Nonprofit compliance in Kentucky

Kentucky requires background checks for volunteers whose duties are equivalent to direct-service employees with one-on-one contact with patients, residents, or clients in licensed healthcare and long-term care settings. The KARES (Kentucky Applicant Registry and Employment Screening) program — administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services — provides fingerprint-based screening. Volunteers in purely supervised, group faith-based or community activities are generally exempt.

• 906 KAR 1:190 — KARES Program Regulation (906 KAR 1:190 (adopted 2013, Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare)) — Establishes the Kentucky Applicant Registry and Employment Screening (KARES) program, requiring fingerprint-based background checks for employees and qualifying volunteers in long-term care facilities. Volunteers with duties equivalent to a direct-service employee involving one-on-one patient/resident contact must be screened.
• Kentucky Revised Statutes §§ 216.533, 216.712(2), 216.787, 216.789 (KRS §§ 216.533, 216.712(2), 216.787, 216.789) — Statutory foundation requiring name-based, state-only criminal background checks in nursing facilities, adult day health care programs, home health agencies, and other licensed healthcare settings — applicable to employees and covered volunteers.
• KRS § 160.151 — Education Background Checks (KRS § 160.151 (2024)) — Requires criminal background checks and clear child abuse/neglect (CA/N) registry checks for certified employees in schools, with policy authority extending to volunteer screening in school settings at district discretion.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers with one-on-one direct contact with patients, residents, or clients in long-term care, nursing facilities, or home health settings (906 KAR 1:190 / KARES); Volunteers in adult day health care programs and home health agencies (KRS §§ 216.712, 216.787); School volunteers at district discretion under KRS § 160.151 policy frameworks; Volunteers in childcare programs regulated by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
• Check types in use: Fingerprint-based state criminal history check (KARES program, via Kentucky State Police); FBI national fingerprint-based check (KARES participants); Name-based state criminal history check (KRS §§ 216.533, 216.787 — for non-KARES facilities); Cabinet for Health and Family Services abuse and neglect registry check; Sex offender registry check.
• Administered by: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) — Office of Inspector General administers KARES; Kentucky State Police (KSP) processes fingerprint-based criminal history records.
• Typical processing: KARES fingerprint-based: 2–6 weeks; KSP name-based: 3–5 business days.

Yes. Kentucky names certain professionals AND requires any person to report, regardless of profession — so your volunteers are covered by the universal provision whatever role they hold. Confirm Kentucky'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.

Kentucky is one of the 40 states that generally require a charitable organization to register before soliciting contributions from its residents — typically before the first ask, not after the first gift, and usually with an annual renewal.

• Registration is generally required before soliciting, including by mail, phone, email, or a public donate page.
• 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.