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NYC: What Screeners Need to Know

NYC Screener Cheat Sheet

o   Bronx: Bronx Leadership Academy II (BLA2), Marble Hill School of International Studies (MHSIS), Bronx Academy for Software Engineering (BASE), Bronx High School for Law and Community Service (BXLAW), The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology (LAB)

o   Brooklyn: Lyons Community High School at Lafayette (LYONS), International High School at Lafayette (IHSL) 

o   Manhattan: Union Square Academy for Health Sciences (USA), Business of Sports School (BOSS), Frederick Douglas Academy II (FDA2), Academy of Software Engineering (AFSE), Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women (UA), Hudson High School of Learning Technologies

o  Queens: Info Tech High School

  • Our New York City schools are part of the NYC Department of Education (NYDOE).
  • Some of our NYC partnered schools have an educational focus such as software engineering, law, finance and international studies.
  • NYC is on Eastern Time which is one hour ahead of Chicago.
  • NYC has 4-year matches: 11th and 12th grade of high school and the optionall first 2 years of college/post-secondary pursuits .
  • NYC mentor applicants are asked if their schedules will support a monthly meeting that can occur between Monday through Thursday from 6pm-8pm EST.
  • During the interview, screeners need to confirm applicant’s home and work addresses as well as accessible train lines and weekday conflicts.
  • Screeners will ask applicants if they are willing to be matched with a 12th grader for a 2-year match if the Volunteer Engagement Team relays the need.
  • NYC has two teams that work with mentors along with the screening team.

o   NYC Volunteer Engagement Team: Responsible for recruiting mentors and signing them up for orientation. Once a mentor has completed the screening process and await a potential match, the Volunteer Engagement Team will answer any questions and reach out to mentor about networking opportunities via a monthly email.

o   NYC Program Operations Team: Ensures that all preferences, Mentor Together info and other key points of the application that is included in consideration of matching is up to date. Will reach to the Associate Director of Mentor Screening for any clarification on applicants. Responsible for creating match lists and pools for each school that will allow Program Managers to have a set of mentors to match with students.

BACKGROUND CHECK PROCESS

  • NYC applicants begin this process by completing  an electronic background check release form. Their information will be added into the GoPass database (PETS). Applicants will then fill out one more form for GoPass and schedule their appointment using the Identogo Scheduling Link.  This link is also provided via the invitation email from GoPass after an applicant is added into PETS. IdentoGo are storefronts located all over NYC and the tri-state area where iMentor volunteers go for fingerprinting.
  • Applicants will visit the one of the many locations Identogo provides for fingerprinting.  
  • Once applicants are fingerprinted through GoPass, it can take up to two weeks for their results to come back to us There are several statuses that we receive from GoPass. Each status requires a different course of action.

o   Fingerprinted: This status is manually updated by the screener after they receive confirmation of fingerprinting from the applicant. No further action is needed unless the applicant has not completed their online forms. Our Volunteer Background Manager will reach out to you if this course of action is needed.

o   Reprint Needed: If an applicant receives this status, they will need to be rescheduled for the next available date to be reprinted. This status is manually updated by the Regional Screening Manager

o   Pending Investigation: No initial further action is needed on the screener’s end. GoPass will reach out to the applicant and provide them with next steps.  Screener action is only needed if the applicant has not responded to GoPass. The screener will send an email template in the Salesforce widget (NYC: Pending Investigation Check in) to the applicant  ten days after they have been in a status of Pending Investigation- this will urge the applicant to respond to the DOE with whatever additional information is required. This status is manually updated by the Regional Screening Manager. 

o   Background Check Approved: This status indicates that a mentor has cleared the fingerprint process and can volunteer with children.

  • There are several background check contacts at the DOE. Screeners don’t email them directly but go through Stephanie Serrano, [email protected], NYC's Volunteer Screening Manager, who compiles a list of inquiries about applicants each week. Screeners can add these inquiries to this Box document entitled GoPass Weekly Follow Ups.
  • NYC pulls reports from GoPass every Monday, Wednesday and Friday [on a daily cadence during the busy season]. Screeners should check their open apps list views in Salesforce for updates on those days.
  • If an applicant has been previously fingerprinted through the DOE, they will still need to be fingerprinted. Although GoPass is part of the DOE, it is a different process than the general DOE fingerprinting. 
  • If a mentor applicant has stated that they have been previously fingerprinted through GoPass, they will still need to hand in a completed background check form. The screener will inform the NYC Screening Manager, and that person will update their status once it has been verified through PETS, the GoPass database.

PRE-ORIENTATION TASKS

  • Check the campaign for orientation RSVP numbers periodically on the day of orientation. 
  • Make sure orientation captain duties are covered – all screeners should know how to perform that function for the regional captains in a pinch. 
  • The NYC Volunteer Engagement Team owns the orientation campaign and will update attendance on the day of orientation.  
  • Designate alternate orientation captain and train/be-trained in day after orientation duties if captain will be out of office. 

POST-ORIENTATION WORK FLOW

  • The orientation captain will go through the list of attendees to make sure that everyone on the list were marked as “attended” in the campaign. 
  • The orientation captain delegates creation of Walk-in apps based on screener that mentor applicant signed up for. The walk-in application process is detailed here. 
  • The orientation captain will cross reference interview sign-ups with campaign attendance and place mentor applicants to a designated screener.
  • Screeners will attach the walk-in applications to their respective orientation campaign record until the applicant’s completed application is uploaded.  
  • The Orientation Captain will send a detailed post-orientation notes located in the campaign to the Screening Team and NYC Mentor Engagement Team
  • Screeners will send the SAC Day After or SAI/Walk-in Day After emails from Salesforce. 
  • Screeners will also send reference emails.
  • Review all definitions, references in their ownership and check for criminal/personal disclosures and chatter notify the Associate Director of Mentor Screening as needed. 

DAILY NYC SPECIFIC CHECKLIST

  • Check your walk-in apps twice daily for completed applications. You can check for new incoming completed application on our Dashboard or through the SF-notifications channel in Slack. 
  • Make sure that the applications of all who attended orientation are linked to the right Salesforce campaign. 
  • Ensure that all interview CalendlyAction events are synced properly to their respective mentor application. 
  • Ensure that updates in an applicant’s background check approval, adjustments to definitions, preference and mentor together changes, and changes to contact information are updated in real time. 
  • Record all key correspondence and status updates in Activity History or the Background Check Notes field in Salesforce with the date and your initials. This ensures that other staff can glance at an application and know exactly what’s happening with an applicant. 
  • Send reference reminder emails every 2 days. After three reminder attempts, screeners should manually reach out to the reference. If reference is non-responsive after manually reaching out twice, contact the mentor applicant to provide a new reference in substitution of the non-responsive reference.  
  • Automated Go Pass reminder emails are sent two days before a scheduled Go Pass events to mentors scheduled for that date. 
  • Automated Go Pass Fingerprinting Instructions emails are sent after the applicant has been added into PETS.
  • As interviews and references are completed, make sure that match notes, and are pasted in the appropriate fields on Platform in real time. 

ASK QUESTIONS TO FELLOW SCREENERS AND MANAGERS AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED – IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO ASK! 

NYC POINTS OF CONTACT-