Bottom Line for Georgia Nonprofits
- ✓Volunteers who provide consistent services (more than once in 90 days) involving personal contact with children at DECAL-licensed child care learning centers and family child care learning homes
- ✓Volunteers with direct access and duties equivalent to an employee's at nursing homes, intermediate care homes, assisted living communities, adult day centers, personal care homes, hospices, home health agencies, private home care providers and adult residential mental health programs
- ✓Volunteers at those long-term care facilities whose employee-equivalent duties give routine access to residents' property or financial information
- +1 more required roles below
State Laws That Apply to Volunteer Background Checks
Exchange of National Criminal History Background Checks — Care Providers
O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34.2Authorizes and facilitates, but does not require, fingerprint-based state and national criminal history checks of employees, contractors and volunteers of qualified entities that provide care to children, the elderly or individuals with disabilities; rewritten effective July 1, 2026 (HB 1097).
Long-Term Care Background Check Program
O.C.G.A. § 31-7-350 et seq.Requires fingerprint-based GBI and FBI checks of owners, applicants and direct access employees — including volunteers whose duties are equivalent to an employee's — at nursing homes, assisted living communities, personal care homes, hospices, home health agencies and other listed long-term care facilities; physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and dietitians and nutritionists licensed by their Georgia boards, with licenses in good standing, are exempt.
Georgia Criminal Records Disclosure
O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34Lets private persons and organizations obtain Georgia criminal history with the subject's fingerprints or signed consent (restricted and first-offender records excluded); without consent only in-state felony convictions are released, and anyone making an adverse employment decision must disclose the record and its effect or commit a misdemeanor (GCIC’s rule extends the notice to other decisions).
Child Care Comprehensive Records Checks
O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-30 et seq.; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 591-1-1Requires DECAL comprehensive records checks, with FBI fingerprints and registry searches in every state lived in during the prior five years, for child care employees, a term that covers anyone with personal contact with children in care, paid or not. DECAL treats a volunteer who serves more than once in 90 days as covered. Checks are portable for 12 months (24 for early-education students) and must be redone at least every five years unless fingerprints are retained in Rap Back (O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-39(a)–(b)).
Mandated Reporting of Child Abuse
O.C.G.A. § 19-7-5Names child service organization personnel, including anyone volunteering at an organization that provides care, education, coaching, recreation or shelter to children, as mandated reporters. Reports must be made immediately, and no later than 24 hours; knowing and willful failure is a misdemeanor.
Who Must Be Screened in Georgia
!Legally Required to Be Screened
- •Volunteers who provide consistent services (more than once in 90 days) involving personal contact with children at DECAL-licensed child care learning centers and family child care learning homes
- •Volunteers with direct access and duties equivalent to an employee's at nursing homes, intermediate care homes, assisted living communities, adult day centers, personal care homes, hospices, home health agencies, private home care providers and adult residential mental health programs
- •Volunteers at those long-term care facilities whose employee-equivalent duties give routine access to residents' property or financial information
- •Directors, helpers and volunteers (other than parents who are not also employees) at license-exempt programs, including day camps, that receive CAPS child care subsidy funds
Types of Background Checks Required in Georgia
How to Get Background Checks in Georgia
$5 per check — a national criminal database search, sex offender registries in all 50 states and an SSN trace, with human FCRA review when a record needs it. It never replaces a check Georgia law requires.
Start Free Today →Volunteer Screening in Georgia: What You Need to Know
IDEMIA (IdentoGO) is GBI’s contracted GAPS fingerprint vendor, and the current GCIC fee schedule took effect January 1, 2025, with a lower volunteer rate ($38.00 for a Georgia/FBI check; $47.99 through GAPS, versus $51.99 for employment checks). Georgia names volunteers as mandated reporters: child service organization personnel include anyone volunteering at an organization that provides care, education, coaching, recreation or shelter to children (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-5(b)(6), (c)(1)(M)). The Long-term Care Background Check Program is administered by DCH’s Office of Inspector General through the GCHEXS system. Georgia does not have a standalone youth-serving organization background-check law like New Jersey’s (which authorizes, but does not require, checks) — screening requirements arise through sector-specific licensing.
Compliance Tips for Georgia Nonprofits
- 1
Obtain a GAPS agency account number through the For Agencies tab at ga.state.identogo.com/ata before sending volunteers for fingerprinting; results post to the GAPS website, typically within 24 to 48 hours.
- 2
For long-term care volunteers, a satisfactory DCH determination stays valid while the person remains at the same facility; someone moving to a new facility needs a determination issued within the past 12 months unless their fingerprints are retained in Rap Back.
- 3
We found no Georgia statute requiring records checks of K-12 volunteers (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-211.1 covers school employees), so any school-volunteer requirement comes from your district’s own policy; ask which roles it screens and how — a GAPS fingerprint check or a consent-based Georgia check through a sheriff or police department.
- 4
If you run a licensed child care program, DECAL requires a comprehensive records check for consistent volunteers and a new check at least every five years (O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-39(b)); long-term care volunteers go through DCH’s GCHEXS system, which is a separate program.
- 5
Review the GCIC fee schedule annually (updated January 1, 2025) and budget accordingly; fees are collected through the GAPS website when the applicant registers, and GCIC charges volunteers less than employment applicants.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Georgia require background checks for my nonprofit’s volunteers?
Only for volunteers in specific roles or settings; no Georgia rule covers every nonprofit. Georgia has no general volunteer background-check mandate. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-34.2 authorizes, but does not require, fingerprint-based national checks of volunteers at organizations that serve children, the elderly, or people with disabilities.
How long does a Georgia volunteer background check take?
Official state checks: GAPS results (GBI and FBI) typically reach the agency 24 to 48 hours after fingerprinting; DECAL and DCH then review before issuing a determination. VolunteerBadge's national criminal search returns most results in minutes; a record that needs human FCRA review can take up to about 72 hours.