FAQs about Criminal Background Checks – Help & Learning for Volunteers

Basics

CBC is the abbreviation for Criminal Background Check.
AFS-USA requires anyone 17 years of age* or older applying as a host family member to undergo a criminal background check. This includes any person who will stay overnight in the host family's home for more than ten days total over the student's entire program.
AFS-USA requires anyone 18 years of age or older to undergo a criminal background check to be considered as an AFS Volunteer.

*California residents excluded: AFS will request the background check once the household member turns 18 years old. We kindly request that this household member submit the background check within 24-48 hours of their 18th birthday in compliance with Department of State regulations governing the J-1 Secondary School Exchange Visitor Program.

Why does AFS-USA require a criminal background check?

AFS is required by State Department regulations and CSIET Standards to administer background checks.
It is common practice for any organization that works with or has direct contact with youth/minors to require criminal background checks.

Who pays for the criminal background check?

AFS-USA will cover the cost of the criminal background check for volunteers and host family members.

Are AFS-USA staff members required to undergo a national criminal background check?

Yes, all staff at AFS-USA must undergo an annual criminal background check.

How does the criminal background check process work?

An online process for conducting criminal background checks has been established through a secure website.
Each member of the host family household 17 years of age* or older will be asked to sign (either on paper or electronically) a consent form authorizing AFS-USA to conduct a criminal background check. Further, AFS will conduct an additional background check on any host family member that completed a background check as a minor but will turn 18 while hosting. Volunteer applicants undergo the same process but at 18 years or older.
Generally, the checks conducted by the third-party background check vendor take less than 24 hours to be completed from provision of details to generation of a report.
Pennsylvania Residents – Per state law, Pennsylvania host families and volunteers must complete three additional requirements: a Pennsylvania State Police Search, Child Abuse History Clearance and FBI Fingerprint Background Checks. The FBI Fingerprint Background Check is only required if you have not been a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the previous 10 years consecutively. These requirements apply to the host parents and any additional adult(s) 18 years and older responsible for the direct care, well-being and/or supervision of a minor exchange student. For more information on these requirements, please visit Pennsylvania Additional Screening and Mandated Reporting Requirements.

What information will be required to run a criminal background check?

The applicant will need to include their legal name, social security number, physical address history and date of birth.

What is included in the criminal background check?

The criminal background check report includes a search of the Department of Justice Sex Offender Registry, state and county level searches and the background check vendor proprietary database.
The background check report does not list any credit or financial information.

What are the statuses for the criminal background check in Global Link?

No Action: Error due to incorrect email address or IT glitch. RMCQA staff have to reset the link.
Not Required: Background check is not required because the person either doesn’t live in the home or is not of the age required to submit the background check.
Email Sent: Applicant receives an email every 3 days for 30 days (total of 10 emails).
Consented: Applicant has started the background check but has not submitted it yet.
Profile Set: Applicant has successfully submitted their background check. It is in the status for a very short time and most staff won’t even see it. It is before it changes to “in progress.”
In Progress: Applicant has successfully submitted their background check and it is processing with the background check vendor.
In Review: The results have returned to AFS and staff are reviewing the results.
Pending: Applicant may have entered incorrect information, but background check is in progress.
Not Approved: Applicant did not pass the background check.
Complete

What if someone in the household does not have a Social Security Number (SSN)?

The background check vendor’s online submission form does require an SSN to submit the background check. Please reach out to the cbc@afsusa.org inbox for assistance with the background check submission process.

What if an applicant has not resided in the US for the past 7 years consecutively?

Staff will follow up directly and the applicant will need to provide information required to submit an International Background Check. Requirements vary by country. An International Search can take between 2-6 weeks to complete. Any questions related to this process can be directed to cbc@afsusa.org.

What happens if my application to host or volunteer with AFS-USA is rejected due to a conviction on my criminal background check report?

In these cases, AFS-USA will notify you of the denial and share a copy of your criminal background check report, along with an “Adverse Action” notification.
Depending on the record(s) you may be permitted to apply again in the future, after a certain amount of time has passed, or the denial will be permanent. AFS will notify you of this decision.

Will I have to undergo a criminal background check with AFS-USA if I already have had a background check due to my job or other volunteer roles?

Yes. Even though you may have undergone a criminal background check as required by your job or other volunteer work, you will still have to go through a criminal background check for AFS-USA.
There are many different types of background checks and every organization and company’s background check requirements may be different (i.e. require credit checks and criminal background check but no sex offender check, etc) and they also may have different criteria by which an applicant would be accepted or denied.

Can background checks be transferred from a volunteer application to a host family application?

Yes. If the background check is valid for the hosting period, it will automatically be transferred from the volunteer's record to the host family application.

What should I do if I am notified that a new household member will move into a host family home?

If you are a liaison for the student/host family please submit a Host Family Monthly Contact and enter the requested information in Q9. If you are not the liaison please contacthops@afsusa.orgimmediately and include the following information in that email – exact move in date, person’s full legal name, date of birth and email address.

Can background checks be transferred from a host family application to a volunteer application?

No, a host family member’s CBC cannot be transferred to a volunteer application because the background check validity dates are directly linked to the volunteer registration date and these dates rarely, if at all, coincide with the host family application.

How long are background checks valid? What is the validity period?

Criminal Background Checks for Volunteers: volunteers must complete a criminal background check (CBC) every year (365 days). Volunteers’ CBCs may not be transferred from a host family application to a volunteer application.
Criminal Background Checks for Host Families: Host family members CBCs are valid for one year and AFS staff will resubmit on their behalf, with the exception of California in which the host family will need to resubmit on their own, if the family is hosting in the current program year.

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