Does West Virginia require background checks for volunteers?

Through WV CARES and a handful of licensing rules, yes; across the board, no. Our research found no statute obliging nonprofits in general to screen volunteers; instead, West Virginia names the settings where checks are required: WV CARES providers such as nursing homes, assisted living, home health and hospice (for regular, unsupervised volunteers with direct access), licensed child care centers, out-of-school-time centers and family child care, child placing agencies and residential child care, Hope Scholarship education service providers, and out-of-school-time programs and parks-and-recreation camps that use the § 49-2-113(e)(8) licensing exemption.

What is WV CARES, and does it cover volunteers?

WV CARES (the West Virginia Clearance for Access: Registry and Employment Screening program, W. Va. Code § 16B-15-1 et seq. and 71CSR11) is run by the Office of Inspector General. It prescreens registries for a $25 fee, takes state and FBI fingerprints, and tells the provider only whether the person is eligible; the Director may not disseminate the criminal record. It covers “direct access personnel,” which excludes “volunteers or students performing irregular or supervised functions” — so a regular, unsupervised volunteer with direct access is covered, and an occasional or supervised one is not. By rule it also reaches child care and child welfare providers.

Must a West Virginia child care volunteer be cleared before working with children?

In licensed child care centers and out-of-school-time centers, yes. There, a volunteer is anyone 18 or older who gives direct service two or more hours a week on a scheduled basis, other than a parent working with their own child. Each needs a WV CARES state and FBI fingerprint check, a sex offender registry check and child and adult abuse-registry searches in every state lived in during the past five years — and no one may work with children before the WV CARES fitness determination arrives (78CSR1 § 8.4; 78CSR21 § 7.4). Family child care facilities also check volunteers 18 and older and every adult household member (78CSR18 § 16.1).

Does § 49-2-803 make West Virginia volunteers mandated reporters?

Yes, if they are adults working with children. W. Va. Code § 49-2-803(a) names any employee, coach or volunteer of an entity that provides organized activities for children, as well as youth camp administrators and counselors. They must report to the Department of Human Services immediately and no later than 24 hours after suspecting abuse or neglect, also notify the person in charge (which doesn’t replace their own report), and report immediately to the State Police and local law enforcement when they believe a child suffered serious physical abuse or sexual abuse or assault. The section doesn’t apply to anyone under 18.

Do camps in West Virginia have to background-check volunteers?

West Virginia doesn’t license youth camps, and we found no statute requiring camp checks as such. But an out-of-school-time program for children 6 and older, a program affiliated with a national congressionally chartered organization, or a summer recreation or day camp run by a county parks and recreation commission, board or municipality stays outside child care licensing under § 49-2-113(e)(8) only if it performs state and federal background checks on all volunteers and staff and meets the section’s other conditions.

Does a VolunteerBadge check replace a WV CARES check?

No. VolunteerBadge doesn’t take fingerprints, and nothing it runs counts toward a WV CARES fitness determination. A WV CARES determination, child care and child welfare record checks, a Hope Scholarship provider check and the § 49-2-113(e)(8) camp checks each remain required wherever West Virginia law calls for them. VolunteerBadge belongs in the irregular, supervised and unregulated roles those rules leave open, and as an added layer beside the checks they require.

Free guide · 2026 edition · WV CARES, (e)(8) camps, child care and the volunteer reporting duty

Irregular or Supervised: The West Virginia guide to screening volunteers: who WV CARES clears and who it leaves out, child care’s no-provisional rule, the camp exemption that requires checks, the Central Abuse Registry and a reporting duty that names volunteers

West Virginia checks volunteers by setting, never across the board. Where it does require checks, most run through one state program, WV CARES, which tells a provider only whether a person is eligible — and which leaves out volunteers “performing irregular or supervised functions.” Child care centers screen every adult volunteer scheduled two or more hours a week before they work with children, some camps must check everyone to stay unlicensed, and every adult volunteer in organized activities for children must report suspected abuse within 24 hours. Each of those rules gets its own chapter here, from § 16B-15-1 to § 49-2-803.

