Nonprofit compliance in New York

New York does not have a single universal volunteer background check mandate, but sector-specific laws create strong requirements for volunteers in mental health services, developmental disability providers, childcare, and schools. The Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs administers criminal background checks for covered providers. The OCFS administers checks for childcare volunteers. Proposed legislation (S5257A, 2025) would expand requirements to a broader set of youth-serving organizations.

• New York Mental Hygiene Law § 31.35 — Background Checks for Mental Health Providers (N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law § 31.35) — Requires criminal history record checks for prospective operators, employees, and volunteers of mental health treatment providers who will have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted physical contact with clients. Administered by the Justice Center.
• New York Mental Hygiene Law § 16.34 — OPWDD Provider Checks (N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law § 16.34) — Requires OPWDD-licensed providers to conduct background checks on prospective employees and volunteers, administered through the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.
• New York Social Services Law § 390-B — Childcare Background Checks (N.Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 390-B) — As required by CCDBG federal law and state law, all operators, employees, and volunteers in licensed/registered child care programs must undergo comprehensive background checks including FBI, statewide criminal history, sex offender registry, and child abuse registry checks.
• New York Executive Law § 553 — Justice Center Authority (N.Y. Exec. Law § 553) — Grants the Justice Center authority to review and evaluate criminal history for any person applying as an employee, volunteer, or consultant for facilities or provider agencies operated, licensed, or certified by OMH, OPWDD, or OCFS.
• New York Education Law § 305(30) — School Volunteer Background Checks (N.Y. Educ. Law § 305(30)) — Authorizes school districts to require criminal history background checks for volunteers who will have unsupervised contact with students. Districts may establish their own screening policies within this authorization.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers at OMH, OPWDD, and OCFS-regulated mental health and developmental disability providers; Volunteers and operators in licensed/registered childcare programs; School district volunteers with potential unsupervised student contact (at district discretion); Volunteer firefighters (pending SB 8511 if enacted); Volunteers at agencies serving people with special needs (Justice Center covered providers).
• Check types in use: New York State criminal history record check (DCJS); FBI national fingerprint-based criminal history check; New York Sex Offender Registry check; Statewide Central Register (SCR) child abuse and maltreatment check; Sex offender registries from prior states of residence (5 years).
• Administered by: Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs (mental health/disability); NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for childcare (CCDBG checks); NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) for criminal history records; local school districts for school volunteers.
• Typical processing: DCJS name-based: 3–5 business days; FBI fingerprint: 2–4 weeks; OCFS CCDBG: 2–6 weeks.

New York 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.