Bottom Line for Minnesota Nonprofits
- ✓Anyone, except enrolled student volunteers, offered athletic or extracurricular academic coaching at a public, charter or nonpublic school, regardless of whether any compensation is paid (§ 123B.03, subd. 1(a))
- ✓Child care volunteers who help care for children, or who have unsupervised physical access to a child without staff supervision, at licensed centers, family child care, certified license-exempt centers and legal nonlicensed providers (§§ 245C.02, subd. 6a; 245C.03, subd. 5c)
- ✓Volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision in DHS-licensed programs, including adult foster care, adult day care, 245D home and community-based services and residential or substance use disorder treatment (§ 245C.03, subd. 1(a)(4), (c))
- +3 more required roles below
State Laws That Apply to Volunteer Background Checks
Human Services Background Studies
Minn. Stat. ch. 245C (esp. §§ 245C.02, 245C.03, 245C.13)Requires background studies, run by DHS and DCYF through NETStudy 2.0, for people affiliated with licensed programs. Volunteers are study subjects only when their direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision — within sight or hearing of a supervisor able to intervene at all times (§§ 245C.02, subd. 8; 245C.03, subd. 1(a)(4)). Child care is broader: volunteers who help care for children, or who have unsupervised physical access to a child, are covered (§ 245C.02, subd. 6a). Studies use fingerprints and a photo; pending results, most subjects may provide direct contact only under continuous, direct supervision (§ 245C.13, subd. 2).
Minnesota Child, Elder, and Individuals with Disabilities Protection Background Check Act
Minn. Stat. §§ 299C.60–299C.64Lets a qualified entity that provides care to children, older adults or people with disabilities request BCA state and FBI fingerprint checks, with the person’s signed consent, for listed background check crimes. The Act creates no duty to check (§ 299C.62, subd. 5). Evidence that a BCA check of a volunteer was not requested under the Act is inadmissible in any litigation against a nonprofit (subd. 6) — an evidence rule, not immunity from negligence claims. The BCA makes reasonable efforts to respond within 15 business days.
School Background Checks
Minn. Stat. § 123B.03, subd. 1A school hiring authority must request a BCA criminal history check on everyone offered employment and on everyone, except enrolled student volunteers, offered athletic or extracurricular academic coaching, regardless of whether any compensation is paid. Checks on other school volunteers are at the school’s discretion, and the volunteer pays unless the school chooses to. Applies to public, charter and nonpublic schools, not home schools.
Long-Term Care Background Studies
Minn. Stat. § 144.057, subd. 1Nursing homes, home care agencies, assisted living facilities and boarding care homes use DHS background studies for the people ch. 245C covers, including volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision.
Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant Condition
Laws 2025, 1st Spec. Sess. ch. 1, art. 2 (project requirements, par. (m)); Laws 2026, ch. 104Organizations receiving Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund money to conduct children’s services must certify to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, in their work plan, that checks for § 299C.61 background check crimes are performed on all employees, contractors and volunteers who have or may have access to those children. It is a condition on these grants, not an amendment to ch. 245C. The bill often cited for it, S.F. 506 (2025), was not enacted; the condition passed in the 2025 special session and was repeated in 2026.
Who Must Be Screened in Minnesota
!Legally Required to Be Screened
- •Anyone, except enrolled student volunteers, offered athletic or extracurricular academic coaching at a public, charter or nonpublic school, regardless of whether any compensation is paid (§ 123B.03, subd. 1(a))
- •Child care volunteers who help care for children, or who have unsupervised physical access to a child without staff supervision, at licensed centers, family child care, certified license-exempt centers and legal nonlicensed providers (§§ 245C.02, subd. 6a; 245C.03, subd. 5c)
- •Volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision in DHS-licensed programs, including adult foster care, adult day care, 245D home and community-based services and residential or substance use disorder treatment (§ 245C.03, subd. 1(a)(4), (c))
- •Any adult working in a children’s residential facility or foster residence setting, with or without direct contact, plus child foster care and Head Start volunteers whose direct contact is not continuously supervised (§ 245C.03, subds. 1(a)(8), 5c)
- •Volunteers who provide direct contact services, not under continuous, direct supervision, in nursing homes, home care agencies, assisted living facilities and boarding care homes (§ 144.057, subd. 1(a)(2))
- •Employees, contractors and volunteers with access to children at organizations using Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund grants for children’s services (grant condition: Laws 2025, 1st Spec. Sess. ch. 1; Laws 2026, ch. 104)
Types of Background Checks Required in Minnesota
How to Get Background Checks in Minnesota
$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 Minnesota law requires.
