UTSC paramedical students in the joint program with Centennial College are at risk of delaying their field placements as regulatory changes in criminal record checks create setbacks.
Students are required to complete placements in areas including paramedicine, social work, and nursing. Working in these areas requires vulnerable sector verification to confirm that individuals are free of crimes such as sexual assault.
“Personally, I am at risk of losing or at least significantly delaying my field placement. I have yet to receive my record check back despite the Toronto Police Service stating I would have my form by last week,” said Justin Pears, a paramedicine student waiting for his clearance forms to arrive.
Pears said he applied for his record check at the beginning of July after calling [Toronto Police Service] to ask how long it would take to obtain the document. “The individual I spoke with told me it would be four to six weeks.”
Students were asked to have their records before September 9 but dated after August 1. This requirement, according to Pears, made things tricky. “Many of the students in my program are in the same boat and without the form, we can’t do any field work. This makes obtaining our hours required to complete the program far more difficult and strenuous.”
Previously, third-party agencies were permitted to do vulnerable sector checks; but following regulation change in March to make the procedure more rigorous, processing submissions has been restricted to the RCMP. Authorities were concerned that the old system created a loophole for pardoned sex offenders to get clear checks under a new name.
According to the RCMP’s website, vulnerable sector checks could take up to 120 days to obtain. Before processing submissions, criminal files must be updated, the nature of any outstanding changes probed, and accordance with the Criminal Records Act ensured.
Further delay occurs if an individual has the same gender and date of birth as an existing pardoned sex offender.
“Students are getting caught in between different organizations with their own issues with clearance checks,” said Walter Tavares, the paramedicine program supervisor at Centennial.
“The problem for paramedicine students at the moment is that there is a disconnect (intentional or not) between the service provider, Ministry of Education, and the placement agencies who are governed by the Ministry of Health.”
Students were notified about the delay in the new system and were advised to apply in July. But some students applied even earlier. “I haven’t really been affected by this change because I sent my police record check mid-June and got it back in eight weeks,” said another paramedicine student Sev Nampi.
The Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at St. George campus has also experienced some delays. Although students who applied in July probably have their results by now, dean of field education Eileen McKee said those who don’t yet have their records are meanwhile assigned practicums that don’t require vulnerable sector checks.
Students from outside of Toronto were not affected by the new regulation.
