Do supervised volunteers need a Background Check Program clearance?

Usually, if they have regular contact. 7 AAC 10.900(b)(6) covers any individual 16 or older who is present in a covered program and would have direct contact with the people served that occurs daily or on a recurring basis. The exemptions in 7 AAC 10.900(d) are a closed list — relatives and visitors of a person served, vendors, occasional guests and a few others, each with supervised access — and supervision alone isn’t one of them. In child care, 7 AAC 57.310(e) says supervising a person doesn’t mean they lack contact with children.

How much does a Background Check Program check cost a volunteer?

The $40 application fee is waived for an unpaid volunteer of a state-run or 501(c)(3) provider (7 AAC 10.910(b)(5)). The DPS fingerprint-based fee of $35 and the FBI’s fee still apply, and DPS charges $30 to roll a first set of prints (13 AAC 68.900(a)). A provider may pass these costs to the individual, except in a foster home.

Can a volunteer start before the clearance comes back?

Sometimes. DOH may issue a 90-day provisional clearance after screening registries and Alaska records — including where fingerprinting acceptable to DPS isn’t available within 100 miles by road — if the prints follow within 30 days (7 AAC 10.920).

Are volunteers mandated reporters in Alaska?

Some are. AS 47.17.020(a)(9) names volunteers who interact with children in a public or private school for more than four hours a week, and school athletic coaches include volunteer coaches — though an unpaid coach must report only after volunteering more than four hours a week for four consecutive weeks (or 20 hours a week in a month), completing state training and signing an acknowledgment. Reports go to the Office of Children’s Services within 24 hours, and to law enforcement too if a sex offense is suspected. Telling a supervisor doesn’t satisfy the duty, and failure is a class A misdemeanor.

Can a nonprofit outside the program get an Alaska criminal record?

Yes. Under AS 12.62.160(b)(9), an organization that places someone, paid or unpaid, in a position with supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or dependent adult can request that person’s Alaska record from DPS as an “interested person.” DPS charges $20 without fingerprints or $35 with them, and may add an FBI check if fingerprints and fees are submitted. Anyone can get conviction information for any purpose, without nonconviction records.

Does a VolunteerBadge check replace a Background Check Program clearance?

No. Where the Background Check Program applies, the Department of Health’s clearance is required and a commercial check can’t stand in for it or count toward it. VolunteerBadge is for the volunteer roles no Alaska statute covers.

Free guide · 2026 edition · From Anchorage child care to rural health clinics, who Alaska’s Background Check Program reaches

Off the Road System: The Alaska guide to screening volunteers: who the Department of Health’s Background Check Program reaches, why supervision doesn’t exempt a regular volunteer, DPS records, and the school volunteers Alaska makes reporters

Alaska leaves nonprofits outside its licensing system to set their own screening. It has one program with a long reach: the Department of Health’s Background Check Program, which fingerprints owners, staff and volunteers of every provider the Department of Health or the Department of Family and Community Services licenses, certifies or pays. Inside it, a volunteer with regular contact needs a clearance whether or not someone supervises them. This guide explains who is covered, what a clearance involves, and what Alaska leaves to you.

By the VolunteerBadge research team · Sources checked September 12, 2026

Written for Alaska volunteer programs on and off the road system, where fingerprinting can be 100 miles away
Who the Background Check Program reaches — and why supervision doesn’t exempt a regular volunteer
Barrier crimes, the $40 volunteer fee waiver and provisional clearances off the road system
A reporting card for school volunteers and coaches, and a role worksheet you can copy

Who Off the Road System is for

Executive directors, volunteer coordinators, child care and camp directors, assisted living, hospice and home-care volunteer managers, foster and group-home agencies, school and PTA leaders, coaches, and church and youth-ministry leaders — anyone in Alaska who recruits volunteers and wants to know what Alaska law asks of them.

13.0

child victims of abuse or neglect per 1,000 Alaska children in 2024 — 2,266 children — against 7.2 nationally.

ACF, Child Maltreatment 2024

33.6%

of Alaskans volunteered through an organization in 2023 — 14th of the 50 states.

VolunteerBadge analysis of AmeriCorps CEV 2023 data

$40

The Background Check Program application fee — waived for unpaid volunteers of state-run or 501(c)(3) providers. The DPS $35 fee and the FBI fee still apply.

