Volunteer screening in Massachusetts: the complete guide
The statutes that apply, which of your volunteers they reach, which agency runs which check, what organizations here actually get wrong, and the order to do it in.
What makes Massachusetts different
A person relying on volunteers who relies solely on DCJIS CORI is not liable for negligent hiring for that reliance, unless a law requires additional checks, if the decision is made within 90 days and the identity-verification rules were followed (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172(e)). Standard CORI shows misdemeanors for 5 years and felonies for 10, but if a conviction falls in that window the volunteer’s entire adult conviction history is returned (803 CMR 2.05(4)(b)). We found no statute extending Massachusetts’ ban-the-box rule (M.G.L. c. 151B, § 4(9½)) to volunteer applications, but M.G.L. c. 6, § 171A requires anyone deciding on a volunteer opportunity to hand over the criminal record before questioning the applicant about it, and 803 CMR 2.20 sets notice, copy, dispute and documentation steps before an adverse decision.
The short version: Massachusetts screens volunteers through CORI, the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services’ name-based record check, and mandates it in several volunteer settings. Any organization primarily engaged in programs for children 18 or younger must obtain CORI before accepting a volunteer (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172H); camps must obtain CORI, juvenile data and a sex offender registry check on every volunteer (c. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090); public and private schools must check volunteers with direct and unmonitored contact at least every three years (c. 71, § 38R); and long-term care facilities and home care, municipal and publicly funded elder and disability services must check volunteers too (c. 6, §§ 172C, 172E). Any organization that runs five or more background checks a year must keep a written CORI policy (c. 6, § 171A; 803 CMR 2.18).
The statutes, one at a time
These are the laws that create the obligation. Read the citation, not a summary of it, before you build a policy around it.
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M.G.L. Chapter 71, Section 38R — School Volunteer CORI Checks
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 38R
Mandates that all schools conduct criminal background checks on current and prospective employees and volunteers who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children. CORI must be obtained at least every three years. Applies to volunteers who regularly provide school-related transportation to students.
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CORI Reform Act — M.G.L. Chapter 6, Sections 167–178B
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, §§ 167–178B (as amended by 2010 Acts Ch. 256)
The Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Reform Law governs access to and use of criminal records maintained by the DCJIS. Establishes procedures for how organizations may request, use, and store CORI information. Organizations that run five or more criminal background checks a year, from any source, must have a written CORI policy (§ 171A; 803 CMR 2.18).
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M.G.L. Chapter 6, Section 172H — Children’s Programs Must Obtain CORI
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 172H
Requires any entity or organization primarily engaged in providing activities or programs to children 18 or younger to obtain all available CORI from DCJIS before accepting any person as an employee, volunteer, vendor or contractor. DCJIS lists organizations that run programs for children under 18 at Required 2 access, which adds non-conviction records and adult convictions of any age to what a Standard check returns.
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M.G.L. Chapter 6, Section 172G and 105 CMR 430.090 — Camp Volunteers
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090(D)
Camp operators must obtain CORI and juvenile court data from DCJIS and a sex offender registry check from SORB on every volunteer, each camping season, and make a suitability determination before the volunteer starts. Written documentation is kept three years.
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M.G.L. Chapter 6, Sections 172C and 172E — Elder, Disability and Long-Term Care Volunteers
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, §§ 172C, 172E
Long-term care facilities, assisted living residences and continuing care facilities shall obtain CORI on volunteers (§ 172E), as must home care, municipal and publicly funded agencies whose volunteers serve elders or people with disabilities at home or in the community, including meal delivery (§ 172C); a § 172C violation is also a c. 93A violation.
Which of your volunteers this reaches
Run your actual roster against this list. The roles below are where Massachusetts's requirements apply; everyone else is a risk decision rather than a legal one.
