A local Boys and Girls Club relies on a mix of paid staff, part time youth development workers, coaches, mentors, and volunteers who spend time with children during after school hours, summer programs, and club activities. Because nearly every one of those roles involves direct, often unsupervised contact with minors, clubs generally run some form of criminal history screening before anyone starts. There is no single nationwide rule that spells out exactly what that screening must contain. Instead, the requirements come from a mix of federal law that encourages and structures volunteer screening, state law that controls what records a club can actually request, and the club’s own policy for everyone else.
Who typically gets screened
Clubs generally screen anyone who will be alone with children or who will have regular contact with them, which usually includes front line youth development staff, program directors, bus or van drivers, summer camp counselors, tutors, coaches, and adult volunteers who help with activities, mentoring, or chaperoning. Board members and donors who do not have direct contact with children are sometimes screened too, under a club’s own governance policy, but that is a local decision rather than a legal requirement tied to child contact. Because paid staff and volunteers often do the same work side by side, many clubs apply the same background check standard to both, even though the legal rules that apply to each group are not identical.
The federal framework behind youth organization screening
The main federal law in this area is the National Child Protection Act of 1993, which set up a system for states to let what the law calls “qualified entities,” including organizations that provide care to children, request a criminal history background check on a “covered individual” before that person has responsibility for a child’s safety. Under 34 U.S.C. 40102, a state can run its own procedure for these checks, and if a state has not set one up, the Attorney General is directed to make a national criminal history check program available to qualified entities in that state instead. The statute also requires that a covered individual be fingerprinted and sign a statement before a check is requested, and it gives that individual the right to see the report and appeal its accuracy before a club makes a final decision.
Boys and Girls Clubs are named directly in the federal record on this issue. A statutory note attached to 34 U.S.C. 40102, added by the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (the PROTECT Act), describes a pilot program under which “a volunteer organization in one of the 3 States participating in the State pilot program under this paragraph that is part of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the National Mentoring Partnerships, or the National Council of Youth Sports” could request a ten print fingerprint check through its state, run against state records and the FBI’s fingerprint system. That pilot shows how long federal policy has treated youth mentoring and club organizations as a priority category for fingerprint based screening, but it does not mean every club nationwide operates under one uniform current federal mandate. Whether a specific club counts as a qualified entity, and whether it uses a state procedure or a federal fallback program, still depends on the state it operates in.
Checking the sex offender registry
Many clubs also check the sex offender registry as one part of screening, separate from a criminal history records search. The National Sex Offender Public Website, a Department of Justice resource known as NSOPW, lets anyone search participating state, territorial, and tribal sex offender registries by name or by location in one place. This kind of search can confirm registered offender status but it is not a substitute for a full criminal history check, since it only returns people who are on a registry, not every relevant conviction or pending charge a club might want to know about.
State law sets most of the specifics
Once the federal framework establishes that a check can happen, state law generally controls exactly what gets checked, who can request it, and how often it has to be repeated. The specifics vary a great deal from state to state, so a club should confirm its own state’s rule rather than assume another state’s approach applies.
Pennsylvania is a useful example of a state with a detailed, codified rule. Under the state’s Child Protective Services Law, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services requires anyone who will be employed by, or volunteer with, an organization that has direct contact with children to obtain three separate clearances: a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, a Pennsylvania State Police criminal history clearance, and an FBI fingerprint based criminal history clearance for employees and for some volunteers. Clearances in Pennsylvania are valid for a set period and have to be renewed, with the state’s guidance putting the recheck cycle at 60 months from the date of a person’s oldest clearance.
Other states take a lighter, non fingerprint approach for general public background searches. Washington State Patrol operates WATCH (Washington Access to Criminal History), a public, name based search of state conviction records that organizations, including nonprofits that place volunteers, can use for a per name fee. A name based search like WATCH is faster and cheaper than a fingerprint based check, but it depends on the accuracy of the name and identifying information entered, and it only covers Washington State conviction records rather than a nationwide fingerprint search.
