Open a volunteer's profile to see their background-check report. Common statuses:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Processing | The check is running (results usually arrive in minutes). |
| Clear | No reportable records found — you’re good to approve. |
| Under review | Records were found and are being reviewed by the ScreenForge Labs CRA team before anything reaches you (typically within 3 business days). |
| Consider | Records were confirmed after review — open the CRA Reviewer note at the top of the volunteer profile (also included in the PDF) and follow the adverse-action process. |
| Unverifiable | A potential record could not be confirmed at the source courthouse. On the Volunteers list and the Background Checks list (Status and FCRA Status), this replaces Under Adjudication / Under FCRA Review — the check is not still in CRA review. Acknowledge the notice to close it and issue the refund; you do not have a finished Clear or Consider report for this search. |
| Refunded / Error | The check couldn’t be completed — either you acknowledged an unverifiable result and the charge was refunded, or the search failed to run and was refunded. |
- Clear reportsshow an “All Clear” panel: a shield, the total number of named sources in the full register (every source VolunteerBadge searches — not limited to SSN-trace states), then two breakdowns — Sources based on SSN Trace (or declared residence) with a source count beside that heading, plus nationwide (wide) below the state cards, and All sources that were searched (source type cards for the full register, matching the hero total). Click a state card or source-type card to open the named-source list pre-filtered for that slice. The footer shows when the FCRA-compliant search was performed (local date and time). Reports with records lead with a red shield and the potential-match count, then the records grouped by category (only categories with hits). After the records, the same this-check coverage grid appears in red (state cards, source-type cards, and the source total).
- Reports with records are never shown to you automatically. They're held for human CRA review by our team (up to 3 business days), who removes anything that isn't truly your applicant before releasing the report. When our CRA reviewer adds a note, a prominent button at the top of the volunteer profile lets you open it — including an explanation of FCRA responsibilities and the note for that check. The same content is included in the Download PDF export.
- Download the report as a PDF — click the green “Download Report PDF” button and pick one of three options:
- Full report — all details (password-protected). The complete, official compliance document: identity verification, application details, the background-check result with live named-source counts, Search coverage(where they lived (deep) versus nationwide (wide) and by source type — the same this-check story on both clear and records-found reports), address history, and an appendix that names every repository searched. It is still not a substitute for the consumer-report record pages. This is the copy you keep for your compliance file and attach to any adverse-action notice. If you've set an organization Report PDF password(Settings → Screening), it's required to open this file — and the first time you download, we offer to set one.
- Brief summary — no personal info. A privacy-safe one- to two-page record with every personal identifier stripped out: no date of birth, contact info, home address, SSN, ID-document details, biometric photos, application answers, or location signals. It keeps only the volunteer's name, the pass/fail result and what was searched, the identity-verified assertion, and the FCRA notice. It is never password-protected, so it's safe to store on your own drive or share internally when you don't want personal data sitting in your files.
- Screening Scope — downloads the org-facing scope PDF (every source searched; no records or charges). To browse the named-source register interactively, use Browse every named source on the report below.
- Refunded because records could not be verified. If a potential match cannot be confirmed at the source courthouse, VolunteerBadge cannot issue a Clear or Consider report. The check first shows as Unverifiable— an owner or admin acknowledges the notice on the volunteer profile, then the check is closed and refunded (1 credit restored, or the volunteer's $5 returned to their card). You may order a replacement check before acknowledging; the newest search is what Approve looks at. The report page explains this and includes an FCRA notice. Please tell the volunteer the check could not be completed — they may have the right to dispute records with the court or agency of record. A technical Error also refunds, but that means the search failed to run, not that a record was unverifiable.
The Status column on your Volunteers list
The Status badge next to each volunteer is a plain-English summary of where they are in screening — it updates itself as the check moves along, so you never set it by hand:
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Invited, but hasn’t finished their application yet. | Click Nudge (up to 3, no credits), Send text on the pending invite, or ask Victor — he can only report sent when the send actually succeeded. |
| Submitted | Application is in — but no background check has run yet. | Click the green Run Check button on the row to start the $5 check. |
| Screening… | The background check is running. | Nothing needed — results usually arrive within minutes to a few hours. |
| All Cleared | No reportable records found. | You can approve them to serve — approval is your decision. |
| Investigating Hits | Records were found; the ScreenForge Labs CRA team is reviewing them. | Wait for review (up to 3 business days); you’ll be notified. |
| Unverifiable | A record could not be verified at the source courthouse. This is not still in CRA review — there is no finished report for this search. | Open the volunteer, acknowledge the notice to close and refund it, or run a replacement check. After refund the row returns to Submitted. Approve follows the newest search. |
| Consider | Records were confirmed after review and released for your decision. | Open the volunteer for the CRA note, then approve — or decline with adverse action. |
| Approved / Declined | The decision you made. | — |
The new Identity Verify column shows Yes / Pending / No — whether the volunteer completed government-ID verification. You can narrow the list with the Status and Identity dropdowns above the table.
VolunteerBadge never decides for you
Should I mark everyone who's “All Cleared” as “Approved”?
Not automatically — and a roster with people sitting at All Cleared is not an inconsistency that needs cleaning up. The two labels answer different questions:
| Label | Who it comes from | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| All Cleared | The background check | The search came back with no reportable records. It is a result, not a recommendation. |
| Approved | Your organization | Your attestation that this person is a fit for this role — which usually also weighs the interview, references, and how much unsupervised contact the role involves with children or vulnerable adults. |
So approving is a decision you make per person, when you're ready to make it. Open the volunteer's profile and click Approve. You can also ask Victor to set one for you by name. If you add a note, make it the actual reason — a generic line pasted onto a whole group records nothing, and months later it won't show that a decision was ever really made. Approving is also reversible: the same profile has a Revert approval button.
One thing approval does require
Download the volunteer's signed FCRA authorization
Separate from the background-check report, you can download a PDF copy of the FCRA Disclosure & Authorization the volunteer signed when they applied — the consent that legally allowed you to run the check. Open the volunteer's profile and scroll to the “FCRA Consent” card (it shows their signature, timestamp, and IP address), then click “Download authorization (PDF).” The document reproduces the exact disclosure and authorization text the volunteer agreed to, along with the electronic-signature audit trail (typed signature, date and time, IP address, and method). Keep it in your compliance file alongside the report.
The FCRA Consent card and its download button appear only afterthe volunteer has actually signed. If someone hasn't finished their application yet, there's no signed authorization to download.
Which PDF should I keep?
What a volunteer can share (not the report)
A self-funded volunteer can download and share a Screening Scope Certificate from their portal — a PDF of every search category, jurisdiction, and named data source. It is not a consumer report and contains no records. Their full report stays download-only; VolunteerBadge will not email it to your organization (or anyone else) on their behalf. Ask them for the certificate or a badge link when you need proof of scope, and keep the full report in your own compliance file after you run your check.
Considering declining a volunteer based on a record?