Bottom Line for North Carolina Nonprofits
- ✓Unpaid helpers in licensed child care centers and family child care homes who are counted in staff/child ratio or left alone with children
- ✓Volunteers at residential childcare facilities before beginning duties
- ✓Substitutes in licensed child care, paid or unpaid, who fill in for staff for up to two consecutive months (G.S. 110-90.2(a)(2)a., (a)(4))
- +2 more required roles below
State Laws That Apply to Volunteer Background Checks
Childcare Facility Criminal History Check
G.S. § 110-90.2Requires county, State and federal criminal history checks (State and federal by fingerprint) before employment and every five years for child care providers — including substitutes and household members over 15 — and bars anyone, paid or unpaid, who has a child abuse or neglect conviction, is on the Responsible Individuals List, or has a sex-offender reportable conviction.
Residential Child Care Facility Background Check
10A N.C.A.C. 70I .0404 and .0407Requires that volunteers at residential childcare facilities undergo a certified criminal record check, Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry check, and NC Health Care Personnel Registry check before beginning volunteer duties.
Responsible Individuals List (Central Registry)
G.S. § 7B-311Creates the confidential central registry and the Responsible Individuals List. DHHS may release list information only to child caring institutions, child placing agencies, group homes and foster care, child care or adoption providers; other organizations cannot search it, and unauthorized access is a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Who Must Be Screened in North Carolina
!Legally Required to Be Screened
- •Unpaid helpers in licensed child care centers and family child care homes who are counted in staff/child ratio or left alone with children
- •Volunteers at residential childcare facilities before beginning duties
- •Substitutes in licensed child care, paid or unpaid, who fill in for staff for up to two consecutive months (G.S. 110-90.2(a)(2)a., (a)(4))
- •School volunteers only where the local school board’s own policy requires it (no statute requires checks of school volunteers)
- •Adult care home, nursing home and home care agency job applicants (G.S. 131D-40, 131E-265); no statute located requires checks of their volunteers
Types of Background Checks Required in North Carolina
How to Get Background Checks in North Carolina
$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 North Carolina law requires.
Start Free Today →Volunteer Screening in North Carolina: What You Need to Know
North Carolina writes its screening law sector by sector. No statute requires checks of school volunteers; each local school board sets its own policy for checking school personnel (G.S. 115C-332(b)), and school volunteer files are not public records but are open to parents of students the volunteer had contact with (G.S. 115C-209.1). DHHS and the Division of Juvenile Justice may have the SBI check approved volunteers (G.S. 143B-1209.15(b)), but no statute requires it. North Carolina requires every person to report suspected child abuse to the county social services director (G.S. 7B-301), and since December 1, 2019 every adult must also report violent or sexual offenses against children to law enforcement (G.S. 14-318.6). HB 612 (S.L. 2025-16) made SBI checks mandatory from October 1, 2025 for county and city job applicants offered positions working with children; the rule covers job applicants, not volunteers.
Compliance Tips for North Carolina Nonprofits
- 1
If your nonprofit is licensed by NC DHHS (childcare, residential care), background checks are mandatory — for child care, apply through DCDEE's online ABCMS system (not the SBI) and hold a qualification letter or provisional status before starting; for residential child care, complete the criminal record check and registry searches before volunteer duties begin.
- 2
Always check the NC Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry (accessible free at ncsbi.gov) for any volunteer with child or vulnerable adult contact, even if a full criminal history check is not legally required for your sector.
- 3
Ask your local school district for its written volunteer policy — no statute requires checks of school volunteers, so the district’s own policy governs, and districts must tell volunteers at application that they may keep a volunteer file (G.S. 115C-209.1(c)).
- 4
In licensed child care, a provider may start provisionally once either the State or federal result is satisfactory but must be supervised at all times; DCDEE qualifies them if checks are not done within 45 days with nothing disqualifying, and an application left incomplete for 30 days is withdrawn.
- 5
Consider adopting a written background check policy even if not legally mandated — North Carolina also offers a Certificate of Relief: if you relied on one when accepting someone, it bars a negligent-hiring claim based on that record (G.S. 15A-173.5).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does North Carolina require background checks for my nonprofit’s volunteers?
Only for volunteers in specific roles or settings; no North Carolina rule covers every nonprofit. North Carolina does not impose a blanket background check mandate on nonprofit volunteers but requires criminal history checks for unpaid helpers counted in staff/child ratio or with unsupervised contact in licensed child care facilities (G.S. § 110-90.2; DCDEE) and for volunteers in licensed residential child-care facilities under 10A NCAC 70I .0404 and .0407.
How long does a North Carolina volunteer background check take?
Official state checks: No SBI turnaround is published; in licensed child care, a provisional provider is qualified if checks are not completed within 45 days with no disqualifying result (G.S. 110-90.2(d1)). VolunteerBadge's national criminal search returns most results in minutes; a record that needs human FCRA review can take up to about 72 hours.