Can Someone Explain This to Me? 

My mother retired from her job a couple years ago... and I've been pushing her to get involved in something to take up her spare time. Prior to this she's been concentrating on taking care of her Aunt, which is important... but it seemed like her life was revolving pretty heavily around that. Recently she inquired up at the public library to see if they had volunteer positions. Her neighbor works up there and was talking about how they are always in need. My aunt (my mom's sister in law in law in law... or something like that) also works at a local hospital, and my mom inquired there about volunteering too.

So she got a call back from the hospital yesterday. Of course it's not a simple as my mom was originally thinking. There is a ton of stuff you have to do to get to be a hospital volunteer. Among other things she needs a note from her doctor... probably saying that she's not diseased... and probably also not at high risk for catching something. She needs a reference who is not a relative... makes sense. She also needed to give them her social security number. Why? According to the person on the phone, it's required by the Dept. of Homeland Security.

I could understand if they required a background check... but then you say it's for a background check. What on Earth does the Dept. of Homeland Security have to do with volunteering at a hospital?! Can someone who knows please clue me in?