Are churches exempt from background-check laws?

No. The Fair Credit Reporting Act’s rules for using background checks contain no exemption for churches — consent before the check, and specific notices before acting on it. Some state laws also reach church volunteers; Pennsylvania’s clearance law, for example, covers volunteers in youth programs sponsored by a public or private organization. Confirm how your state’s law applies with counsel.

What is the two-adult rule?

Two unrelated adults in every room with children — or an open door and a hall monitor. Two members of the same household don’t count as two. The guide covers it alongside secure check-in, bathroom policies and youth-ministry boundaries.

Can we print the guide for our elders or deacons?

Yes — print it for the elder board or a deacons’ meeting, or forward the PDF. The appendices’ policy checklist and congregation letter are meant to be copied and adapted to your church.

Free guide · 2026 edition · For pastors, elders and children’s ministry teams

Let the Children Come: A screening and child-safety playbook for children’s ministry

What the law and your denomination expect, what a real background check covers, and how to build a children’s ministry every family can trust.

By the VolunteerBadge research team · Published September 11, 2026

Written for pastors, elders and the coordinators who staff the nursery every Sunday
A 30-day rollout plan, with pastors and leaders screened first
A safeguarding policy checklist and a ready-to-send letter to the congregation
Sources for the FCRA, state-law examples and every statistic

Who Let the Children Come is for

Pastors, children’s and youth ministry directors, elders, deacons and church boards — and the volunteer coordinators who fill the nursery schedule every week. Whether your church has sixty members or six thousand, one service or five campuses, if volunteers in your church care for children who are not their own, this guide is written for you.

93%

of offenders in juvenile sexual assaults reported to police were someone the child knew — a relative or acquaintance. Strangers accounted for only 7%.

Bureau of Justice Statistics

key parts of child sexual abuse prevention for youth-serving organizations, by the CDC’s count — screening makes up only one.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

for a full, identity-verified check on a nursery or VBS volunteer — or nothing to the church when the volunteer pays.

VolunteerBadge pricing

From the Let the Children Come executive summary

Six things every church board should settle

1
The risk is a familiar face, not a stranger.
Harm to children overwhelmingly comes from adults they and their families already know and trust.
2
Churches are not exempt from the rules about how to screen.
When a church uses a background-check company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies: the volunteer consents first, and the church sends specific notices before turning anyone away over the report.
3
Your denomination and your insurer may already expect it.
Many denominations publish safeguarding policies — some mandatory — and the major church insurers publish screening recommendations and ask how you screen.
4
Ask what the check actually searches.
A name search isn’t enough: look for national criminal records, sex-offender registries in all 50 states, watchlists, an SSN trace and identity verification.
5
The two-adult rule does what a check can’t.
A waiting period before serving, the two-adult rule, secure check-in, visible rooms and a clear reporting path do the rest.
6
You can put it in place in 30 days — lovingly.
Pastors and leaders go first, the congregation hears it as care rather than suspicion, and it can cost the church nothing.

Inside Let the Children Come, chapter by chapter

01
A ministry safeguard, for the elder board
The case for a children’s ministry safeguard, condensed for the elder board.
02
Why children’s ministry needs a real safeguard
Weekly access, the youngest children, an open door — and the trusted-adult reality.
03
What the law requires — including for churches
Where churches stand, and what the FCRA asks of every church that screens.
04
Your denomination and your insurer
What denominational policies and church insurers expect of your screening.
05
The five-part check a church should require
Five components every church should require before anyone serves children.
06
Who in your church should be screened
Nursery, classrooms, youth, VBS, check-in, drivers, pastors and teen helpers.
07
A waiting period, two adults and visible rooms
A waiting period, the two-adult rule, secure check-in, visible rooms and youth-ministry boundaries.
08
When a check isn’t clean — and when a registrant wants to attend
Fellowship vs. role, a fair review, and the adverse-action steps the law requires.
09
How a church responds to an allegation
How a church responds to an allegation — a plan to adopt before you need it.
10
Thirty days to a screened ministry
A week-by-week plan, with frank answers to the objections a congregation raises.
11
Paying for it, and telling the congregation
Budgeting for screening, and presenting it to the congregation as care rather than suspicion.
12
VBS, youth ministry, small churches and shared buildings
What changes for your ministry — and for outside groups in your building.
A
Appendix A: Children’s ministry safeguarding policy checklist
The items a written children’s ministry safeguarding policy should cover.
B
Appendix B: Letter to the congregation
A warm, ready-to-send letter introducing screening.
C
Appendix C: Church workbooks, training and citations
Church workbooks, free training and every citation.

Get the free guide

Questions Let the Children Come answers

Are churches exempt from background-check laws?: No. The Fair Credit Reporting Act’s rules for using background checks contain no exemption for churches — consent before the check, and specific notices before acting on it. Some state laws also reach church volunteers; Pennsylvania’s clearance law, for example, covers volunteers in youth programs sponsored by a public or private organization. Confirm how your state’s law applies with counsel.
What is the two-adult rule?: Two unrelated adults in every room with children — or an open door and a hall monitor. Two members of the same household don’t count as two. The guide covers it alongside secure check-in, bathroom policies and youth-ministry boundaries.
Can we print the guide for our elders or deacons?: Yes — print it for the elder board or a deacons’ meeting, or forward the PDF. The appendices’ policy checklist and congregation letter are meant to be copied and adapted to your church.

Beyond Let the Children Come

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 11, 2026.