers for those rates, but he said some volunteers have dropped out because of the new requirement.

“There are some volunteers that have decided not to continue on with the program, but for various other reasons as well,” he said.

The Ross County Extension office estimated that out of the roughly 300 volunteers Ross County 4-H clubs have this year, they are down only about 10 people from last year. However, the dip in volunteers is “not that noticeable because we have hundreds of volunteers,” Huff said.

“Those that did leave could have been planning to leave anyway, and it may just be another reason,” Huff said.

According to the Ross County 4-H extension website, the county hosts 85 clubs and had 312 advisers over more than 1,800 club members. The Deerfield Happy Helpers club accounts for more than 100 of those members, making it the largest in the county, Huff said.

Since they are set up on a rolling basis, each year, only a quarter of volunteers will need to be checked. If the state or extension office were to reimburse 75 background checks a year at about $30 each, it would total $2,250 a year. Over four years, it would cost almost $9,000 in Ross County alone to pay for all 300 volunteer background checks.

“I just did mine on my own,” Huff said. “If someone needed it, we could have put it to a vote and have it (paid for).”

However, not all clubs have a deep bank account to potentially reimburse volunteers. Huff said some clubs just collect enough in dues to make the required payments to the extension office and do not keep much more money in their accounts.

Despite the cost and four-year cycle, Feldhues says people are “overwhelmingly on board” with the new requirement.

“I think it takes the quality of our program up a level,” Feldhues said.

Feldhues says there has been some pushback over the class requirement, which takes about an hour to complete.

“Mandated reporters are frustrated they have to take the class again,” Huff said.

As a teacher, Huff is already considered a mandated reporter with the state. The new system involving OSU volunteers would also make her and other volunteers mandated reporters to the university.

Fellow 4-H adviser and teacher Brian Beery admits taking essentially the same class twice adds more hoops to jump through, but the end goal is to keep children safe.

“It’s something we should be looking for anyway,” Beery said.

For Beery, the process went quickly, and he says it’s all part of the “cost to be a volunteer.”