Many other states fall somewhere in between, with child care licensing rules, volunteer organization statutes, or agency specific programs that apply to some youth serving groups but not others, or that apply only when a club is licensed as a child care provider. Where a state has not set up a specific rule for youth club volunteers the way Pennsylvania has, a club’s screening is shaped by its own policy, by whatever general fingerprint or records request process its state criminal justice agency makes available to nonprofits, and by the federal baseline described above. A club should not assume a particular state requirement exists just because a neighboring state has one.
| Screening element | What it covers | Who typically sets the rule |
|---|---|---|
| Fingerprint based criminal history check | Convictions and, in some programs, pending charges in state and FBI records | State law or the federal qualified entity program under the National Child Protection Act |
| Sex offender registry search | People currently listed on a participating state, territorial, or tribal registry | Department of Justice, through NSOPW, as a public resource any club can use |
| Name based state conviction search | Conviction records in one state’s database, matched by name and identifiers | Individual states, such as Washington’s WATCH program |
| Child abuse or neglect registry clearance | Substantiated findings in a state’s child welfare system, where that registry is open to this kind of request | State child welfare or human services agency, where such a clearance exists |
FCRA rules when a club uses a consumer reporting agency
When a club asks a third party company to pull and compile a staff member’s or volunteer’s background information, rather than running the request through a state or federal fingerprint program itself, that report is generally covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Joint guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Federal Trade Commission lays out the core duties that apply when an organization uses a consumer reporting agency: give the person a clear, standalone written disclosure that a report may be requested, get written authorization before requesting it, apply the same screening standard to everyone in the same role, and if the club is leaning toward turning someone down based on the report, send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of the person’s rights before making a final decision, followed by an adverse action notice if the decision stands. A club should not assume a background check will show every record in every state. What appears on a report, and how far back it can go, depends on state law and on what each source actually makes available, and both vary.
These FCRA duties apply on top of, not instead of, the fingerprint and registry checks described above. A consumer reporting agency’s report can confirm what is in the records it searches. It cannot certify that a person is fit to work with children, and that judgment stays with the club.
Rechecks and ongoing screening
A single background check at the point of hire or placement is not treated as a permanent clearance in most youth organization settings, because a person’s record can change after they start. Pennsylvania’s rule requiring clearances to be renewed on a 60 month cycle is one concrete example of how a state can require periodic rechecks rather than a one time screen. Clubs operating in states without a specific statutory recheck requirement commonly build their own rescreening schedule into policy, along with a process for reviewing new information, such as a new arrest, if it comes to the club’s attention between scheduled checks.
What a club should document
A defensible screening file generally includes the signed disclosure and authorization, the clearance certificates or consumer report that was obtained, notes on how the club applied its standard consistently across similar roles, and the dates of any required rechecks. Keeping this documentation organized makes it easier to show a funder, licensing reviewer, or insurer that the club followed its own policy consistently rather than case by case. For a look at screening in another youth mentoring role, see Scout Leader Background Check Requirements: Youth Protection and Volunteer Screening. For broader guidance on building a volunteer screening program, see Criminal Background Checks for Volunteers: Why Every Organization Should Screen Volunteers Before Placement. Organizations that want to understand how a consumer reporting agency structures FCRA compliant reports for employment or volunteer placement decisions can learn more at Reveal Background.
Frequently asked questions
Does federal law require every Boys and Girls Club to run a fingerprint background check?
Federal law, through the National Child Protection Act, sets up a system that lets qualified entities request fingerprint based checks, either through a state procedure or a federal fallback program when a state has not set one up. Whether a specific club is required to use it, or chooses to as a matter of policy, depends on the state the club operates in.
Do Boys and Girls Club volunteers go through the same screening as paid staff?
Often the core steps are similar, since both groups may be alone with children, but the legal rules behind the screening are not identical for employees and volunteers. Each club’s own policy, shaped by its state’s requirements, decides exactly what is run for each role.
Can a club check the sex offender registry on its own?
Yes. The National Sex Offender Public Website lets anyone search participating state, territorial, and tribal registries by name or location at no cost, and many youth organizations use it as one part of screening alongside a criminal history check.
Does the Fair Credit Reporting Act apply to volunteer background checks at a club?
Generally yes, when the club uses a consumer reporting agency rather than running the check itself. Standalone disclosure, written authorization, and pre-adverse and adverse action notice rules generally apply the same way they would for an employee.
How often does a background check need to be renewed?
That depends on the state. Pennsylvania, for example, requires its clearances to be renewed every 60 months. States without a specific statutory recheck rule leave the rescreening schedule to the club’s own policy.
Will a background check show every past arrest or conviction?
Not necessarily. What a report can include, and how far back it can go, depends on state law and on which records each source makes available, and both vary by state. A club should not assume a search covers every jurisdiction a person has lived in unless it specifically ran that search.
This article is general information about common screening practices, not legal advice. Background check requirements for Boys and Girls Club staff and volunteers vary by state, and organizations should confirm current rules with their state criminal justice agency or legal counsel.
