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Foreword
The act of volunteering should be examine and studied to prevent crime
and violence. Volunteering is a wonderful way to help others, acquire
skills, create friendships and give back to society, but the act of
volunteering is not free from legal problems, unethical and questionable
business practices. Volunteers may run into criminal activities, illegal
activities, immoral practices, questionable policies, inadequate training,
unhealthy culture climate and negligence. In order to protect volunteers,
Counterintelligence in regards to volunteer protection liability should be
implemented to preserve all parties’ physical, mental, financial and
spiritual well being.
Volunteer Liability
Let us begin with the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997: Public Law 105-19 that was
signed into law by President Bill Clinton on June 18, 1997. The act
provides certain legal protection for volunteering, non-profit
organizations and government entities. The act was created to preserve the
mechanism of volunteerism because there were too many deterrents,
frivolous law suits, fear, concerns and issues that emerged and harmed the
effectiveness of non-profit organizations, private organizations and
government entities. Our society depends upon volunteer programs to
improve communities and provide important services.
The federal law supercedes the laws of any state to such extent that
inconsistent state laws are overruled, except where state provided
additional liability protections. Please keep in mind that there are some
exclusions to the laws. Examine the exclusions, if needed.
Let us define Volunteer. Volunteer means an individual performing
services for a nonprofit organization or a governmental entity whom does
not receive compensation other than reasonable reimbursement or allowance
for incurred expenses; or any other forms of
compensation, in excess of $500 per year. The term includes any volunteer
serving as a director, officer, trustee, or direct service volunteer.
| Warning:
For some unexplained reason, people may become targets of a
hostile environment which encompasses accidents, lawsuits,
ignorance, criminal activity, discrimination and biases regardless of sex, race, color, beliefs, ethnicity,
national origin, professional occupation, mental illness, spirituality and
handicaps. Some people may be more prone to unseen physical, mental
and spiritual problems than others. Be careful and pay attention to
your environment. Stay Safe. |
LIMITATION ON LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR VOLUNTEERS.
A volunteer of a nonprofit
organization or governmental entity shall be free from liabilities if--
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The volunteer was acting
within the scope of the volunteer's responsibilities on the behalf of
the nonprofit organization or governmental entity that was responsible
for the
act or omission. |
| The volunteer was properly licensed, certified, or authorized by the
appropriate authorities in the State where harm, violations,
activities or other practices occurred within the scope of the
volunteer's responsibilities in the nonprofit organization or
governmental entity. |
| The harm, violations, activities or other practices were not caused
by willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless
misconduct, civil rights violations, state and federal law violations, or a conscious,
flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the any individual. |
| The damage was not caused by the volunteer operating a motor
vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle without a proper
operator's license, insurance and other unknowns. |
Other volunteer
liability Items:
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A volunteer will not be free from liabilities due to any
omissions or violations
of civil or criminal law brought by other organization
and entities. Watch out for frivolous law suits. Vindictive
organizations still can sue the volunteer which is seen as shadowy
politics. This issue may be reserved to people serving in a higher
capacity than a naïve innocent individual. These days, who knows. It
is legally possible. |
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It does not protect
individuals from legal costs and other associated physical, mental and
spiritual damages that may result from lawsuits or other actions. In
addition, legal interpretations, misinterpretations and federal
action can limit your liability protection. Courts have created
different levels of interpreting the terminology of the statues. A
person is not immune from every liability. |
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A volunteer will be free
from liabilities if the state law requires a non-profit organization or government
entity to be responsible for set risk management procedures, training of volunteer, employee actions or omissions,
financial recovery for
any loss, proper insurance coverage and some civil actions. |
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An organization or entities shall not be free from liabilities due
to any violations of civil, criminal law or other questionable
practices that harms others. |
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Punitive damages for non-economic or economic loss or for any
harmful activity or questionable practices may be limited. Economic
loss means any financial loss resulting from damages such as loss of
earnings, business and/or employment opportunities, employment
benefits, medical expenses, death, and burial costs. Non-economic
losses means losses for physical and emotional pain, suffering,
inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement,
loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of
consortium, hedonic damages, injury to reputation and all other
non-financial losses of any kind or nature. |
Protect yourself
