Volunteer as a Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Certified Volunteer Ombudsmen are important members of the Vermont Long-Term Care Ombudsman Project team.
If you become a volunteer ombudsman, you will work under the supervision of paid staff as an advocate for residents of long-term care facilities (nursing homes, residential care homes and assisted living residences). You will be assigned to facilities in your community and make frequent, unannounced visits to identify and address residents’ problems.
During these visits, you will get to know the residents, respond to resident complaints, report serious problems, and provide residents and their families with information that helps improve residents’ quality of life and quality of care.
Volunteer ombudsmen must be committed to promoting and protecting the right of each resident to self-determination and a dignified existence.
Volunteer ombudsmen must be at least 18 years old. You must complete an application, be interviewed by our paid staff, provide references, consent to a criminal background check, and complete the ombudsman certification training.
Training
Once accepted into our program, volunteers complete 20 hours of classroom training and 30 hours of field training to become a certified volunteer ombudsman. Certified Volunteer Ombudsmen are required to complete at least 18 hours of trainings each year. You must provide your own transportation to facilities, but we reimburse volunteers for mileage. We ask for a commitment of 3 - 5 hours per week for a minimum of 1 year.
How to apply
We are currently recruiting volunteers to cover facilities in Washington and Bennington counties only. If you are interested in volunteering in these locations, please complete the following steps:
We look forward to hearing from you!
Contact information
If you have questions about volunteering with the Vermont Long-Term Care Ombudsman Project, email director Kaili Kuiper, or leave a message at 1-800-889-2047, Option 3.