Staff Certification and Verification

Why is This Important? 

Maintaining current staff certification is essential to ensuring the proper care and treatment of our clients.  Standard procedures for certifications are established to ensure Dawn Farm remains in compliance with certification requirements for all applicable staff.

Ingredients-what do I need to get Started?

• Relias Platform 

• New Employee Completed  Employment Application

• New Employee Drivers license 

Timeframe-about how long will this take?

• 15 Minutes

Contacts-Who do I need to let know:

• Human Resources - Meghan Hunt (mhunt@dawnfarm.org) 

• Project MAnager - AJ (ajleath@dawnfarm.org) 

Steps-what do I do?

• For onboarding

1. Forward a copy of New Staff’s Employment Application and photo ID to Human resources for: 

• Criminal History Background check via OTIS, iChat and the Michigan Sex Offender Registry. 

• Motor vehicles record check via current Automobile Insurer.

2. Forward copy of New Staff’s Employment Application to Project Manager to: 

• Set up Account in our Relias Platform based on Employees positions and credentials. This will automatically alert staff and program coordinator when courses and/or certifications are within 1 month of expiring.  

3. Forward Copies of any current Certificates or Licenses New Employee may already  have to Project Manager to adjust any Relias due dates if necessary. 

If a prospective employee has a criminal record, all documentation is sent to the Clinical Director and/or President for review.  Depending on the nature of the crimes, the prospective employee may be asked a series of restorative questions.  If the responses are sufficient and demonstrate that the prospective employee has worked to make amends for their crimes, the Dawn Farm Clinical Director and/or President will sign off on the criminal history reports.

Employees must meet specific criteria determined by our insurer to do any driving on behalf of Dawn Farm, in both Dawn Farm vehicles and personal vehicles.  If an employee does not meet the insurer's driving requirements, a note is made and the employee is barred from driving for official Dawn Farm business until the requirements set forth by the insurer are met.

• For Re-Certifications

Criminal background checks and motor vehicle background checks are conducted annually by the Human Resources Director for all Dawn Farm employees.  If any new information is presented on the reports, it is shared with the Clinical Director and/or President, and a meeting is scheduled with the employee to discuss.  It is also a Dawn Farm policy that employees notify Dawn Farm management immediately regarding pending criminal charges or motor vehicle driving infractions or accidents.

Expiration dates for courses and certifications vary. Some are Annual, Every 2 years, Every 4 years...etc. The Relias Platform keeps track of certification expiration dates for each staff member using the date of their last Course Completion or Certificate Received. Alerts are sent to each staff and their program coordinator so that re-certification can be completed prior to expiration. The Relias Platform also allows for uploading and or downloading certificates.