7 AAC 10.910(b)(5); 13 AAC 68.900(a)

Cited to primary sources

Alaska at a glance

Licensing and payment set the scope: Alaska’s checks come from the Department of Health’s Background Check Program, which applies to individuals and entities that must be licensed or certified by, or are eligible to receive payments from, the Department of Health or the Department of Family and Community Services.; AS 47.05.300(a); AS 47.32.010(b)–(d)
Regular contact triggers a clearance: Anyone 16 or older who is present in a covered entity and would have regular contact with the people served — direct interaction that is daily or recurring — needs a valid background check, along with owners, staff, unsupervised volunteers and board members with contact or access to records or money.; AS 47.05.310(d); 7 AAC 10.900(b); 10.990(c)
Supervision is not an exemption: The exemptions are a closed list — relatives and visitors of a person served, vendors, outside support, short-stay residents, parent designees, occasional guests and a few others — each conditioned on supervised access. In child care, supervising a person doesn’t mean they lack contact with children.; 7 AAC 10.900(d)–(e); 7 AAC 57.310(e)
What a clearance is: Fingerprints checked by DPS and the FBI, plus registry and civil history searches, with the determination made by the Department of Health. The name stays marked in APSIN for real-time arrest notices; a clearance lasts five years, is verified by the provider every year, and lapses after 100 days without an association.; AS 47.05.310(e); 7 AAC 10.910(c)–(d), (k); 10.915(a)–(b), (e), (g)
The volunteer fee waiver: The $40 application fee is waived for an unpaid volunteer of a state-run or 501(c)(3) provider. The DPS fingerprint-based fee of $35 and the FBI’s fee still apply.; 7 AAC 10.910(b)(5); 13 AAC 68.900(a)(2)(B), (5)
Provisional clearances off the road system: Where fingerprinting acceptable to DPS isn’t available within 100 miles by road, DOH may issue a 90-day provisional clearance after screening registries and Alaska records, with fingerprints due within 30 days.; 7 AAC 10.920(a)(3), (b)–(c)
Barrier crimes in four tiers: Permanent, 10-year, five-year and three-year barrier crimes, plus 10-year civil conditions such as sex offender registry listing. A pending barrier charge bars contact until resolved, and a suspended imposition of sentence counts even if set aside.; 7 AAC 10.905(b)–(f), (h), (m)(2)
School volunteers and coaches report: Volunteers who interact with children in a public or private school more than four hours a week, and qualifying volunteer school coaches, must report suspected abuse within 24 hours. Telling a supervisor doesn’t satisfy the duty; failure is a class A misdemeanor.; AS 47.17.020(a)(2), (9), (g), (j); 47.17.068; 47.17.290(1), (7)
An optional DPS check outside the program: An organization placing someone, with or without pay, in a position of supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or dependent adult may request that person’s Alaska record as an “interested person,” and DPS may add an FBI check with fingerprints.; AS 12.62.160(b)(9), (e); 12.62.900(17)

From the Off the Road System executive summary

Contact, not supervision: six Alaska rules to know

1
There is no blanket volunteer mandate.
The Background Check Program reaches individuals and entities that must be licensed or certified by, or are eligible to receive payments from, the Department of Health or the Department of Family and Community Services. Payments used solely for administrative costs don’t count.
2
Regular contact decides it, not supervision.
Anyone 16 or older present in a covered program who would have daily or recurring contact with the people it serves needs a clearance. The exemptions are a closed list, and supervising a volunteer isn’t one of them.
3
A clearance is fingerprint-based and ongoing.
Alaska and FBI fingerprint checks plus civil registries, run by the Department of Health. The person’s name stays flagged in APSIN, which relays new arrests; the clearance lasts five years and lapses after 100 days without an association.
4
Charity volunteers pay less.
The $40 application fee is waived for unpaid volunteers of state-run or 501(c)(3) providers. The DPS $35 fingerprint fee and the FBI’s fee still apply.
5
Some volunteers are mandated reporters.
Volunteers who spend more than four hours a week with children in a public or private school must report suspected abuse within 24 hours, and so must volunteer school coaches who meet hours, training and acknowledgment conditions. Telling a supervisor doesn’t satisfy the duty.
6
Outside the program, you choose.
No statute we found requires checks for churches, youth sports, overnight camps or school volunteers. An organization placing someone over children or dependent adults can order a DPS record as an “interested person,” with an optional FBI check.

