❖ Heads up! This article is intended for Agency Managers. If you're a Site Manager, click here.
You and your Site Managers can use Sterling Volunteers to complete background checks on volunteers 18 years of age or older before they respond to a Need!
ⓘ So you know:
- Not all sites have Sterling Volunteer.
- Please contact your Site Manager if you're interested in using Sterling Volunteers!
- The volunteer must be 18 or older to initiate a background check with Sterling Volunteers.
- If a volunteer hasn't completed a required background check before responding to a Need, they're routed to Sterling Volunteers when they try to respond to one.
- You, the Site Manager, and the volunteer receive the background check results within 4 to 48 hours.
- Background checks cannot be completed for Team responses.
- When you add a Sterling background check to a Need, users won't be able to respond to it as a team.
Here we cover:
- How to set up Sterling Volunteers
- How to review background check results
- Disabling Sterling Volunteers on a Need
- The volunteer perspective
How to set up Sterling Volunteers
We must enable Sterling Volunteers on the site your Agency is registered with. Please contact your Site Manager to discuss enabling Sterling Volunteers for your Agency. They're your first point of contact for anything involving the site they manage and oversee.
What to do when Sterling Volunteers is enabled
Once your Site Manager has enabled Sterling Volunteers for your Agency, you can then require background checks for specific Needs. You can require a background check on newly created Needs or enable it for existing Needs.
1. Go to the Needs area of your Agency Manager dashboard. 
- To create a new Need, click Add New Need.
- To edit an existing Need, click the Need title from the table or the Edit button under the Need title.
- The following steps assume that the Need is an existing one, but the option for enabling this feature is in the same spot on the form whether it's a new Need or not.
2. Scroll until you see Require Background Check?—it's located under the Duration field.
3. Use the Select Package dropdown to make your selection.
- To learn more about available Sterling Volunteer packages, please visit Sterling Volunteers or contact their support at theadvocate@sterlingvolunteers.com.
4. Continue to apply any additional necessary edits to the Need as applicable.
- If you're creating a new Need, go ahead and finish setting it up.
5. When you're ready, click the Update Need button.
- If you're creating a new Need, then click the Create Need button when you're ready.
✅ Best practice: It's a good idea to check the box beside Notify respondents of this update?, especially if the Need already has volunteer responses. 
ⓘ So you know: The Allow Team Registration option goes away when you opt to require background checks.
How to review background check results
You can review background check results from the Sterling Volunteers tab of your agency manager dashboard. 
From here you can: 
- Export your background check results to a CSV.
- Access the Sterling Volunteers account.
- Check the status of submitted background checks.
Background check statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending | The volunteer has initiated the background check and can't return to the Need response form until they've passed the background check
|
| New | A volunteer has submitted their background check but it hasn't been reviewed by Sterling's system yet |
| Clear | The volunteer has been cleared for the background check but has not yet been marked as eligible to respond
|
| Eligible | The volunteer is approved and can complete the Need response form |
| Ineligible | The volunteer isn't approved and can't complete the Need response form
|
| Consider | You must log in to Sterling Volunteers to review the volunteer
|
| Expired | The background check has expired and the volunteer must re-submit their background check information before responding to needs that require that background check |
| Adjudicated | The background check is complete and results are coming soon |
Overriding a result
Did someone enter information incorrectly when completing their background check? No worries! We know mistakes happen! If this happens and you want to allow the volunteer to re-accomplish the background check, contact your Site Manager to have them request an override from us.
Expiration dates
You can set the duration for how long you want to honor a volunteer's background check.
1. Go to the Starling Volunteers area of your Agency Manager dashboard.
2. Using the dropdown, select how long you wish to honor background checks. You can select:
- 1, 2, or 3 Years
- 18 Months
- Forever
3. Click Submit when you're ready. 
ⓘ So you know: Once the expiration date is reached, the volunteer must complete the background check again.
Disabling Sterling Volunteers on a Need
Want to remove required background checks from a Need? No problem!
1. Go to Needs.
2. Select the Need you wish to disable background checks for.
3. Scroll to the Require Background Checks? field and select Select Package.
4. Click Update Need.
- The field for allowing team registration reappears on the Update Need form.
The volunteer perspective
The Sterling Volunteers logo is displayed on your Need cards when a volunteer visits the site. 
- It also appears by the Need title when they click on View Details.
- They're taken to a Background Check page when they click Respond for that Need.
- After they complete this information and click Submit Background Info., they're taken to the Sterling Volunteers' site to complete the rest of the background check.
- For more information about the process from here, please contact Sterling Volunteers:
- Email: theadvocates@sterlingvolunteers.com
- Phone: (855) 326-1860, Option 3
- For more information about the process from here, please contact Sterling Volunteers:
