SignMeUp DBS Process

When a volunteer registers to help at one of your events the SgnMeUp system will automatically decide if this volunteer requires a DBS check or not and then ask them relevant questions.

There are four main steps to go through:

1. Does the volunteer need a check?

2. Answering the DBS questions in the registration form

3. Completing the DBS form

4. Completing the document check and submitting the form for processing

Step one - does the volunteer require a DBS check?

If the volunteer is under the age set by your organisation to have a DBS check, or they have offered to do a role which does not require a DBS check (if they offer to do multiple roles the system will look to see if any roles require a check, then they will not be asked to provide any DBS details.

If they are old enough for a DBS check and have offered to do at least one role which requires a DBS check and they already have a saved check of a sufficient level then they will be show the following message:

‘Based on the details provided, you will need a Disclosure & Barring Services (DBS) check to help at this event, but we’ve already got a DBS in progress, so there is nothing further to do at the moment’

If they are old enough for a DBS check and have offered to do at least one role which requires a DBS check and they do not currently have a saved check of a sufficient level (maybe they have a saved enhanced check but the role they have selected requires an enhanced check with barred list) then they will be showing this message:

‘Based on the details provided, you will need a Disclosure & Barring Services (DBS) check to help at this event. You can read more about what a DBS check is by reading this government article. If you  already have a DBS certificate, we may be able to accept this. Otherwise, we will need to request a new DBS check for you. (Please note: the cost of the DBS check is covered by [Your Organisation]).’

They will then be asked if they live in the UK.  The reason for this is a DBS check can only be conducted on a UK resident.  If they answer no to this question they will not have to complete any further DBS questions.  Their application will be flagged so the admin team can conduct their own further safeguarding checks and mitigations.

If they answer that they do live in the UK they will then be taking through a series of questions to determine if they have already have a DBS check which might be used.

Step Two - answering the DBS questions in the registration form

If a volunteer answers that they do live in the UK they will then be asked if they have a current DBS check.  

If they do not have one within the validity period they will be informed they will need a new check, and will be given a link to complete this once they have submitted their form.

If they say they do have a valid check then they will either be asked if it has been issued by your organisation or asked to provide details.  

If your organisation is not set to accept DBS checks from other organisations the volunteer will be asked if the check has been issued by your organisation.  If they answer no then they will be told they need to complete a new check.  If they answer yes then they will be prompted to complete the certificate details.

If your organisation is set to accept certificates from other organisations then they will be prompted to complete the certificate details.  They will only be able to select a certificate type which is equal to, or higher than the level required for their role.  So, as can been seen below, only enhanced with barring list is shown as an option because the role this volunteer has selected requires a DBS check of this level.

If they say that the certificate is registered with the update service then SignMeUp will conduct a real time check of the update service when the volunteer clicks to move to the next section.  If the certificate cannot be found on the update service they will receive this message:

Step Three - completing the DBS identify form

If a volunteer has not been able to provide valid DBS certificate details in the above steps then they will be told they need to complete a new check, 

Once their form is submitted they will be given a link so they can complete the DBS form straight away.  

If they are unable to complete the form straight away the link will have been emailed to them, and will also be available in the ‘My Events’ section.  If they do not complete the form straight away they will receive a reminder email 2 hours later and then two further reminder emails, each a week apart.

Initially the volunteer will be asked to give the details of the three documents they plan to present at their identity check.  They will be able to choose from a drop down menu.  They will only be able to provide documents to allow them to proceed through Route 1 of the DBS checking process as detailed in the Government guidance.

They will then be guided through a series of questions in different sections

Once they have completed the form, and submitted it a list of document checkers will be displayed and they will be told they need to contact one of these people to arrange an in person document check.  These details will be sent to the volunteer via email.  Two reminder emails to complete their document check will be sent a week apart, a week after the initial submission of the form. If after a couple of weeks the volunteer has still failed to complete their DBS form then someone from the organisation will need to contact them directly to prompt them to complete it.  It is up to the organisation to decide if this is a main administrator or the document checkers.

Step Four - completing the document check and submitting the form for processing

Any volunteer who has needed to complete a DBS check for your event will have the DBS application status (see guidance to DBS statuses for further infomration) of ‘Required (processing)’.  In the volunteer application you can click on the ‘DBS’ tab and you will be able to see how far the application has progressed by clicking on the ‘manage’ button

Once the volunteer has completed their form you will be able to see that the DBS check status becomes ‘Awaiting admin approval’ from 'Awaiting volunteer identify info'.  Click on the view button will take you to the form.

The document checker will need to ensure that the form has been completed correctly, check the given details against the provided documents.  Any errors can be changed by editing the form.  If the provided documents don’t match the ones stated these can also be edited, as long as the documents provided still meet the Route 1 requirements.

The document checker will need to state which details have been verified, complete the declaration and then either save or submit the document for processing (if credit spend has already been approved).

Once the form has been submitted to APCS for processing the volunteer will be sent an email inviting them to register the certificate on the update service.  All the details they need to do this will be included in the email.

At the top of the management area there are two buttons - one to approve the credit spend for the DBS check and one to cancel the check (this might be wanted if the volunteer withdraws their application or provides details of an existing check which were not entered when they registered).

More detailed instructions of completing document checkers can be found in ‘Guidance for document checkers’.