Protecting children and other at-risk populations like the disabled is very important for the wellbeing of society. With many youth organizations starting up for the summer including league sports it is critical that volunteers undergo a criminal background check including a national sex offender search. Any adult with supervision over children need to be properly vetted to insure the safety of children and other at-risk populations. A simple criminal background check going back at least 7 years would give parents peace of mind knowing that their child is in good hands when they drop them off at practice or some other place that utilizes volunteer help. A new law in Florida increases the protection for children by expanding their background check requirements for both contractors and volunteers. The new State law intended to protect children from sexual abuse in response to the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State University, states that any employee or volunteer having routine interaction with children are required to obtain extensive background checks every three years.

Volunteer background checks are not just for summer organizations like league sports it is for year round vetting of any volunteer with routine interaction with children. Thorough volunteer screening should include criminal background checks, sex offender registry searches and depending on the role perhaps reference checks and a driving record search. In the end proper volunteer background screening helps mitigate risk and this leads to safer environments for children and other at-risk populations. To read more about this subject read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release.