Inside Off the Road System, chapter by chapter

01
One program, one test: regular contact
One program, one test — regular contact — and Alaska’s maltreatment and volunteering numbers.
02
Is the provider in the Background Check Program?
Every setting sorted by one question: does DOH or DFCS license, certify or pay for it?
03
Who the Background Check Program reaches
The six ways to be associated with a provider, and the definitions that decide.
04
“Regular contact”: why supervision doesn’t exempt
The statute’s wording, the closed list of exemptions and two kinds of supervision.
05
Inside a clearance: fingerprints, fees and clocks
NABCS, the $40 waiver, provisional clearances off the road system, five years and 100 days.
06
Barrier crimes, civil findings and variances
The four tiers, pending charges, set-aside sentences and how to ask for a variance.
07
Child care and day camps
The five-child line, the licensing exemptions and the accredited day camp rule.
08
Foster homes, residential care and adult care
Foster households, regular volunteers in group care, HB 36 and adult care providers.
09
Reporting abuse: the volunteers Alaska names
School volunteers, volunteer coaches, the 24-hour rule and vulnerable adults.
10
Schools, sports, churches and overnight camps
Where Alaska law is silent, and the registry you search yourself.
11
Ordering an Alaska record yourself
DPS’s two tiers, the interested-person check, fees and what records leave out.
12
Fair chance, charities and liability
The FCRA, charity and gaming registration, director immunity and AmeriCorps checks.
13
Each act since 2023, traced to the statutes
A dated timeline traced through every enacted bill.
14
Beside the BCP, never inside it
The roles a $5 national screen can cover — one-off helpers, leagues, churches, co-ops — and why it never touches a DOH clearance.
A
Appendix A: Boxes for BCP providers, child care and DPS
The baseline, BCP providers, child care, foster and residential care, and DPS records.
B
Appendix B: An AS 47.17.020 card and a role-sorting worksheet
An AS 47.17.020 card for school volunteers and coaches, and a worksheet for sorting roles.
C
Appendix C: Each Alaska statute, rule and bill we read
Related guides, and each statute, regulation and bill we read, with its date.

Get the free guide

Off the Road System: Alaska questions answered

Does Alaska require background checks for volunteers?: Not as a general rule. Alaska’s checks come from the Department of Health’s Background Check Program under AS 47.05.300–.390 and 7 AAC 10.900–.990, which applies to providers licensed or certified by, or eligible for payments from, the Department of Health or the Department of Family and Community Services — child care facilities, foster homes, assisted living, nursing facilities, hospices, home health and similar programs. We found no statute requiring checks for churches, youth sports, overnight camps or school volunteers.
Do supervised volunteers need a Background Check Program clearance?: Usually, if they have regular contact. 7 AAC 10.900(b)(6) covers any individual 16 or older who is present in a covered program and would have direct contact with the people served that occurs daily or on a recurring basis. The exemptions in 7 AAC 10.900(d) are a closed list — relatives and visitors of a person served, vendors, occasional guests and a few others, each with supervised access — and supervision alone isn’t one of them. In child care, 7 AAC 57.310(e) says supervising a person doesn’t mean they lack contact with children.
How much does a Background Check Program check cost a volunteer?: The $40 application fee is waived for an unpaid volunteer of a state-run or 501(c)(3) provider (7 AAC 10.910(b)(5)). The DPS fingerprint-based fee of $35 and the FBI’s fee still apply, and DPS charges $30 to roll a first set of prints (13 AAC 68.900(a)). A provider may pass these costs to the individual, except in a foster home.
Can a volunteer start before the clearance comes back?: Sometimes. DOH may issue a 90-day provisional clearance after screening registries and Alaska records — including where fingerprinting acceptable to DPS isn’t available within 100 miles by road — if the prints follow within 30 days (7 AAC 10.920).
Are volunteers mandated reporters in Alaska?: Some are. AS 47.17.020(a)(9) names volunteers who interact with children in a public or private school for more than four hours a week, and school athletic coaches include volunteer coaches — though an unpaid coach must report only after volunteering more than four hours a week for four consecutive weeks (or 20 hours a week in a month), completing state training and signing an acknowledgment. Reports go to the Office of Children’s Services within 24 hours, and to law enforcement too if a sex offense is suspected. Telling a supervisor doesn’t satisfy the duty, and failure is a class A misdemeanor.
Can a nonprofit outside the program get an Alaska criminal record?: Yes. Under AS 12.62.160(b)(9), an organization that places someone, paid or unpaid, in a position with supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or dependent adult can request that person’s Alaska record from DPS as an “interested person.” DPS charges $20 without fingerprints or $35 with them, and may add an FBI check if fingerprints and fees are submitted. Anyone can get conviction information for any purpose, without nonconviction records.
Does a VolunteerBadge check replace a Background Check Program clearance?: No. Where the Background Check Program applies, the Department of Health’s clearance is required and a commercial check can’t stand in for it or count toward it. VolunteerBadge is for the volunteer roles no Alaska statute covers.

Beyond Off the Road System

The Alaska sources behind Off the Road System

Checked September 12, 2026. The guide cites each one where it is used.

General information, not legal advice. Laws and agency practice change. Confirm anything you rely on with the agencies named here, your licensor, your insurer or qualified counsel. Spot an error? Tell us and we will fix it.

VolunteerBadge is owned and operated by ScreenForge Labs, LLC, an FCRA-regulated Consumer Reporting Agency that has obtained its FCRA Certificate from the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA). This guide is general educational information and is not legal advice. Laws change; this guide's sources were checked as of September 12, 2026.