Volunteer Background Check Scope Planner
How deep should a volunteer background check go? Describe your organization and what the role involves, and the planner returns the searches to order and how often to re-check. Each line says what it rests on: a federal rule where one exists, otherwise published guidance or common practice, never dressed up as law.
Use the tool
Volunteer Screening Scope Planner, vettedpad.com
Re-check this role
At least every 2 years
Praesidium screening guidance (published, not law)
Published guidanceHigher access
Re-screen continuously engaged volunteers at least every two years. Guidance, not law.
6 searches in the scope, none set by a federal rule
Search scope for this role
- 1.Identity and address history (SSN trace)Common practice
Confirms who the person is and lists the names and counties the criminal searches need.
No federal rule for volunteers
- 2.National sex offender registry searchPublished guidance
All states. The Attorney General's public website also lets anyone search the registries by zip code or radius.
Praesidium screening guidance (published, not law); public site 34 U.S.C. § 20922
- 3.Multi-state criminal database searchPublished guidance
A wide first pass across state databases.
Praesidium screening guidance (published, not law)
- 4.County criminal search: every county lived, worked or studied in, past 7 yearsPublished guidance
For one-to-one, unsupervised or overnight roles.
Praesidium screening guidance (published, not law)
- 5.State fingerprint check (where your state runs one)Optional state route
A nationwide fingerprint check through a state agency for groups that serve children, older adults or people with disabilities; the agency aims to answer within 15 business days.
34 U.S.C. § 40102(a)(2), § 40104(9)
- 6.Motor vehicle record (driving record)Common practice
Before the person drives anyone. Your insurer may set its own driver rules.
No federal rule for volunteer drivers; a firm's MVR is a consumer report, 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d)(1)
If a screening firm runs these searches
FTC staff read the FCRA's employment steps as reaching a nonprofit staffed in whole or in part by volunteers. That is a staff interpretation, not a regulation, and the safe course is to follow the steps.
FTC staff report (2011), comment 603(h)-2
- 1.
Give a written disclosure in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, and get the volunteer's written permission.
15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)(A) Build the disclosure
- 2.
Certify to the screening firm that you did, and that you will follow the adverse-action steps.
15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(1)
- 3.
Before you turn someone away because of the report, send a copy of the report and A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A) Draft both letters
- 4.
Wait a reasonable period. No statute sets a number; five business days is common practice.
FTC staff letter (1997); no statutory number Date the wait
- 5.
Send the final notice: the firm's name, address and phone, that the firm did not decide, and the right to a free copy within 60 days and to dispute.
15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)
The planner applies the federal rules as written (45 CFR 98.43, 45 CFR 1302.94, 34 U.S.C. § 40102) and labels everything else as published guidance or common practice. It is not legal advice; your state, your insurer and your denomination or governing body may require more.
What it computes
A volunteer background check is only as useful as its scope. The planner reads 7 things a role can involve, sorts the role into lower or higher access, and returns the searches and a re-check interval. Every line carries the word for what it rests on, so you can see at a glance which parts are law and which are a choice your policy makes.
- Rule: a statute or regulation says it, cited to the section.
- Optional state route: federal law lets your state offer it; nothing makes you use it.
- Published guidance: a named organization's written standard, read on its own page.
- Common practice: what screening programs usually do; no rule behind it.
The access test comes from Praesidium's published screening guidance, which asks how often a person is around the people you serve, for how long, whether another adult is always present, and whether the role builds a personal relationship. Contact plus one-to-one, unsupervised or overnight time makes a role higher access, and the county search widens from the current county to every county lived, worked or studied in for seven years.
In licensed, regulated or registered child care the guidance gives way to the federal rule. A volunteer whose activities involve the care or supervision of children, or unsupervised access to them, is a “child care staff member”: the check goes to the state before the start date and at least once in each five-year period.
45 CFR 98.43(a)(2)(ii)(B); 45 CFR 98.43(d)(2)(ii)
Driving records and credit reports are add-ons for drivers and money handlers. Both are consumer reports when a screening firm supplies them, so the FCRA steps apply; read MVR checks and credit checks for employment first. For what a county or database search can and cannot return, see what shows up on a background check.
The planner names no screening firm. To pick one, compare the background check companies for churches and volunteer programs or browse the PBSA-accredited screeners.
Worked example
Four volunteers, four plans. The greeter is lower access: a sex offender search, a multi-state database and the current county, re-checked every two years under the guidance. The coach's one-to-one time makes the role higher access, so the county search reaches back seven years, a driving record is added, and the SafeSport list is checked; a seasonal role is re-checked every year. The child care volunteer falls under the federal rule instead, and the treasurer has no contact with children at all, so the plan is a base check and a credit report only where the law allows it.
| Volunteer | Searches | Re-check | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Church greeter in the nursery hallway, supervised, all year | Identity and address history; National sex offender registry search; Multi-state criminal database search; County criminal search; State fingerprint check | At least every 2 years | Published guidance |
| Youth soccer coach, one-to-one drills, drives players, one season | Identity and address history; National sex offender registry search; Multi-state criminal database search; County criminal search; State fingerprint check; U.S. Center for SafeSport list of barred adults; Motor vehicle record | Every year | Published guidance |
| Reading volunteer in a licensed child care center | FBI fingerprint check; National Sex Offender Registry; State criminal, sex offender and child abuse and neglect registries | At least every 5 years | Rule |
| Food bank volunteer treasurer with donor records | Identity and address history; County criminal search; Credit report, only where lawful and justified | Once, then by your policy | Common practice |
The pre-filled example is a church youth leader who drives and goes on overnight retreats: higher access, 6 searches, at least every 2 years. Untick the overnight box and the county search narrows to the current county.
State notes
- Federal
- State
- Local
These parts of a volunteer plan are set state by state:
- The fingerprint route under the National Child Protection Act and the Volunteers for Children Act exists only where a state has set procedures by statute or regulation, and the state names the agency (34 U.S.C. § 40102(a)(1)).
- Child care background checks run through the state, which must publish its procedures and how providers submit a request on its website (45 CFR 98.43(g)).
- Credit checks: some states limit them. Connecticut, for one, bars requiring consent to a credit report as a condition of employment unless an exception applies, such as a role with authority to issue payments or transfer money (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-51tt(a)(4)(C), (b)). The law is written for employees; whether it reaches a volunteer is a question for counsel. See credit checks for employment before you add one for a treasurer.
- Conviction questions: read the ban-the-box laws by state and check whether your state's wording reaches volunteer roles; the individualized assessment guide covers weighing a record fairly.