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16 As a TCE grantee, you are expected to provide effective site management for your volunteers. Coordinators are also responsible for managing, organizing, and supervising all aspects of site operations. How you organize and manage your volunteers is vital to the success of the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Programs and is critical to quality tax return preparation services in your community. 1. Recruitment Since you will be evaluated on your ability to efficiently serve elderly taxpayers while providing high quality assistance, selective recruitment of volunteers should be an important objective. In recruiting volunteers, you should consider the need for the following type of volunteers: • Tax Assistors/Quality Reviewers • Tax Instructors • Coordinators/Administrators • Screener (certified and non-certified) • Recruitment/publicity specialist Position Descriptions for key volunteer positions can be found in Publication 5683, VITA/TCE Handbook for Partners and Site Coordinators. Publication 5683 can be found on www.irs.gov. In recruiting volunteers for various positions please keep in mind some of the responsibilities that may be involved with particular positions when selecting an individual. For example: • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators are to provide administrative support for the program by acting as managers, program leaders, and publicity specialists, and by providing other services as needed. • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators who do NOT provide tax assistance to taxpayers do NOT need to receive tax law certification from the IRS. • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators must complete Site Coordinator Training and certification. • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators must agree to respect the confidentiality of any information provided by the taxpayer and return information obtained as a result of or in connection with volunteer service. • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators are needed to manage the activities of volunteers and to provide administrative support for the program. • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators also may recruit volunteers and establish assistance sites; coordinate training and tax assistance schedules; assist with program publicity; maintain records and prepare reports for the IRS and the grant recipient; attend meetings at the IRS and conduct liaison work with the IRS; perform related clerical and secretarial duties; and perform other activities identified by the grant recipient as agreed to in the Cooperative Agreement. • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators may sign agreements and certifications such as the Property Loan Agreement (on IRS loaned equipment) and the IRS SPEC Annual Property Certification (for e-file participation). • Volunteer Coordinators/Administrators must verify that all volunteers are properly certified to work at VITA/TCE sites. A process must be created to verify the level of certification for each volunteer. Each volunteer must sign Form 13615, Volunteer Standards of Conduct Agreement - VITA/TCE Programs. All Forms 13615 must be certified (signed and dated) by the coordinator, sponsoring partner, instructor, or IRS contact, verifying the volunteer has completed the required Volunteer Standards of Conduct Training, including passing the test. The coordinator must also confirm the volunteer’s identity, name and address using government-issued photo identification, and confirm they have a signed and dated Form 13615. This process must be completed before any volunteer is allowed to begin work at a VITA/TCE site. • Training specialist • Equipment procurement coordinator • Computer specialist • Interpreter • e-file transmitter Management of Volunteers