Each organization participating in an SNTI workshop is eligible for six hours of post-workshop technical assistance in order to facilitate implementation of programmatic changes based on what was learned in the workshop. SNTI also consults on technical assistance projects with other organizations by special arrangement.

SNTI technical assistance can focus on any area of a volunteer program, helping volunteer managers enhance their programs in ways that better serve both the volunteers and the care recipients, as well as assisting in the development of new volunteer programs and other special projects.

A primary goal of SNTI technical assistance is long-term capacity building. In order to leave an organization with new skills and knowledge at the end of a project, SNTI staff works collaboratively with volunteer managers to design and implement each intervention.

The following are some examples of technical assistance the SNTI staff has provided recently to a variety of programs:

Community Food Bank Volunteers at a community food bank take hotline calls from clients who need to locate free groceries or prepared food near their homes. Food is seldom the only hardship in a client's life; they also may be facing problems with housing, employment, domestic violence, or other life-challenging situations. Finding themselves in crisis, they often seek emotional support from hotline volunteers. Lacking training in peer counseling, volunteers find these conversations frustrating and painful and feel inadequately prepared to provide support.

A member of the SNTI staff worked with the volunteer manager to assess the specific needs of hotline volunteers and clients. Using this information, SNTI and the volunteer manager worked together to modify a module on peer counseling from the SNTI training manual, Training Volunteers for Community Service. This resulted in the design of a customized module for teaching effective communication tools to the hotline volunteers for use in supporting their clients during brief telephone conversations.

Pet Care for Elders A volunteer manager with a program providing care to the pets of elders reported she was having difficulty with a volunteer who was also a client. The volunteer was a "young senior" who was a practitioner of a kind of touch-for-health, for both humans and animals. When she began to use these techniques on some of the pets without being asked to do so by clients, the clients complained that her practices had not been asked for and might be harmful to their pets.

An easy solution to this problem might have been to remove the volunteer from the program. However, in consultation with SNTI staff, the volunteer manager explored possible programmatic, structural or policy-related origins of the issue. There was also the complex and challenging issue of multiple role relationships—in this case, a client also being a volunteer—which needed to be addressed. Instead of simply making a policy of not allowing clients to become volunteers, the volunteer manager worked with SNTI staff consultants to establish a screening process for clients seeking to volunteer with the agency. This new screening process included creating interviewing techniques for the exploration of personal and agency boundaries and for exploring with the client what it might mean to make the commitment to volunteer.

The SNTI staff member also helped the volunteer manager create language and methods for letting the current volunteer/client know how she might serve without imposing her touch methods on clients' pets.

The Visually Impaired In a program serving clients who are visually impaired, volunteers receive an extensive "blind sensitivity" training. The volunteer manager wanted to give volunteers additional training in the Shanti model of peer support. Having limited resources for volunteer training, she was able to offer only a three-hour session. The challenge was to create a training that would meet the needs of the volunteers within that time frame.

The first step was to assist the volunteer manager in establishing training goals. SNTI then provided the volunteer manager with training modules and worked with her to customize them for her particular situation. The result was a revised training which not only educated volunteers about the issues of visually-impaired persons, but also provided them with important peer counseling skills. Following the first presentation of the new training, the volunteer manager consulted with SNTI on ways to further improve the content and sequencing of the training.

Low Income Women with Cancer Concerned that the volunteers were not getting enough emotional support for the difficult work they do, the volunteer manager of a program serving low-income women with cancer asked SNTI for technical assistance. As a part of a larger strategy of support, it was suggested that she institute support groups for the volunteers. These groups, to be facilitated by experienced volunteers, would meet on a regular basis in order to provide support and supervision, as well as to create a sense of community among the volunteer body.

Initiating change in a volunteer program, especially when it is a new requirement for existing volunteers, must be handled very carefully. SNTI staff worked with the volunteer manager to create a plan for introducing the concept of support groups to current volunteers. A plan for phase-in of the groups was also put in place.

Additionally, consultation consisted of addressing strategies for ensuring regular attendance, providing the experience of support groups during initial volunteer training, structuring and creating guidelines for the groups, building the facilitation skills of experienced volunteers, and encouraging long-time volunteers to support changes in the program.

The Frail Elderly The volunteer manager and an active board member met with two SNTI consultants to discuss the creation of a new volunteer training. The organization, which sends "friendly visitors" to see older adults in various institutions, had only a general volunteer orientation in place. They wanted a training that included the teaching and practice of effective communications skills and issues of personal boundaries. In addition, they sought guidance on developing a new, more realistic set of commitments for volunteers, and an improved strategy for screening potential volunteers.

Using the SNTI training manual, Training Volunteers for Community Service, the group began customizing the modules on the Shanti model of peer support and on maintaining personal and professional boundaries in the volunteer/client relationship. The concerns regarding the organization's screening process were discussed, and plans made to improve screening methods. By the end of the meeting, the group had outlined plans for implementing these changes, and SNTI consultants remained available to give feedback and further consultation during the process.