Over the years, the Florence Township Recreation programs have benefited greatly from the efforts of parents, siblings and community members that have volunteered to participate as Coaches. Teaching fundamentals and sportsmanship are key values that are acquired during the recreation years. Many of our volunteers even walked these same fields as youths and learned the same from similar individuals, where now they too have the opportunity to pass on those experiences.
In order to participate as a volunteer coach, or to have any contact with players on the playing fields, an individual must submit and complete a Background Check process. By visiting the Florence Township Recreation website, you may follow the tabs and enter your personal information, so that a fingerprinting application may be prepared by the Township Recreation Director. Once paperwork has been prepared, you will be alerted that the fingerprinting form and instruction page to set up an appointment to have your fingerprinting scheduled are awaiting your pick up from the Clerks Office window at 711 Broad Street, Florence NJ 08518.
FINGERPRINTING
(If you are volunteering to participate in a "recreation" activity, then the township does cover the fees associated with the fingerprinting process. The Money Order is made payable to the fingerprinting facility and would be provided to them at the time of appointment. Individuals must pay the associated fingerprinting fee out of pocket, however will be scheduled for reimbursement by the township upon the township receiving a receipt of payment issued by the fingerprinting center. In the event, you are unable to schedule an appointment for fingerprinting, or decide that you are unable to volunteer for coaching at the present time, you are required to notify the recreation department in a timely manner.)
APPROVALS, ISSUING OF ID BADGE & DENIALS
Upon completion of the fingerprinting portion, you will be provided a receipt stating that you have completed that phase and will be issued a PCN Number. Please return that receipt to the township to be attached to your file. In the event that the 2nd part of the background check process is delayed, we will be able to use that number to locate your records and hopefully remedy whatever may be the cause for the delay. The next step in the process is where the fingerprinting facility forwards the request to the New Jersey State Police, where the background check is completed. Once the State Police have closed out their findings, a letter is generated and forwarded to the Florence Township Recreation Department, noting the results of the background check. Upon Approval, the recreation department will provide to the individual the original copy of the State of New Jersey letter, a Florence Township letter identifying the approval and providing information relating to the terms of the approval, as well as an ID Badge to be worn during the participation in any recreation sports activity. The Volunteer Coaching Badge remain current for a period of Three (3) years. During that time, an individual may contact the league President of any recreation sport to inquire if there is a need for a volunteer coach. You may also speak with head coaches of the programs to offer assistance in the event a head coaching position is either not available or not of interest to you.
Under some circumstances, the fingerprinting center may report to our office that there was a problem with the fingerprinting. In that event, an individual is asked to reschedule the appointment and must return to the fingerprinting site to submit new prints. There is no additional cost associated with this process.
In the event, a background check in Declined, the original letter from the New Jersey State Police is provided, along with a letter from Florence Township providing further information if an individual would like to further discuss the findings with the State Police. In those circumstances, an individual may request from the New Jersey State Police a copy of their Criminal Background Report. The New Jersey State Police will mail this information to the individual (Not the Municipal Recreation Department). Once received, the individual will have the ability to speak with the State Police office to discuss what item(s) may have cause the disqualification for volunteer coaching in the recreation sports program(s). If an individual has interest in pursuing an expungement of a record, then they would be required to on their own seek assistance from legal council. The Township Recreation Department is not privy to specific reasons for a disqualification and beyond providing the appropriate documents, would have no role moving forward, unless an individual was able to provide sufficient documentation that a record was expunged. Only then would the recreation department be in a position to provide additional background check paperwork to restart the volunteer coaching application process.
If anyone is interested in volunteering to coach in the Florence Township Recreation Sports Program(s), please visit the Florence Township Recreation Department website to fill out the background check inquiry, or visit our office @ 711 Broad Street, Florence, NJ 08518 to fill out a paper application.