National Screening Bureau(NATSB) will provide your organization with all the necessary forms and information to keep you compliant with Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), ADA and Civil Rights Act. Although NATSB does not provide legal advice to our clients, we keep current with the regulations and changes in laws affecting background screening-both on volunteers and employees, for our benefit and yours.

Background checks are only part of the practice a church must implement to provide for the safety of their members. From a legal perspective, a church must engage in the same duty of care in the selection of volunteers who work with children and youth as it does in the selection of paid staff members. In both cases, the selection process should reflect the standard of reasonable care.

Here are some suggestions:

1. The six-month rule. Start by establishing a length of time the person must first attend the church, such as six months, before he or she can volunteer to work with children or youth.
2. Membership or equivalent. This requirement focuses on the individual's commitment to and involvement in the congregation.
3. Use a written application form. While using a written application form may sound obvious, our data indicates many churches still do not use one. We will be happy to provide you with a sample along with the necessary release form.
4. Conduct reference checks. Document in writing all efforts and the information you receive. Once you are finished, keep all forms and notes with the application.
5. Conduct a personal interview. You can use this time to provide training to the volunteer. It's a good time to cover church policies and procedures regarding the supervision of children.
6. Conduct a criminal records check. We suggest you start with you staff, board members, and follow with lead teachers then volunteers. Make sure your background check includes ID Verification, 50 State Sex Offender Search and a National Criminal Checks which includes data from your county.
7. Provide training. Implement a program to keep your staff and volunteers aware and educated.

To our knowledge, no churches that have implemented these steps have been found liable of negligent selection.

These tips and many others can be found in "Safe Kids" by Blake Caldwell. For more information on this book please click here.

At NATSB we are deeply committed to creating safe and productive environments. Our services are affordable because we know that in today’s world your organization can’t afford not to implement a reliable screening program.

Being your screening partner is more than a business to us - it is our passion. When you believe strongly in what you do - it shows! We hope this is evident in the personal service and expert advice you’ll receive from our screening specialists.