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

Written for West Virginia long-term care, child care, camp, church, Scout, 4-H and league volunteer leaders
How WV CARES decides which volunteers it clears — and which it leaves out
Child care, child welfare, (e)(8) camps, Hope Scholarship providers and the optional Central Abuse Registry search
A volunteer reporting card and a direct-access worksheet you can adapt

Who Irregular or Supervised is for

Executive directors and volunteer coordinators, child care and out-of-school-time directors, nursing home, hospice and home health volunteer managers, foster care and residential program staff, camp and parks-and-recreation leaders, church, Scout and 4-H leaders, league administrators and co-op and microschool organizers — anyone who recruits volunteers in West Virginia.

14.7

per 1,000 West Virginia children were abuse or neglect victims in federal fiscal year 2024 — 5,110 children, about double the 7.2 national rate.

ACF, Child Maltreatment 2024

$25

the WV CARES prescreening fee — the registry search that must come back clean before a direct access applicant is fingerprinted for state and FBI checks.

71CSR11 § 3.1; W. Va. Code § 16B-15-3(d) (read Sept. 12, 2026)

23.0%

of West Virginians volunteered through an organization in 2023 — 44th of 50 states by our ranking, down from 30.6% in 2019.

VolunteerBadge analysis of AmeriCorps CEV data

Cited to primary sources

West Virginia at a glance

From WV CARES to Hope Scholarship: West Virginia’s screening duties attach to settings — WV CARES providers, child care, child welfare, Hope Scholarship providers and the § 49-2-113(e)(8) licensing exemption. Beyond those, our research turned up no statute requiring nonprofits generally to check volunteers.; W. Va. Code §§ 16B-15-1, 18-31-11(a)(5), 49-2-113(e)(8); 78CSR1 § 8.4
WV CARES: a fitness determination, not a record: Providers prescreen registries through WV CARES ($25), then the applicant is fingerprinted for state and FBI checks. The Office of Inspector General tells the provider only eligible or ineligible and may not disseminate the criminal history; Rap Back reports later West Virginia offenses.; W. Va. Code §§ 16B-15-2(c), 16B-15-3(c)–(f), 16B-15-4(a); 71CSR11 §§ 2.12, 3.1
Irregular or supervised volunteers are outside: Direct access personnel — anyone with physical contact with residents or access to their property or personal, health or financial information — must be cleared, but the definition excludes volunteers or students performing irregular or supervised functions. Covered providers include nursing homes, assisted living, home health, hospice, personal care, adult day care and ICF/IID.; W. Va. Code § 16B-15-1; 71CSR11 § 2.4
The 2026 clocks: Since June 7, 2026, a clearance is renewed 90 to 60 days before it expires, and variance decisions are due in 30 days (request after an ineligibility notice) or 60 days (request filed with the application). A person cleared by a variance may now also move to the same type of provider without new prints.; W. Va. Code §§ 16B-15-3(g), 16B-15-5(d), 16B-15-7 (H.B. 4599, 2026)
Child care: cleared before contact: A center volunteer is 18 or older and gives two or more scheduled hours a week. Each needs a WV CARES fingerprint determination and sex offender and abuse-registry searches in every state lived in for five years, before working with children; there is no 60-day provisional period, and misdemeanor drug, person and morality offenses also disqualify.; 78CSR1 §§ 3.76, 8.4.c–8.4.f; 78CSR21 §§ 3.44, 7.4; 71CSR11 §§ 2.8, 6.4
Child welfare volunteers are screened like staff: Child placing agencies put volunteers working directly with youth through WV CARES and a protective-services record release; residential child care facilities use the same checks for volunteers as for employees; foster and adoptive household members over 18 apply to WV CARES.; 78CSR2 §§ 8.4.2, 13.6.1; 78CSR3 §§ 10.3.6–10.3.7
Camps: checks as the price of an exemption: West Virginia has no camp licensing law. An out-of-school-time program, or a county parks and recreation or municipal summer or day camp, that relies on the (e)(8) exemption must perform state and federal checks on all volunteers and staff; a summer recreation camp of 30 days or less is exempt under (e)(3) without conditions.; W. Va. Code § 49-2-113(e)(3), (e)(8), (h)
Coaches and volunteers call DHS: Any employee, coach or volunteer of an entity that provides organized activities for children must report suspected abuse to DHS immediately and within 24 hours, also notify the person in charge, and report serious physical abuse or any sexual abuse or assault to the State Police. Knowing failure is a misdemeanor; the duty doesn’t apply under 18.; W. Va. Code §§ 49-2-803(a), (d), 49-2-812

