In addition to the requirements of state or local laws and licensing, a volunteer organization may also have contractual obligations for screening both employees and volunteers. For example, your insurer may require that you conduct criminal background screening in order to provide coverage for sexual molestation liability insurance. Additionally, many volunteer organizations use facilities owned by a city or county. The contract for using the facility may require background checks of any person working with youth at those facilities. Another instance of contractual requirement of criminal background screening would be the terms of funding support from government agencies or private charitable foundations.

If a volunteer organization uses a third party to provide background screening services, that report is considered a ‘consumer report’ under the FCRA and subject to all the regulations governing such reports. Hiring an experienced, professional background screening service will, however, not only provide a comprehensive criminal background report. A good background screening company will also be able to assist you with complying with FCRA regulations.

Checking your state’s sex offender registry is better than no screening, but it has some serious limitations. It would be time consuming to check the registry in each state, and many sex offenders do move frequently. Additionally, most registries rely on sex offenders who voluntarily register their address. Further, many states limit the registries to only the most violent or serious offenses. At the least, a volunteer organization should be sure to understand the limitations of the registry in each state being searched. A more thorough method is to hire a professional background screening service with the knowledge and expertise to provide a more comprehensive background search.