Ensure the safety of service recipients

AmeriCorps*State and National programs are now required to conduct background checks of applicants. Effective November 23, 2007, all AmeriCorps*State and National programs will be required to conduct state criminal registry checks and National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) checks on individuals who are enrolled as participants after this date. In addition, NSOPR checks must be conducted on individuals who are currently serving, or who begin to serve, in covered positions before November 23, 2007. However, the rule does not require grantees to conduct State criminal registry checks on these individuals.

For complete information, visit National Service Criminal History Checks.

Some Key Points:

• You will need to conduct two checks on your applicants:
  • National Sex Offender Public Registry on all currently serving members, or applicants who begin to serve, in covered positions before November 23, 2007
  • State Criminal Registry Check on applicants who will be enrolled after November 23, 2007. This check includes the applicant's current state of residence and any state that the applicant will be serving in
• An individual who is registered, or required to be registered, on a State sex offender registry, is ineligible to serve
• Programs may adopt other disqualifying offenses (e.g., felony convictions, DUI convictions, etc.)
• Individuals for whom the state criminal registry results are pending may be enrolled, but may not have unsupervised access to vulnerable populations until the results are complete
• An individual who is registered, or required to be registered, on a state sex offender registry, is ineligible to serve
• An individual who refuses to consent to a criminal registry check is ineligible to serve
• You must obtain permission to conduct a background check from the applicant. Adapt the form below to obtain consent from applicants to conduct a background check. An individual who refuses to consent to a criminal registry check is ineligible to serve.

This resource was contributed by Illinois Public Health AmeriCorps (Springfield, IL), an AmeriCorps*State program that supports health and community preparedness programs and conducts community outreach across the state.