From the Irregular or Supervised executive summary

Six West Virginia rules to know before a volunteer starts

1
West Virginia checks attach to settings.
Our review turned up no West Virginia statute that obliges nonprofits as a class to background-check volunteers. The state’s duties attach to settings: long-term care, child care, child welfare, Hope Scholarship providers and one child care licensing exemption for camps and out-of-school-time programs.
2
One program answers for most.
WV CARES, run by the Office of Inspector General, prescreens registries ($25), takes state and FBI fingerprints and tells the provider only whether the person may be engaged. The Director may not pass on the criminal record, and Rap Back reports later West Virginia offenses.
3
The test is regular and unsupervised.
W. Va. Code § 16B-15-1 excludes “volunteers or students performing irregular or supervised functions” from direct access personnel. A regular volunteer with unsupervised physical contact, or access to residents’ property or personal, health or financial information, at a nursing home, hospice or other covered provider is cleared like staff.
4
Child care is stricter.
A child care center volunteer — 18 or older, two or more scheduled hours a week — needs a WV CARES fitness determination before any contact with children, plus registry searches in every state lived in for five years. There is no provisional start, and misdemeanor drug, person and morality offenses and serious traffic offenses also disqualify.
5
Some camps must check everyone.
West Virginia doesn’t license camps, but an out-of-school-time program or a parks-and-recreation summer or day camp stays outside child care licensing under § 49-2-113(e)(8) only if it performs state and federal background checks on all volunteers and staff.
6
Adult volunteers must report.
Any employee, coach or volunteer of an entity that provides organized activities for children must report suspected abuse to the Department of Human Services immediately and within 24 hours, tell the person in charge too, and call the State Police for serious physical abuse or any sexual abuse. The duty doesn’t apply under 18.

Inside Irregular or Supervised, chapter by chapter

01
WV CARES: how regular, how supervised
WV CARES, the settings that check, the reporting duty and West Virginia’s own figures, in a single page.
02
Where West Virginia law reaches a volunteer
Long-term care, child care, child welfare, camps and schools: whom West Virginia covers, and under which rule.
03
One program, one answer: how WV CARES works
Prescreen, prints, the fitness determination, Rap Back, variances and the 2026 clocks.
04
Irregular or supervised: the long-term care test
Which providers, what direct access means, provisional work and adult abuse reporting.
05
Child care: two scheduled hours, no provisional start
The volunteer definition, the five-state searches, stricter disqualifiers and the repealed citation.
06
Family child care: the household counts
Facilities, registered homes and informal homes, where adult household members are checked too.
07
Child placing, foster and residential care
78CSR2 and 78CSR3 volunteer rules, a provisional-work conflict and CASA.
08
Camps and the (e)(8) bargain
No camp license, the § 49-2-113 exemptions and the supervision bar in § 62-12-26(c).
09
Schools, Hope Scholarship, co-ops and leagues
What the education code screens, the 2023 volunteer felony and the Hope condition.
10
The Central Abuse Registry door
The optional qualified-entity registry search: who qualifies, what it holds and its $10 fee.
11
Every adult in organized activities reports
Section 49-2-803: the volunteer clause, 24 hours, the person in charge and penalties.
12
Expungement, registrants, no ban-the-box
Expungement and its exceptions, registrants, and no ban-the-box or state FCRA.
13
Charities, directors and volunteer liability
Secretary of State registration, a threshold conflict and the § 55-7C director shield.
14
From 2023 to H.B. 4599’s changes to WV CARES
From 2023 through H.B. 4599’s 2026 changes to WV CARES, in date order.
15
No part of a WV CARES decision
Why VolunteerBadge is no fingerprint channel and never counts toward a WV CARES determination — and where it still helps.
A
Appendix A: WV CARES, child care, camps and co-ops
Rows for WV CARES providers, child care, child welfare, camps, co-ops and schools, plus the baseline every program shares.
B
Appendix B: A reporting card and a direct-access worksheet
A § 49-2-803 card for volunteers and a worksheet for classifying volunteer roles.
C
Appendix C: W. Va. Code, CSR rules and agency pages
West Virginia Code sections, CSR rules and agency pages with their read dates, and more to read.

