	Human Resources Management

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-HR 3: Recruitment and Selection*

The agency hires enough qualified personnel to meet the demand for services.

Note: This standard also applies to independent contractors.

PA-HR 3.01

Job descriptions and selection criteria:

state the qualifications, essential functions, responsibilities for each position or group of like positions, and job expectations;
include sensitivity to the service population’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics; and
are reviewed and updated regularly.

Interpretation: As part of the review process, the agency evaluates the skills, education, and experience relevant to the programs, consumer needs, and specific services provided, as well as qualifications or credentials required.

PA-HR 3.02

Recruitment and selection procedures include:

notifying personnel of available positions;
verifying references and credentials of personnel and independent contractors;
providing applicants with a written job description;
giving final candidates the opportunity to speak with currently-employed personnel;
retaining hiring records in accordance with legal requirements; and
using standard interview questions that comply with employment and labor laws.

Interpretation: Credentials include education, training, relevant experience, competence in required role, recommendations of peers and former employers, and state registration, licensing, or certification for the respective disciplines, if any.

The retention of hiring records, which can include postings or other advertisements, applications, and interview notes, shows consistency in recruitment and hiring decisions, and protects the agency in the event of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or related complaint. For more information about retaining hiring records, please see the Retention of Employment Records Tip Sheet in the Tools Index.

PA-HR 3.03

Screening procedures include appropriate, legally permissible, and mandated reviews of state criminal history records and civil child abuse and neglect registries for new employees, consultants, independent contractors, volunteers, and student interns who will:

work in residential programs;
provide direct services to, or be alone with, children, the elderly, or other persons determined by the agency to be vulnerable or at risk; or
work with sensitive or confidential information such as personnel files and case records.

Update: Revised Standard, Revised Note - 12/01/10

PA-HR 3.03 Original Standard and Note:

Screening procedures for new employees, contractors, and direct service volunteers include appropriate, legally permissible, and mandated reviews of state criminal history records and civil child abuse and neglect registries to determine the appropriateness of hiring prospective personnel who will:

work in residential programs; or
provide direct services to children, the elderly, or other persons determined by the agency to be vulnerable or at risk.

Note: Agencies providing OST services should see PA-OST 12.06 for specifics regarding the background checks that should be conducted for that service.

Interpretation: The agency should not use criminal history records to deny employment to qualified individuals unless the nature of the conviction is related to the job duties. The agency should consult with legal counsel about any concerns regarding the appropriate use of background information.

The agency is not required to conduct background checks for licensed staff if the agency has verified that background checks are conducted as part of the licensing process. The agency should assess whether there is any risk associated with not conducting background checks on staff not expressly addressed in the standard and consult with legal counsel, as appropriate. The requirements do not apply to current employees and contractors or to agencies with which the agency contracts for services

Note: Agencies providing OST services should see PA-OST 12.06 for specifics regarding the background checks that should be conducted for that service.

For more information, please see CLARIFICATION: Volunteers, Consultants and Interns Standards.

PA-HR 3.04

An agency that recruits and selects personnel with specific cultural traits or other characteristics establishes that such selectivity is:

legally permissible;
reviewed and approved by the agency's senior management, where one exists; and
appropriately considered a bona fide occupational qualification.

Interpretation: When recruitment and hiring criteria include consideration of specific protected characteristics, such as gender, religion, and national origin, the agency should seek legal advice as to whether these characteristics are bona fide occupational qualifications that are critical to the agency's normal operation.

NA The agency does not recruit and select personnel with specific cultural traits or other characteristics.

PA-HR 3.05

Agencies that use volunteers to provide direct services specify their roles and responsibilities and how they will be supervised.

NA The agency does not use volunteers to provide direct services.

PA-HR 3.06

The network has a uniform and fairly applied credentialing process that assesses and confirms the qualifications of licensed independent contractors/providers who provide network services and are not employed by a member or community partner that includes:

verification of licensure, education and other relevant training and board certification, where applicable;
experience delivering services to the populations served by the network;
the professional judgment of at least three peer professional references with regard to competence and prior satisfactory levels of performance;
information about pending challenges, provisional status, or previous suspensions or denials of licenses to practice;
publicly available information or official information regarding professional liability actions and litigation relevant to the provision of network services; and
information about prior involuntary termination, reduction of professional staff privileges, or discharge from professional employment obtained from prior staff affiliations or employers.

NA The agency is not a network management entity.

PA-HR 3.07

The network verifies that personnel of network partners and network provider agencies who provide clinical services to network clients:

possess relevant licenses and/or credentials; and
are receiving appropriate supervision.

NA All partner and subcontracting provider organizations are accredited by COA or a COA-recognized accrediting body.

NA The agency is not a network management entity.

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	PURPOSE: A stable, qualified workforce contributes effectively and efficiently to consumer satisfaction and positive service delivery results.

RELATED FILES


	CONSUMER The individual, family, group, or community that seeks or receives services.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR An independently employed individual who contracts with an organization to do a piece of work according to his/her own methods and is subject to an employer's control only as to end product or final result of the work, not as to the means whereby it is to be accomplished.


	JOB DESCRIPTION Explicit obligations and specific tasks required of personnel as a condition of employment. Such descriptions are in writing and may include educational, experiential, and skill requirements associated with the job.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	SERVICE POPULATION A group or target population that the organization's services are designed to serve in accord with its mission, and which includes the organization's service recipients. An organization's service population may be defined by geographic location, specific problems or needs, religion, ethnicity, culture, or other factors.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	BACKGROUND CHECK The review of an individual's personal information typically performed by or at the request of an employer, which may include verification of educational credentials or employment experience, as well as an examination of the individual's criminal records, driving records, licensing records, and civil abuse or neglect history.


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	CONTRACT A formal written agreement between two or more parties that specifies the services, space, or products to be provided in exchange for some form of compensation. Also known as "purchase of service arrangement."


	SENIOR MANAGEMENT Employees who assume administrative oversight for the organization's programs. Senior management positions may include vice presidents, chief operating officers, assistant commissioners, directors, or other positions that involve management of program administration. The term does not include supervisors of direct service workers.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	CERTIFICATION Assurance from a state or professional association that a person or organization possesses certain attributes, knowledge, or skills.


	PERFORMANCE A measure of how well an organizational system provides services to consumers. Performance is often based on key indicators, such as rates of service, cost per consumer, degree of satisfaction with services, and extent of consumer access to services.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	CLINICAL The study, assessment, and diagnosis of the client situation followed by direct treatment to help the client achieve prescribed goals.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.