Nonprofit compliance in Indiana

Indiana requires background checks for volunteers in specific sectors: childcare facilities (IC 12-17.2), schools (IC 20-26-5-10), and qualifying entities serving children, elderly, or disabled individuals (IC 10-13-3-39 — the National Child Protection Act framework). The Indiana State Police (ISP) processes checks. Childcare volunteer checks must be renewed every three years, with annual sex offender and Child Protection Index updates.

• Indiana Code § 10-13-3-39 — Qualified Entity Volunteer Background Checks (IC 10-13-3-39 (2024)) — Designates the Indiana State Police as the authorized agency to receive and process national criminal history background check requests from qualified entities (any public, private, for-profit, nonprofit, or voluntary organization providing care or care placement services). Qualified entities may — and in many settings must — request fingerprint-based national background checks on volunteers within three months of initial service.
• Indiana Code § 20-26-5-10 — School Volunteer Background Check Policy (IC 20-26-5-10 (2024)) — Requires each school corporation to adopt a criminal history background check and Child Protection Index check policy. Covers all school employees and, by policy adoption, extends to volunteers — particularly volunteer coaches and those with regular unsupervised student access.
• Indiana Code § 12-17.2 — Childcare Volunteer Requirements (IC 12-17.2 (as implemented by FSSA rules, updated July 1, 2025)) — Requires volunteers at licensed childcare facilities to complete the same background check process as paid employees. Background checks must be renewed every three years, with annual updates required for sex offender registry and Child Protection Index. Effective July 1, 2025, supervised high school volunteers age 15+ may participate under exemption.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers at licensed childcare centers, family childcare homes, and child care ministries (IC 12-17.2); Volunteer coaches and regular school volunteers with potential unsupervised student access (IC 20-26-5-10 policy requirement); Volunteers at any qualified entity serving children, elderly, or disabled individuals (IC 10-13-3-39); Volunteers with unsupervised access in healthcare facilities serving vulnerable adults.
• Check types in use: Indiana State Police limited criminal history check (name-based, $16.32 online); FBI national fingerprint-based check (for full national check via ISP under IC 10-13-3-39); Indiana Child Protection Index (CPI) check; Indiana Sex Offender Registry check; Annual CPI and sex offender registry updates for childcare volunteers (between triennial full checks).
• Administered by: Indiana State Police (ISP) — Central Repository for criminal history; Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) — Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning for childcare; Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) for school settings.
• Typical processing: Name-based ISP check: 1–3 business days online; FBI fingerprint check: 2–4 weeks.

Yes. Indiana requires all persons to report suspected child abuse without naming any professions at all — so a volunteer's role is irrelevant to the duty. Every adult in your organization is a mandated reporter. Confirm Indiana's current statute before writing your policy — these are amended often.

• In every state, territory and the District of Columbia, ANY person is permitted to report suspected abuse even when not required to. A volunteer who is not a mandated reporter can still call, and should.
• The safest operating posture, whatever the statute says, is to train every volunteer on what to report and to whom — a policy that only trains "mandated" staff leaves the person most likely to witness something untrained.
• Reporting duties are personal. A volunteer who is a mandated reporter cannot discharge the duty by telling a supervisor and stopping there in most states.
• Screening and reporting are different obligations. Clearing a background check does not satisfy a reporting duty, and no reporting policy substitutes for screening.

Indiana is one of ten states with no general charitable solicitation registration requirement. That is not the same as nothing to do: county or municipal rules can still apply, professional fundraisers are often regulated separately, and registering elsewhere may still be required the moment you solicit residents of another state.

• No statewide registration for the charity itself under current guidance.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.