Get the free guide

Irregular or Supervised: West Virginia questions answered

Does West Virginia require background checks for volunteers?: Through WV CARES and a handful of licensing rules, yes; across the board, no. Our research found no statute obliging nonprofits in general to screen volunteers; instead, West Virginia names the settings where checks are required: WV CARES providers such as nursing homes, assisted living, home health and hospice (for regular, unsupervised volunteers with direct access), licensed child care centers, out-of-school-time centers and family child care, child placing agencies and residential child care, Hope Scholarship education service providers, and out-of-school-time programs and parks-and-recreation camps that use the § 49-2-113(e)(8) licensing exemption.
What is WV CARES, and does it cover volunteers?: WV CARES (the West Virginia Clearance for Access: Registry and Employment Screening program, W. Va. Code § 16B-15-1 et seq. and 71CSR11) is run by the Office of Inspector General. It prescreens registries for a $25 fee, takes state and FBI fingerprints, and tells the provider only whether the person is eligible; the Director may not disseminate the criminal record. It covers “direct access personnel,” which excludes “volunteers or students performing irregular or supervised functions” — so a regular, unsupervised volunteer with direct access is covered, and an occasional or supervised one is not. By rule it also reaches child care and child welfare providers.
Must a West Virginia child care volunteer be cleared before working with children?: In licensed child care centers and out-of-school-time centers, yes. There, a volunteer is anyone 18 or older who gives direct service two or more hours a week on a scheduled basis, other than a parent working with their own child. Each needs a WV CARES state and FBI fingerprint check, a sex offender registry check and child and adult abuse-registry searches in every state lived in during the past five years — and no one may work with children before the WV CARES fitness determination arrives (78CSR1 § 8.4; 78CSR21 § 7.4). Family child care facilities also check volunteers 18 and older and every adult household member (78CSR18 § 16.1).
Does § 49-2-803 make West Virginia volunteers mandated reporters?: Yes, if they are adults working with children. W. Va. Code § 49-2-803(a) names any employee, coach or volunteer of an entity that provides organized activities for children, as well as youth camp administrators and counselors. They must report to the Department of Human Services immediately and no later than 24 hours after suspecting abuse or neglect, also notify the person in charge (which doesn’t replace their own report), and report immediately to the State Police and local law enforcement when they believe a child suffered serious physical abuse or sexual abuse or assault. The section doesn’t apply to anyone under 18.
Do camps in West Virginia have to background-check volunteers?: West Virginia doesn’t license youth camps, and we found no statute requiring camp checks as such. But an out-of-school-time program for children 6 and older, a program affiliated with a national congressionally chartered organization, or a summer recreation or day camp run by a county parks and recreation commission, board or municipality stays outside child care licensing under § 49-2-113(e)(8) only if it performs state and federal background checks on all volunteers and staff and meets the section’s other conditions.
Does a VolunteerBadge check replace a WV CARES check?: No. VolunteerBadge doesn’t take fingerprints, and nothing it runs counts toward a WV CARES fitness determination. A WV CARES determination, child care and child welfare record checks, a Hope Scholarship provider check and the § 49-2-113(e)(8) camp checks each remain required wherever West Virginia law calls for them. VolunteerBadge belongs in the irregular, supervised and unregulated roles those rules leave open, and as an added layer beside the checks they require.

Beyond Irregular or Supervised

The West Virginia sources behind Irregular or Supervised

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.