Nonprofit compliance in Nebraska

Nebraska does not have a single comprehensive volunteer background check statute. Mandatory checks apply in licensed childcare under the Child Care Licensing Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-1912) and CASA volunteer programs (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-3709). The Quality Child Care Act (§§ 43-2601 to 43-2625) governs childcare staff and applicable volunteers. Nebraska's statewide 'Ban-the-Box' framework applies to timing of criminal inquiries. DHHS processes most checks.

• Child Care Licensing Background Check (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-1912) — Requires national criminal history record information checks for all child care staff members at licensed facilities. Fingerprint-based checks are required for childcare volunteers who may be alone with children; volunteers age 13 and older must consent to central registry checks.
• CASA Volunteer Background Check (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-3709) — Requires CASA program directors to obtain FBI criminal history records, check child protection case registries, and obtain character references from at least three persons before appointing court-appointed special advocate volunteers.
• Quality Child Care Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 43-2601 to 43-2625) — Establishes quality standards for child care programs including personnel background requirements. Volunteer daycare workers (category 'CCDV') must be separately fingerprinted through DHHS.
• Who it reaches: All staff and applicable volunteers at licensed childcare centers and family child care homes; CASA volunteer advocates; Volunteers with unsupervised access to children in DHHS-contracted programs; Volunteers age 13+ who have contact with children at licensed day care centers.
• Check types in use: Nebraska state criminal history check (Nebraska State Patrol); FBI national fingerprint-based criminal history check; Nebraska child and adult protective services central registry check; Sex offender registry check; CASA: child protection case registry check and three character references.
• Administered by: Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Licensing Unit; Nebraska State Patrol for fingerprint processing.

Yes. Nebraska 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 Nebraska'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.

Nebraska 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.