- School volunteers with direct and unmonitored contact with children (M.G.L. c. 71, § 38R — mandatory)
- Volunteers at any organization primarily engaged in activities or programs for children 18 or younger — CORI before acceptance (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172H)
- Volunteers at recreational camps for children — CORI with juvenile data plus a SORB sex offender registry check, every camping season, before service (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090(D), (F))
- Child care volunteers with unsupervised access to children in EEC licensed, approved or funded programs, and every volunteer in a family child care home (606 CMR 14.05 — CORI, DCF, SORI, national registry and fingerprint checks)
- Volunteers with potential unsupervised contact with clients in EOHHS agencies and their contracted vendor programs, including DCF, DMH, DDS and Elder Affairs vendors (101 CMR 15.03–15.04)
- Volunteers at long-term care facilities, assisted living residences and continuing care facilities, and volunteers who serve elders or people with disabilities at home or in the community for home care, municipal or publicly funded agencies (M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 172C, 172E)
Which check, from which agency
Massachusetts does not use one check for everything. These are the distinct instruments in play — they search different databases and are not interchangeable.
- CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) check via DCJIS iCORI system
- Sex Offender Registry check (Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board, SORB)
- DCF child abuse registry check (run through programs whose regulator performs it, such as EEC background record checks under 606 CMR 14.00)
- FBI national fingerprint check (required for school employees and for EEC child care volunteers who need an EEC background record check, including every family child care volunteer; optional for school volunteers under § 38R)
- Required-level CORI (Required 1–4) for organizations a statute or regulation authorizes, adding older convictions, non-convictions, juvenile records or sealed records beyond Standard access (803 CMR 2.05)
Administered by: Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), iCORI system; Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB); Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) for licensed childcare; Department of Public Health (recreational camps, 105 CMR 430.090); Executive Office of Health and Human Services (101 CMR 15.00)
Typical processing: We found no published DCJIS or SORB turnaround standard; confirm current processing times with the agency.
What organizations in Massachusetts get wrong
These are the specific, local mistakes — the exemption that gets misapplied, the second database nobody runs, the deadline that arrives before anyone has written a policy.
- 1
Register your organization with DCJIS’s iCORI system — registration renews every two calendar years and requires CORI training and a signed iCORI Agency Agreement (803 CMR 2.04). Fees are set by the Secretary of Public Safety and Security and DCJIS may waive them; confirm the current fee before budgeting.
- 2
If your organization runs five or more criminal background checks a year, from DCJIS or any other source, you must keep a written CORI policy containing the provisions of the DCJIS Model CORI Policy (M.G.L. c. 6, § 171A; 803 CMR 2.18), plus a need-to-know list updated at least every six months.
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Schools must obtain CORI at least every three years on volunteers who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children (c. 71, § 38R) — track each volunteer’s last check date.
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Run a Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) check alongside CORI for any volunteer with child contact — these are separate databases and CORI alone does not capture sex offender registrant status. The public SORI search (ESORI) returns only Level 2 and 3 offenders (803 CMR 1.26).
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Before an adverse decision based on CORI or any other criminal history, follow 803 CMR 2.20: give the volunteer a copy of the CORI and your CORI policy, identify the information the decision rests on, offer an opportunity to dispute its accuracy along with DCJIS’s information on correcting a record, and document every step — the rules apply to volunteer decisions too.
The order to do it in
- 1
Write the policy before you screen anyone
Decide which roles require a check, who reviews a result, and who makes the final call — in writing, before you have a result to review. Deciding under pressure with a parent on the phone is how organizations end up with a decision they cannot defend. Our free policy generator will draft one you can edit.
- 2
Sort your roster by unsupervised access, not by job title
The statutes above turn on contact and supervision, not on what a role is called. A "greeter" who walks children to the restroom has unsupervised access; a "coach" who is never alone with anyone may not.
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Match each role to the right instrument
Where Massachusetts mandates a specific channel — fingerprint, a named registry, an agency portal — use that channel for that role. Use a broad multi-source check as the baseline for everyone else.
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Collect consent correctly the first time
FCRA requires a standalone written disclosure and a separate written authorization. Bundling either into a volunteer application or a waiver is the single most common compliance defect, and it is the one plaintiffs' lawyers look for.
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Run the check, then follow adverse action if anything surfaces
Pre-adverse notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, a reasonable window to dispute, then the final notice. Build the waiting period into your start dates rather than discovering it under pressure.
