For resettlement agencies & welcome circles
Co-sponsors and welcome-circle volunteers get deep, in-home, unsupervised access to families who are among the most vulnerable people in the country. VolunteerBadge helps you vet every one of them for $5 — identity-verified and FCRA-compliant — so a warm welcome is also a safe one.
Resettlement is one of the most intimate forms of volunteering there is — near-strangers open their homes, cars, and lives to families arriving with almost nothing. The scale, and the stakes, are why careful vetting matters.
people worldwide were forcibly displaced by conflict and persecution
UNHCR, 2025
refugees resettled in the U.S. in FY2024 — the most since 1994
Global Refuge / U.S. State Dept
of all forcibly displaced people are children under 18
UNHCR Global Trends
everyday Americans the Welcome Corps set out to mobilize as private sponsors
U.S. State Dept
A background check is one layer of a caring program — not a guarantee. Sources linked at the bottom of this page.
A newly arrived family may have limited English, no local network, and children in tow. The volunteers who greet them at the airport, furnish their apartment, and drive them to appointments are, for a while, their entire world. That trust is a gift — and a responsibility to get right.
Co-sponsors and welcome-circle members set up apartments, deliver groceries, and visit families in their homes — often alone, often over many months.
Roughly 40% of displaced people are children. Volunteers spend unsupervised time with families that include kids, in homes and cars, from day one.
Newcomers may not yet speak English or know their rights, U.S. systems, or where to turn. That imbalance is exactly what a bad actor could exploit.
Resettlement runs on federal programs and trust. A screening step protects the newcomers, your volunteers, and your organization’s standing and reputation.
Screening serves the newcomers — never targets them. VolunteerBadge checks the volunteers who serve. Refugees and immigrants you welcome are never the subject of a check.
Everything a resettlement or immigrant-services program needs to vet a volunteer — nothing you don't.
Email a link or share a QR code with your co-sponsors, mentors, and welcome-circle members. They apply from their phone in minutes.
A government ID + selfie confirm the real person; the $5 national check runs with their consent.
A verified badge lands on your roster — with adverse-action handled for you if records appear.
Practical guide
Whether you run a full resettlement agency or a single co-sponsor group, a well-built volunteer program makes the welcome warmer and the operation safer. Here is a simple, dignified way to stand one up.
The federal Welcome Corps asks private sponsors to form a group of five or more who commit together to greet and support a newly arrived family. Faith communities, veterans groups, employers, and neighbors all make strong circles.
Clear roles attract the right people and keep the family well-supported. Common welcome-circle and immigrant-services roles include:
This is the layer that protects the family and the program. The Welcome Corps requires every private-sponsor-group member to pass a background check before approval, and it is best practice across the field.
Free training: VolunteerBadge Academy has free, certificate courses your volunteers can take — safe boundaries, mandated reporting, and more — at academy.volunteerbadge.com.
Yes — reputable agencies require it, and the federal Welcome Corps requires every member of a private sponsor group to pass one before approval. Volunteers and co-sponsors get deep, often in-home, unsupervised access to newly arrived families who have limited English and no local support network. A background check is a reasonable, defensible layer that protects the newcomers, the agency, and its federal standing.
A national criminal search across county, state, and federal court records, sex-offender registries in all 50 states plus the national registry, and federal watchlists — with biometric identity verification and a free address-history check. Every possible record is reviewed by a trained analyst before it reaches you.
The platform is free for nonprofits — no monthly fees, no contracts, no per-seat charges. You only pay $5 per background check when you actually run one. Credits never expire, and bulk bundles bring the price down further, which matters when you are onboarding whole co-sponsor circles at once.
Yes. Send any volunteer — co-sponsor, welcome-circle member, ESL tutor, employment or housing navigator, driver, or board member — a link or QR code. They apply from their phone, verify their identity, and consent to the check. A verified status (or a flagged review) lands on your roster.
Yes on both. Every check is consent-first with permissible-purpose handling and a built-in adverse-action workflow (pre-adverse notice, a waiting period, and a final notice) if you ever decline a volunteer based on a record. Screening applies to the volunteers who serve — never to the refugees and immigrants you welcome.
Vet every co-sponsor and volunteer for $5 — free platform, no contracts, FCRA-compliant. Set up in minutes.
Create your free accountScreening the volunteers who welcome — never the newcomers.