Bottom Line for South Carolina Nonprofits
- ✓Anyone employed by or providing caregiver services at a licensed, registered or approved child care facility, including church and religious centers (§§ 63-13-40(D), 63-13-1010(G))
- ✓Anyone in a covered national service position, or volunteering in a position supported, sponsored or administered by the S.C. Commission on National and Community Service (§ 23-3-47)
- ✓Volunteers with direct, unsupervised contact with children at child-placing agencies, group homes, qualified residential treatment programs and contracted service providers (§ 63-7-2340(A), since 2024)
- +3 more required roles below
State Laws That Apply to Volunteer Background Checks
South Carolina Code § 63-13-40 — Childcare Background Checks
S.C. Code Ann. § 63-13-40 (2019)Requires anyone employed by or providing caregiver services at a licensed, registered or approved child care facility to clear SLED and FBI fingerprint checks, the DSS Central Registry, and the national and state sex offender registries, plus criminal, sex offender and child abuse registry checks in every state lived in during the past five years. Fingerprints are repeated every five years. The statute has no volunteer exemption. DSS regulations excuse only an unpaid helper, 16 or older, who assists infrequently and is supervised by staff at all times during direct care (S.C. Code Regs. 114-501(A)(40)); family child care home volunteers must be fingerprinted (Regs. 114-531). Provisional work requires a favorable SLED name and date-of-birth check plus a SLED or FBI fingerprint check, a sworn statement and direct supervision.
South Carolina Code § 23-3-47 — National and Community Service Background Checks
S.C. Code Ann. § 23-3-47 (2014)Requires anyone seeking a covered position under 45 C.F.R. part 2540, or who volunteers or serves in a position supported, sponsored or administered by the South Carolina Commission on National and Community Service, to undergo SLED and FBI fingerprint-based checks, unless the Commission finds the requirement met through another process. The Commission pays.
South Carolina Code § 63-7-2340 — Child-Placing Agency, Group Home and Treatment Program Volunteers
S.C. Code Ann. §§ 63-7-2340, 63-7-2350 (as amended 2024)Since May 21, 2024, anyone seeking a volunteer role with direct, unsupervised contact with children at a child-placing agency, qualified residential treatment program, residential facility or contracted service provider must clear SLED and FBI fingerprint checks. A substantiated abuse history or a listed conviction bars the role. DSS group care rules add yearly SLED, Central Registry, sex offender registry and out-of-state checks, with FBI fingerprints every five years (S.C. Code Regs. 114-591(L)).
Who Must Be Screened in South Carolina
!Legally Required to Be Screened
- •Anyone employed by or providing caregiver services at a licensed, registered or approved child care facility, including church and religious centers (§§ 63-13-40(D), 63-13-1010(G))
- •Anyone in a covered national service position, or volunteering in a position supported, sponsored or administered by the S.C. Commission on National and Community Service (§ 23-3-47)
- •Volunteers with direct, unsupervised contact with children at child-placing agencies, group homes, qualified residential treatment programs and contracted service providers (§ 63-7-2340(A), since 2024)
- •Child care volunteers who fall outside DSS’s narrow exemption (unpaid, infrequent, supervised by staff at all times), and every family child care home volunteer (S.C. Code Regs. 114-501(A)(40), 114-531)
- •Public school volunteers who work in a school on an interim or regular basis as mentors, coaches or in any other capacity, and chaperones or others with direct student interaction — a National Sex Offender Registry check run by the district, not a criminal history check (§ 59-19-117(B))
- •Volunteers of DSS child-welfare contractors who have direct unsupervised contact with a child in DSS custody (§ 63-13-190(A)(2), as amended May 19, 2026)
Types of Background Checks Required in South Carolina
How to Get Background Checks in South 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 South Carolina law requires.
Start Free Today →Volunteer Screening in South Carolina: What You Need to Know
South Carolina’s volunteer exemption in child care comes from DSS regulations rather than statute. It covers only a parent, grandparent or skilled helper aged 16 or older who assists infrequently, unpaid and supervised by staff at all times (S.C. Code Regs. 114-501(A)(40)). Family child care homes fingerprint their volunteers. In 2024 the legislature extended fingerprint checks to volunteers with unsupervised contact at child-placing agencies and residential programs (2024 Act No. 195). SLED’s CATCH search gives charities, churches, mentors and parks-and-recreation volunteer programs an $8 rate set by statute (§ 23-3-115(B)). Anyone required to register as a sex offender who works or volunteers where a minor is present, in a role that includes instruction, supervision or care of minors, commits a felony unless a circuit court order approves it (§ 63-13-1110).
Compliance Tips for South Carolina Nonprofits
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Eligible organizations — 501(c)(3)s, churches, charities registered or exempt with the Secretary of State, bona fide mentors, and parks-and-recreation volunteer programs — pay $8 per SLED CATCH search, plus the online service fee SLED notes from July 1, 2026 (§ 23-3-115(B)). You may not charge a volunteer more than $8. CATCH searches South Carolina records only and does not search the sex offender registry.
- 2
The child care volunteer exemption comes from DSS regulations (S.C. Code Regs. 114-501(A)(40)), not § 63-13-40. It covers only unpaid helpers aged 16 or older who assist infrequently and are supervised by staff at all times during direct care. By our reading, a volunteer who provides caregiver services outside that definition, and every family child care home volunteer, needs the full SLED, FBI and Central Registry checks.
- 3
For national service programs, the S.C. Commission on National and Community Service must obtain SLED and FBI fingerprint checks and pays for them (§ 23-3-47). Coordinate with the Commission early.
- 4
Group homes, treatment programs and child-placing agencies: since May 21, 2024, volunteers with direct, unsupervised contact with children need SLED and FBI fingerprints before they start (§ 63-7-2340). DSS group care rules add annual SLED and registry rechecks and FBI fingerprints every five years (S.C. Code Regs. 114-591(L)).
- 5
Anyone covered by the child care check who has lived in another state in the past five years also needs that state’s criminal repository, sex offender and child abuse registry checks (§ 63-13-40(D)(2)); group care requires each such state’s child abuse registry check (S.C. Code Regs. 114-591(L)(2)). Build in time for out-of-state responses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does South Carolina require background checks for my nonprofit’s volunteers?
Only for volunteers in specific roles or settings; no South Carolina rule covers every nonprofit. South Carolina has no general volunteer-screening law. It requires checks in specific settings: licensed, registered and approved child care (S.C. Code § 63-13-40), where DSS regulations excuse only occasional, unpaid helpers who are supervised by staff at all times; child-placing agencies, group homes and treatment programs, for volunteers with direct, unsupervised contact with children (§ 63-7-2340, since 2024); and national service positions (§ 23-3-47).
How long does a South Carolina volunteer background check take?
Timing varies by check type. VolunteerBadge's national criminal and sex offender registry searches return most results in minutes; a record that needs human FCRA review can take up to about 72 hours. For current fingerprint-check timing, contact: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) — state fingerprint checks where a statute requires them, and the SLED CATCH name-based search (catch.sled.sc.gov): $25, or $8 for 501(c)(3)s, churches, charities registered or exempt with the Secretary of State, bona fide mentors and parks-and-recreation volunteer programs, plus the online service fee SLED notes from July 1, 2026. DSS runs Central Registry checks and reviews child care fingerprints..