PERI Releases Citizen Corps Volunteer Liability Guide
Pat Skinner
10/6/2009
The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI) has developed, with FEMA funding, the Citizen Corps Volunteer Liability Guide to provide an overview of liability issues and to suggest some approaches to addressing liability.
The following is an excerpt from the PERI article:
PERI found that while there is substantial liability protection available to disaster volunteers in many states, the challenge is to find it and interpret it, as protection differs greatly from state to state. The publication’s goal is to empower stakeholders in the disaster volunteer community to understand what protection is available to them and to make the most of it.
The Guide is now complete and is available for free download online at http://www.citizencorps.gov/councils/volunteer_mgmt.shtm. The Guide includes a manual that discusses how liability issues affect disaster volunteers, sources and limitations of liability protection for disaster volunteers, risk management in a disaster volunteer program, and using and improving state law to address disaster volunteer liability. Appendices include volunteer liability checklists and a guide to finding state statutes and bills online.