Every check costs $5 — one credit. There are three ways a check happens:
- From a volunteer's profile. Open the volunteer and click “Run Background Check.” You'll see what's included and your remaining credits, then confirm with “Run check.”
- Direct check (no invite). Use “Run background check” to screen someone you already have written FCRA authorization from. Enter their details — a middle name (or initial) is required — set the misdemeanor/traffic options, confirm the disclosure attestation, and click “Run Check.” Instant checks match on name and date of birth without an SSN address trace, so the middle name is what confirms identity and prevents false matches on common names. Don't have a middle name for them? Invite them to apply instead — they enter their identity on the signed application.
- Volunteer pays their own fee. When enabled, the volunteer pays $5 at apply time and the check runs automatically — your organization spends no credit, and the results still stay with you.
Verify yourself once before screening (free, 2 minutes)
On new organizations, before you can invite a volunteer to apply, run a direct/instant check, or view any submissions (applications, SSN-traced address history, identity-verification evidence, or background-check reports), the admin doing it completes a free, one-time identity verification. You can still share your public application link and QR code and collect submissions right away — but the personal data stays locked until you verify. Go to Settings → Verify identity, confirm your identity with a government ID and a quick selfie (powered by Didit), and you're set — you won't be asked again, and a trust badge shows next to your name. This is how VolunteerBadge makes a reasonable effort under the FCRA (§607(a), 15 U.S.C. §1681e(a)) to verify who is requesting consumer reports — protecting you and the people you screen. Signing up stays quick; this step only appears the first time you actually invite, check, or open a submission. (Existing organizations are unaffected.)
What's included in every $5 check
A national, FCRA-compliant criminal search across county, state, and federal court records, plus sex-offender registries in all 50 states and federal watchlists (FBI Most Wanted, OFAC). Standard checks also include an SSN trace for identity verification and address-history enrichment. Results usually arrive in minutes.
Address history & what “Gaps” means
When an application is submitted, VolunteerBadge runs an SSN address-history trace that shows in the Address Verify column. It's informational — it cross-checks where an applicant has lived so the background check is more accurate. “Gaps” is not a red flag and shouldn't be used to disqualify anyone; it usually just means not every past address was on file, since people often don't list their full history. Your first 4 applicants get this address-history trace free; after that it comes only with a paid $5 background check (which always includes it), or you can switch it off under Settings → Screening. Either way you can keep collecting applications — but approving a volunteer still requires running their check.
An address on the trace that isn’t theirs
Occasionally the SSN trace attaches an address a person never lived at — a “mixed file,” where a data broker or credit bureau linked someone else's address (an old roommate, a typo, an identity mix-up). It's informational and doesn't affect a clear result or approval: our CRA reviewers match every criminal record to verified identity, so a stray address can't attach another person's record. If a volunteer disputes one, you don't have to live with it — just ask Victor (“that address isn't hers — remove it”) and he'll remove it from the report and block it from returning on future pulls, or email support@screenforgelabs.com. This is the consumer's FCRA right to dispute the accuracy of their file, and we honor it.
No U.S. SSN?
If your organization enables screening without a U.S. SSN, applicants and direct checks can opt in for foreign nationals currently in the U.S. Same $5 pricing; U.S. records only — no SSN trace.
Approving a volunteer requires a completed check
You can't mark a volunteer Approved until a background check has actually been run on them through VolunteerBadge. “Approved” is your organization's attestation that you screened the person — so identity verification and address history alone won't unlock it. If you try to approve someone who hasn't been checked, we'll prompt you to run the $5 check first (and to top up credits if you're out). Ask Victorand he'll run it for you.
Approval is also blocked while a check is still processing or under CRA review — you can only approve once the screening is finished and the result has been released to you. If records are found, review the released report and use the Complianceadverse-action workflow to decline; never approve over a check that hasn't come back yet.
Approval is also blocked while a check is still processing or under CRA review — you can only approve once the screening is finished and the result has been released to you. If records are found, review the released report and use the Complianceadverse-action workflow to decline; never approve over a check that hasn't come back yet.
We'll remind you who's ready to screen
When you've verified volunteers or collected their applications but haven't run their checks, VolunteerBadge surfaces a “ready to screen” banner on your Volunteers page and sends a weekly email digest listing exactly who's waiting. Victor will also point it out and offer to run the checks for you — just say the word.
Fixing a mistake on an application
If a volunteer mistyped something when they applied — a wrong birth year, a typo in their name, or an out-of-date address — you can correct it right from their profile, or just tell Victorin plain English (“her date of birth is wrong, it should be 10/07/1947”) and he'll fix it after you confirm. Contact details (email, phone, address) can be updated anytime.
Legal name and date of birth are identity fields. Before a check runs they're freely correctable — and fixing the DOB updates the exact value the $5 check will read, so screening runs against the right person. Once a check has run, name and DOB lock — that report is tied to the identity it was run against (an FCRA requirement). If the wrong identity was screened, add the person again as a new volunteer with the corrected details and re-screen.
Legal name and date of birth are identity fields. Before a check runs they're freely correctable — and fixing the DOB updates the exact value the $5 check will read, so screening runs against the right person. Once a check has run, name and DOB lock — that report is tied to the identity it was run against (an FCRA requirement). If the wrong identity was screened, add the person again as a new volunteer with the corrected details and re-screen.
A volunteer who already has a VolunteerBadge
Some applicants arrive already holding an active VolunteerBadge — they've passed an FCRA background check through VolunteerBadge (often self-paid, or run by another organization). When they do, your roster shows a green Badge chip next to their status, and their profile shows a “brought their own badge” panel. This is a status-onlytrust signal — you see that they're cleared and when it expires, never their report.
A brought badge doesn't automatically pay for or complete your application. The volunteer still finishes your application (including signing the FCRA authorization), and to put them on your own books you either accept their badge or run your own $5 check — that's what your “Approved” attests to. So it's normal to see someone with an active badge still sitting at Pending in your list until they finish your application: the status reflects yourscreening, not their badge. If a volunteer says “I already paid,” they most likely paid for their own portable badge — a separate thing from your organization's screening.
A brought badge doesn't automatically pay for or complete your application. The volunteer still finishes your application (including signing the FCRA authorization), and to put them on your own books you either accept their badge or run your own $5 check — that's what your “Approved” attests to. So it's normal to see someone with an active badge still sitting at Pending in your list until they finish your application: the status reflects yourscreening, not their badge. If a volunteer says “I already paid,” they most likely paid for their own portable badge — a separate thing from your organization's screening.
Archiving direct checks
Finished reviewing a direct check (no volunteer profile)? Open the check from Background Checks, scroll to the bottom, and click Archive this check. The report stays on file for compliance — it just disappears from your active list. You cannot archive while a check is processing or while FCRA adverse action is still in progress.