Volunteer

HELP MAKE A CHANGE

We are always looking for volunteers to help us maintain and update the facilities on our 55 acre property.

If you’re interested in helping, please fill out the volunteer form below. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Jessica Alvarez at [email protected]

From Steve Fournier, Executive Director:

Welcome and thank you for your contribution and support. We appreciate that you put your own time aside to help our at-risk youth. We realize that it is a lot of work becoming a volunteer but the key to our success rests in people like you.

After clicking on “Start now” further down this page, you will find a fillable online packet. Please make sure all of the documents on the checklist are included when you submit the packet. We understand that some people are going through hardship and it may be difficult to pay for the costs of the TB test or fingerprinting. If you are in need of a reimbursement please let us know and we will be happy to help. In order to get reimbursed we require a receipt of payment. If you live in this area here are some good places to get your TB test done: the RediClinic inside HEB, Walgreens or at your doctors office.

It is also required that you participate in our Volunteer Orientation. The class is held on an as needed basis, taking into account your schedule and the trainers. This orientation teaches a safe non-harmful behavior management system designed to help provide the best possible care, welfare, safety and security for our residents.

We look forward to working with you to create a wonderful experience for our kids and appreciate that you are putting your time and effort into helping us grow.

Rules for Volunteers:

Volunteers must be trained on reporting any suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Volunteers must be trained on confidentiality.
Volunteers who perform the same function as an employee must have documentation that they have received the same training as the employee performing that function.
All volunteers must maintain appropriate dress and behavior while with the children. Provocative dress, cursing, off-color jokes, inappropriate displays of affection are not permitted. Certainly, we have fun, but in good taste. Affection is a good thing, but physically minimal. We condone side hugs if a hug is in order. We condone a pat on the back. We do not want a child to misperceive our intentions. Some children are hesitant to touch. Some children do not have any boundaries about touch. YOU must set the boundaries in this area. You must be direct and let them know if they are initiating touch with which you are not comfortable. You must be sensitive to their needs in this area. Please remember that they likely did not grow up with adults who taught them about appropriate touch. Please do not be hesitant to have this conversation with them if a situation arises.
State law prohibits smoking in the car while a foster child is in the car. All volunteers that transport children should give a copy of their drivers license and insurance to someone in the office. Seat belts must be worn at all times. Motor vehicle laws must be followed. It is rare that a volunteer will transport a child.
We strictly forbid alcohol and tobacco use around our children.
Any high-risk activity must have written permission from the Executive Director and Managing Conservator before the child’s participation. This would be activities such as, but not limited to, horseback riding, motorbike riding, four-wheeling, swimming, boating, repelling, hunting, archery, trampolines. During the ride commonly called “the moonwalk”, the state says only one child at a time during moonwalks.
Any time that a child leaves with a volunteer, there should not be a time when they are alone with the child. There should be either two adults available or there should be two children available. If you are visiting a child on campus, you must be in an area which is easily observed by staff. Never one-on- one interactions that are not visible to others.
Supervision for children from Pathfinders treatment program should be constant. Children should not go to the bathroom with others are in the bathroom. Activities in which there are other children participating should be constantly supervised. This is not because our children are bad children, it is because they have typically not learned appropriate boundaries.
Typically, there will be no instances where the child is taken to the personal home of the volunteer or their family members. This can only occur under very special circumstances with the written approval of the Executive Director.
Please do not give the child gifts unless you have discussed it with the Executive Director or Case Manager. Gift giving is great but we have some limitations on such practices due to the nature of our program. On the other hand, special gifts from a special person is often nurturing. We simply want to have good communication so that we can achieve the right balance based on the child’s best interest.
During any time spent with a child, volunteers and sponsor families are requested to see themselves as a contributing member of our efforts to help the child. There may be times when you see or hear things that might be disturbing to you. You may walk in during a child’s restraint. You may walk in just after a child was confronted on an issue and he feels that he was wrongly disciplined. The child may confide in you and tell you that he needs to leave because of a number of reasons. You must always remember that things are not always as they appear. You must make a commitment that you will discuss your concerns with either the Program Director, Case Manager, or Executive Director regarding anything that just doesn’t feel right. Often, you will discover that the facts are very different than you might have thought. We invite this feedback. Please refrain from discussing your concerns with the boys, but instead make note of your concerns and discuss them openly with our team members. We are dedicated to doing the right thing.
Please keep in mind that your role as a volunteer is about meeting the needs of the child. There will be times when you make plans for the child to attend some event with you and you will call to confirm at the last minute only to learn that he is not going to be able to go with you. You must understand that, while we are wanting the child to gain valuable relationships and experiences while here, we must always do what we think is in the child’s best interest. Your relationship with the child and the things that you do together is special because he does not have to share you with any of the other boys. He does not have to have his behavior graded on and hour by hour basis by you. You simply like him because he is who he is.
Volunteers that regularly spend time with the children will be required to have a clear criminal history on file and a negative TB test. They will be required to attend orientation. Volunteers may not take children off campus unless the visit is approved by the Treatment Director, Program Director, or Executive Director. At all times, Volunteers are required to avoid any situation in which a child is alone with an adult in a private setting.
Independent financial relationships between employees and other employees, contract service providers, children in placement, volunteers and children’s families must be approved by the Executive Director in writing. This pertains to instances such as adults selling or buying items to or from the children or their families in care, any adult having a child or child’s family member do work for them that is for the adult’s personal interest (like yard work at the adult’s property or having the child’s family member provide a professional or non-professional service). Basically, this policy pertains to any independent exchange of money, or barter, or goods, or services between any of the above mentioned persons.
It is expected that all employees and volunteers of The Burke Foundation treat one another with respect.

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