| Present a professional image of honesty, morality and lawfulness. |
| Research and study the volunteer protection liabilities. |
| Take preventive measure to protect yourself from any liability. |
| Check out the mission statement, officers, rules,
regulations, parliamentary procedures, by-laws, article of
incorporations and minutes, membership guidelines, security
regulations, legal requirements, financial records and financial
reports, internal controls, fundraising methods, programs and
publications. Do not be afraid to ask. It will be your responsibility,
if anything goes wrong. |
| Do a background investigation into the operations of the
organization, legal and management structure. |
| Attend training programs, board meetings, events, orientations and meetings
with people. |
| Make sure that the organization has proper insurance coverage. If not,
proceed at your own risk. |
| Avoid signing check without proper documentation, records or sound
advice. |
| Check to see that the organization financial accounts are sent up
correctly. |
| Investigate all legal documentation and advice to protect yourself
from surprises. |
| Investigate all complaints of any civil or criminal wrongdoing such
as discrimination or misconduct. |
| Ask questions. Do not be intimidated. Find the truth. It will be
your responsibility, if anything goes wrong. Protect yourself from
unseen physical, mental, financial and spiritual problems. |
| Be attentive to poor communication such as double talk,
misinformation and questionable support. |
| Know when to get proper help when no help is available or appears
questionable. |
| Avoid funding everything unless proper help is given, feeling
ambitious and prepared to go all the way. |
| Look for any appearance of security problems, questionable practices or criminal activities. |
| Be prepared to contribute more of your time, talents and resources. |
| Watch out for any physical, mental, financial and spiritual games.
Avoid false accusations. |
| Avoid misplace guilt that results from the hype of moral
obligation or duty. |
| Make sure that the volunteer work is not a tool to enlist cheap
labor and abuse employment laws. |
| Always protect yourself with a crisis management plan to prevent
accidents or further trauma. |
| Make sure you can recruit people to help out if you are planning
leadership roles. |
| Do an estimate of your strengths and weaknesses before volunteering. Avoid
becoming susceptible to overpowering influences. |
| If anything looks shady, walk away. Notify proper authorities. |
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Trust your instincts to do the right thing. Trust your six sense if
you have one. |
Word
of Wisdom: The process of recruiting volunteers needs to
be changed. In the community, there exist a plethora of
untapped volunteers. With proper training and support from
trustworthy people, volunteering may be more of a fun activity than
an intimidating process. The act of volunteering into unknown
entities was always scary for me, because I was realistically
afraid of questionable practices, twisted
ideologies, omissions, exploitation, spiritual misconduct,
Anti-American ideologies, conversionary tactics, unsound ideas,
illegal activities, hostilities, unsafe environments, legal threats
and sexual misconduct. I had no way to check out the legitimacy of
an individual or organization due to an inadequate support system.
Due to my own background and upbringing, I needed to take extra
precautions to prevent targeting from hostile influences. Some
people or groups are more prone to such unseen forces due to
cultural differences, personality traits or ignorance. It is
important to train all volunteers in crime and violence prevention,
law enforcement, social and legal skills before participating in any
groups. Prepare the volunteer for the unexpected. No person
should suffer misplaced guilt, mental anxiety or be forced into any
uncomfortable situation without proper training and support. Trust
your instincts, follow your own spiritual calling and investigate
everything. There may be legitimate reasons for not volunteering.
There is no dishonor in not volunteering. There are too many
dangers, negligent publicity, omissions, questionable practices and
games that exists out there.
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Good Samaritan Laws
Volunteering may include special volunteer service in emergency situation
which has similar thoughts to our volunteer liability discussion. These United
States laws were created to provide liability protection for people who provide
volunteer services in time of any emergency crisis free of charge.
See Good Samaritan Laws for
Further Discussion that is below this section.
Ask for help from the following resources:
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Find a professional who understands all aspects of your psyche and free of bias,
drug abuse and discriminating opinions even if it appears to be standard
procedure. Beware of educated idiots. Be careful that you are not mislead or
overpowered by
physical, mental and spiritual undue influences. |
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If you are harmed physically, emotionally and spiritually, get medical attention
or other help. |
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Talk with someone who can help such as friends, mental health professionals,
clergy or special law enforcement people. If necessary, look for counseling even if it
happen a while ago. |
| Look for written information
such as booklets. |
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Seek and Check out with extreme care:
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Continue improving your business and personal life. |
Conclusion:
Seriously, weigh the benefits against the disadvantages for volunteering. The
benefits can help a person acquire skills, make friendships, acquire confidence,
fulfill a need, help a person give back to society and other important benefits.