Start Free Today →Volunteer Screening in Minnesota: What You Need to Know
Minnesota passed its volunteer-organization background check law in 1992 (Laws 1992, ch. 569), a year before the federal National Child Protection Act, and renamed it the Minnesota Child, Elder, and Individuals with Disabilities Protection Background Check Act in 2021. Its most distinctive feature is the supervision line in ch. 245C: in most licensed programs other than child care, a volunteer who stays within sight or hearing of the license holder or an employee able to intervene is not a required study subject. Minnesota’s school law is unusual in reaching every athletic and extracurricular academic coach, paid or not, except enrolled student volunteers. Clean Slate automatic sealing began January 1, 2025, but ch. 245C studies can still reach some sealed records (§§ 609A.015, 609A.03, subd. 7a). A registered predatory offender who volunteers for more than 14 days, or more than 30 days in total in a calendar year, must report it as work (§ 243.166, subds. 1a(o), 4a(a)).
Compliance Tips for Minnesota Nonprofits
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Start with the supervision line: in DHS-licensed programs and in child foster care and Head Start, a volunteer whose direct contact is always within sight or hearing of the license holder or an employee able to intervene is not a required study subject, but a volunteer who is ever alone with participants must be studied through NETStudy 2.0 (§§ 245C.02, subd. 8; 245C.03). Child care is different: anyone assisting in the care of a child is a study subject, however closely supervised (§ 245C.02, subd. 6a).
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Pending a ch. 245C result, most study subjects may provide direct contact only under continuous, direct supervision; since July 1, 2026, any child care worker or volunteer who must give fingerprints cannot start until the fingerprint result is back (§ 245C.13, subd. 2, as amended by Laws 2026, ch. 121).
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Volunteer coaches at a school, other than enrolled student volunteers, need a BCA check requested by the school whether or not they are paid (§ 123B.03). Other school volunteers are checked at the school’s discretion.
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If your nonprofit provides care to children, older adults or people with disabilities but no statute requires checks, you may become a qualified entity and request BCA fingerprint checks with each volunteer’s signed consent (§§ 299C.60–.64). It is voluntary.
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Section 299C.62, subd. 6 keeps evidence that you did not request a BCA check on a volunteer out of litigation against your nonprofit. It is an evidence rule, not immunity, and it does not address other evidence.
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If you receive Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund money for children’s programs, your work plan must certify checks on employees, contractors and volunteers with access to children. We found no broader 2025 mandate for other state appropriations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Minnesota require background checks for my nonprofit’s volunteers?
Only for volunteers in specific roles or settings; no Minnesota rule covers every nonprofit. Minnesota has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen its volunteers. It requires checks in specific settings: schools must request BCA checks on every athletic or extracurricular academic coach, paid or unpaid, except enrolled student volunteers (Minn. Stat. § 123B.03); child care programs study volunteers who help care for children or have unsupervised access to them (§ 245C.02, subd. 6a); and DHS-licensed and long-term care programs study volunteers whose direct contact is not under continuous, direct supervision (ch. 245C; § 144.057).
How long does a Minnesota volunteer background check take?
Official state checks: a 15-business-day target for BCA volunteer-organization checks, which the BCA must make reasonable efforts to meet (§ 299C.62, subd. 1). VolunteerBadge's national criminal search returns most results in minutes; a record that needs human FCRA review can take up to about 72 hours.