Open Forum

Our facility interviews all prospective docent and intern applicants. If they are accepted into the program we run a simple criminal background check, similar to the one used for new employees. Hope this helps!

Mike, 

All prospective Docents must complete an interview at our museum as well. If they feel like a good fit, we then use a database called Checkr to complete our background checks. Within this database are various packages, so staff will typically have to complete a more thorough one, but our volunteers will be sent the Volunteer Package. 

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Briseyda Pulido
Volunteer Manager/Adult Group Scheduler
Cartersville GA
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We use AmericanChecked Inc. for all of our volunteers. We are a state run entity, but our docents and interns are managed through our private non-profit. We have a simple application form that includes spaces for job history and references. That is filled out along with an "Authorization for Background Check" page. We send this information off to AmericanChecked Inc. and they send us the results back within a few days. 

I came across this older discussion and wanted to add something that's helped us lately: we started using a simple tiered system where low‑risk roles only need basic checks, and anyone working with kids or handling collections goes through a fuller review. It's kept things manageable. Is anyone else trying a tiered setup, or using outside services to handle checks?

Agree with Vivian here. The majority of museum thefts are an "inside job" committed by staff, volunteers, or researchers who have access to the collections (in galleries or storage). For the security of your collection, we advise clients to conduct thorough background checks.

Because some of our volunteers interact with children, all of our volunteer applicants undergo a criminal background check, which includes a sexual offender registry check.