It is important to keep in mind that not all organizations are healthy for
volunteers. Avoid being overwhelmed by the hype for volunteerism and moral
obligation. Be
careful. If the a person feels uncomfortable with the organization and believes
that something is suspect, trust your instincts to do what is right. Know when
to say "NO". Avoid misplace guilt. Walk away and if necessary
notify law enforcement or other aid. With the problems of frivolous law suits,
questionable business practices and criminal activities,
anything can happen when one volunteers. The law gives limited protection, but
allows individuals to abuse the legal system. If there is a lawsuit, you may win
the case, but the costs of hiring a lawyer, pain and suffering is expensive; and
physically, mentally, financially and spiritually draining. Bottom line:
Volunteering needs to be carefully scrutinized and examined before committing to
a cause, organization or government entity. The disadvantages may out weigh the
benefits of volunteering. Do your homework. Everything mention can be adapted to
your situation. Nothing is set in stone. |
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These United States laws were created to provide
liability protection for people who provide volunteer services in time of
any emergency crisis free of charge. The laws encourage people to help
others in emergency situations. The law requires the "Good
Samaritan" to use good judgment, to offer assistance within their
scope of their expert training in an emergency crisis.
Things that a Good Samaritan needs to know
| It protects citizens from liability for errors and
omissions that were made in good faith. |
| The law does not protect an individual from liability
for wanton, gross or will full negligence, wrongful death or civil
rights violations. |
| It does not protect individuals from legal costs and
other associated physical, mental and spiritual damages that may
result from lawsuits or other actions. In addition, legal
interpretations, misinterpretations and federal caused of action such
as civil right violations can limit your liability protection. Courts
have created different levels of interpreting the terminology of the
statues. A person is not immune from civil liability in every crisis. |
| It does not protect the "Good Samaritan"
from lawsuits initiated by an ungrateful victim or professionals. If
the lawsuit is determined frivolous due to the interpretation of a
judge, then the person is free from liability but must pay for
services of the lawyer and other professional experts who helped win
the case. |
| Immunity protection vary from state to state in
regards to the level of assistance, professional help and
circumstances. Check out the laws within each state. If necessary,
seek legal counsel. |
| Avoid misplaced guilt about volunteering your service
to help others. |
| Avoid heroic thoughts that promote unrealistic aid.
Make sure your abilities can help. |
| Understand your limitations so appropriate help can
be given within the scope of your abilities. |
| Express your qualifications accurately. Tell them how
you acquired your skills. Tell them if your skills was the result of
self-training, college education, hands on experience, hobbies,
certified programs, book learning, life skills or God. |
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Help
whenever possible but keep these things in mind. Sometimes, we must
help because no other help is available at the present time. In these
case, a prayer may help. |
Obtaining
Consent is priority if the victim is conscious:
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First State your name |
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Tell the individual your
training |
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Ask the person if you can
help |
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Explain what you believe is
wrong and how you can solve the problem. |
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If the person refuses
assistance, do not give help. Call 9-1-1, if appropriate. |
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It the person is
unconscious, disoriented and unable to take care of themselves, then
the consent is implied and aid should be given. Implied consent means
that the person would give consent if one could. |
Conclusion:
Our society has created a hostile environment in offering aid, advice
and assistance. It can become very difficult to help someone due to the
fear of retaliation or negligence. To make sure, we do what is just and
right, the person should take into consideration all the facts before
proceeding. Please keep in mind that helping others usually results in
proper help, rewards, respect, praise and a better society, but there are
number of cases that results in lawsuits and condemnation. Good Samaritan
laws were created to encourage help in emergency situations and provide
liability protection for those people who provide proper service free from
will full negligence. The best advice I can give is provide proper
qualification when required, assist where you can and aid where you must.
By understanding benefits and complications accompanying the Good
Samaritan laws, the person will be able to preserve one’s physical,
mental, financial and spiritual health. Saving people and other valuables
is a reward in itself. Be careful. |
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