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Set a re-screen interval and let it run
A clearance describes the day it was run. Most organizations use one to two years; some insurers require annual for roles with unsupervised access to children.
Questions Massachusetts organizations ask
Does Massachusetts require background checks for all volunteers?
Massachusetts screens volunteers through CORI, the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services’ name-based record check, and mandates it in several volunteer settings. Any organization primarily engaged in programs for children 18 or younger must obtain CORI before accepting a volunteer (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172H); camps must obtain CORI, juvenile data and a sex offender registry check on every volunteer (c. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090); public and private schools must check volunteers with direct and unmonitored contact at least every three years (c. 71, § 38R); and long-term care facilities and home care, municipal and publicly funded elder and disability services must check volunteers too (c. 6, §§ 172C, 172E). Any organization that runs five or more background checks a year must keep a written CORI policy (c. 6, § 171A; 803 CMR 2.18).
Which of my volunteers does Massachusetts law actually reach?
Based on the statutes cited on this page: School volunteers with direct and unmonitored contact with children (M.G.L. c. 71, § 38R — mandatory); Volunteers at any organization primarily engaged in activities or programs for children 18 or younger — CORI before acceptance (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172H); Volunteers at recreational camps for children — CORI with juvenile data plus a SORB sex offender registry check, every camping season, before service (M.G.L. c. 6, § 172G; 105 CMR 430.090(D), (F)); Child care volunteers with unsupervised access to children in EEC licensed, approved or funded programs, and every volunteer in a family child care home (606 CMR 14.05 — CORI, DCF, SORI, national registry and fingerprint checks); Volunteers with potential unsupervised contact with clients in EOHHS agencies and their contracted vendor programs, including DCF, DMH, DDS and Elder Affairs vendors (101 CMR 15.03–15.04); Volunteers at long-term care facilities, assisted living residences and continuing care facilities, and volunteers who serve elders or people with disabilities at home or in the community for home care, municipal or publicly funded agencies (M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 172C, 172E). Those categories are where Massachusetts's requirements bite. Volunteers outside them are a policy decision for your organization rather than a statutory one — which does not mean the answer is "skip it", only that the reason to screen is risk management rather than a citation.
Who administers the check in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), iCORI system; Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB); Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) for licensed childcare; Department of Public Health (recreational camps, 105 CMR 430.090); Executive Office of Health and Human Services (101 CMR 15.00). Typical processing is We found no published DCJIS or SORB turnaround standard; confirm current processing times with the agency..
Does a VolunteerBadge check satisfy Massachusetts's requirement?
It depends on what your state or licensor mandates, and we would rather be straight with you about it than sell past the question. Our $5 check is a broad multi-source criminal and sex-offender search from an FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency — an excellent primary screen and, for many volunteer roles, the whole answer. It is not a fingerprint or live-scan check. Where Massachusetts specifically mandates a fingerprint-based state or FBI channel for a role, that requirement stands on its own and our check supplements rather than replaces it.
We operate in more than one state. Whose rules apply?
Generally the rules of the state where the volunteer serves, not where your organization is incorporated. Organizations near a border routinely have volunteers under two different regimes at the same event. For Massachusetts that most often means Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont. The practical approach is to screen to the strictest standard among the states you operate in, so one process covers all of them.
What happens if we run a check and find something?
That is where federal law takes over from state law. Running background checks makes you a user of consumer reports under the FCRA, so before you decline anyone based on the report you must send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, allow a reasonable window to dispute, and only then send the final notice. It is not optional, and it is the step organizations most often miss.
Operating across a Massachusetts border?
Volunteers are generally governed by the state where they serve. If your programs cross a line, these are the neighbors you are most likely to need.
General information, not legal advice. We are a consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. The statutes cited above are real and current as of August 21, 2026, but they are amended — and a citation is not a substitute for reading how it applies to your specific program. Confirm with Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), iCORI system; Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB); Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) for licensed childcare; Department of Public Health (recreational camps, 105 CMR 430.090); Executive Office of Health and Human Services (101 CMR 15.00), your licensor, your insurer, or your own counsel before relying on any of it. Spot an error? Tell us — we would rather fix it.
Screen your Massachusetts volunteers for $5
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