Volunteer Risk and Program Management (VRPM)

Volunteer Risk and Program Management (VRPM)

The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program relies on volunteers to serve the Medicare beneficiaries within their states and territories. Without sound volunteer policies, there are inherent risks to SMPs in recruiting and making use of these volunteers. With that in mind, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) has developed a set of volunteer policies designed to establish and organize the structure and operation of volunteer programs within the SMP.

The purpose of these volunteer policies is to enhance the quality, effectiveness, and safety of SMP services through the provision of guidance and direction to SMP staff and volunteers.

Approximately 100 resources have been developed to help SMPs implement ACL’s VRPM policies. The VRPM resources are described below and available in the SMP Resource Library.

 Resources  Description

VRPM Orientation

A great place to get started! The SMP Resource Center offers VRPM Orientation periodically. Topics include VRPM policies, VRPM implementation, and more.

  • To find a recording, search the library for key words “VRPM orientation.”
  • To register for upcoming events, see the “Events” tab of the library.
VRPM Policies
ACL’s policies for SMP volunteer risk and program management; the introduction describes how to use the VRPM Policies document.
Summary lists of VRPM resources

These lists provide an overview of the policies and available resources:

VRPM Policy Implementation Kit
Provides information, tips, and resources to help SMPs implement the VRPM policies and educate volunteer host organizations (VHOs) and other partners, leadership, staff, and volunteers about VRPM.
SMP Volunteer Program Management Manual
A guide to implementing many of the practices covered within the SMP VRPM policies and also how to be an effective coordinator of volunteers.
SMP Volunteer Handbook
This template for local SMP customization contains information on some of the policies that most interest volunteers, such as roles, rights and responsibilities, orientation and training, screening, dismissal, and complaints and grievances.
VRPM resource groupings by topic

VRPM resources are grouped by topic in the SMP Resource Library. To find all of the following VRPM resource groupings in the library, search for key words “VRPM resource,” or search for a specific topic by name.

  • Application Packet Resources
  • Complaint Reporting Resources
  • Dismissing a Volunteer Resources
  • Evaluation and Feedback Resources
  • Information Technology Resources
  • Interview Resources
  • Orientation and Training Resources
  • Performance Management Resources
  • Policy Implementation Kit
  • Recruitment, Retention, and Recognition Resources
  • Risk Assessment Resources
  • Risk Management, Health & Safety Resources
  • Role Description Resources
  • Role Development Resources
  • Screening Resources
  • Volunteer Program Management Manual
  • Welcome Packet Resources
VRPM webinars

A series of webinars on VRPM topics is available to SMPs.

VRPM Questions
For questions about VRPM implementation, email the VRPM mailbox at vrpm@smpresource.org.