Visitor Aware provides three criminal history check options that can be used to vet potential volunteers and even visitors if desired. Below are the instructions on how to purchase and manage criminal history and background check tokens.


If your state requires that you use a specific database to run background checks, please continue to use that service and record the background check date on the volunteer's profile. You can use one of Visitor Aware's criminal history check options in addition to the state required service provider.



Volunteer Application Screening (no additional charge)

Each school has access to set up a free online volunteer application form through Visitor Aware. Upon completing the volunteer application form, applicants will undergo the initial round of screening (if enabled) against:

  • National Sex Offender Registry
  • Interpol
  • National and international watch lists 

Reference our visitor screening implementation guidelines help article to learn more.


If the applicant comes back positively matched against any of the above databases, it will be up to the school to determine if they'd like to run a criminal history check on the individual.


Please note: A staff member will need to manually run a criminal history check on the applicant if they are flagged during this initial screening process even if the criminal history checks are setup to run automatically. This way tokens aren't being used if/when the initial flag prevents the applicant from becoming a volunteer.



Criminal History Check Options (additional charge)

Visitor Aware offers three tiers of tokens that can be purchased. The first option is purely a national criminal records check while the other two options offer additional information. Below is the breakdown of each tier.


1. Searchbug*

  • National criminal records

2. Base National Criminal Checks

  • National criminal records
  • Address history
  • Social security number check

3. Premium National Criminal Checks

  • National criminal records
  • Address history
  • Social security number check
  • One (1) local county of residence court records check
  • Additional county level checks are available for an additional fee


*Searchbug National Criminal Records Check

We search 200 million federal, state, and county criminal records. Depending on what is considered to be public record (definition changes per jurisdiction) there is the potential that the following may be returned: felonies, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, sexual offense details…etc. Then within the information returned you may see: jurisdiction, charge, offense, disposition type, sentence, probation and conviction (if applicable). (disclaimer: not all information is available for all records - this is dependent on what is considered public record within the jurisdiction)



Purchasing Tokens

To enable the option to run criminal history checks on volunteers and visitors, tokens will need to be purchased in advance. If more than one type of token is purchased, customers will have the option to select which token is to be used automatically (when the automation setting is enabled) and which token will be used for manual background checks (these are run directly from the visitor or volunteer's profile).


Before purchasing any tokens, please note: Our service is unable to provide a true Level 2 Background Check due to our inability to collect and process physical fingerprints. If a Level 2 Background Check is required, this will need to be completed using a different provider.


To purchase tokens, follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to the background check page: https://app.visitor-aware.com/billing
  2. Select the type of check to be purchased: Searchbug, Base, or Premium
  3. Select the quantity
  4. Enter the credit card information
  5. Check the box to acknowledge that the credit card will be charged
  6. Double check that the total amount is as expected
  7. Click "Purchase"


If a second tier of tokens needs to be purchased, follow the above steps one more time making sure to select the other token type. You'll be able to assign one token type for automation and the other to be used manually. Once different types of tokens are on file for your client account, a new section will be shown on the background check screen labeled "Automatic and Manual Background Check Selection". Within this section:

  1. Select which token should be used for the "Automatic Background Check Type"
    1. This will be the token that is used upon a volunteer submitting their application and clearing the initial screening.
  2. Select which token should be used for the "Manual Background Check Type"
    1. This will be the token that is used when manually running a background check from the visitor/volunteer profile.
  3. Click "Save"



Enable Background Check Automation

When a volunteer submits their application and clears the initial round of screening (if enabled) our software can be configured to automatically run the criminal history check as specified. To enable background check automation, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Volunteer Settings page: https://app.visitor-aware.com/client-settings/volunteers
  2. Scroll down to "Automatically run background checks on volunteers?"
  3. Click "Yes"
  4. Scroll down and click "Save"


Please Note: When this setting is enabled, all active volunteers will have their criminal history check automatically run a year later. A volunteer is considered active if they've attended a volunteering event within the previous 12 months.


Enable Automated Email Notifications

The volunteer coordinator role will be able to receive automated email notifications in regards to various volunteer related processes that are taking place in the software. These automated notifications include:

  • Volunteer applicant submissions
  • Volunteers without a background check date (if automation is enabled later)
  • Volunteers who have not signed in within the last 12 months
    • These volunteers will not have the background check automatically run if automation is enabled and manual action will need to be taken to remove volunteering status - reference this help article to convert volunteers to visitors. (If a volunteer is deleted, all logged history associated with this person will be destroyed.)

To enable the above automated email notifications, first make sure the volunteer coordinator role has been assigned to the associated user. Next, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to your user settings, or if IT is managing this process navigate to all users section to search for the associated user
  2. IT: Scroll down to "Receive notifications for assigned locations?" and click "Yes"
  3. User: Click the "Notifications" tab


Approving/Denying Volunteers

Volunteers can be approved and denied from their respective volunteer profiles located within the All Volunteers screen. Additional information on approving and denying volunteers can be found here.


If the background check automation is enabled, the volunteer approval process will work as detailed below:

  • A criminal records report will be run automatically upon application submission
  • If nothing is returned on the report, the volunteer will be automatically approved
  • If anything gets returned on the report, a staff member will need to review the report to manually approve/deny the volunteer

Automatic email notifications will go out to the Volunteer Coordinator role detailing which volunteers need to be reviewed when criminal records are returned. Make sure the Volunteer Coordinator role has been assigned to the appropriate users, that they have notifications enabled, and that the automatic email notification type has been checked.


To learn how to manually run a criminal history check and where to locate the criminal record report, please reference the "How to run a criminal background check" help article.


Happy with your current background check provider? No problem.

If you'd prefer to use a 3rd party vendor to complete the background check, feel free to record the background completion date in Visitor Aware to receive automated email reports for annual renewal. That help article is available here.


Automated Reports

If the automated criminal history check process is enabled, there are are a couple reports that will be sent out if a user opts in to receive them:

  • Inactive volunteer criminal history screening
    • On the last day of each month, an automated report will be sent out listing all volunteers who did not automatically undergo another criminal history check due to no volunteer activity within the last 12 months.
    • Volunteer coordinator roles will need to manually adjust the profiles referenced in this email to:
      • Manually re-run and review the criminal history check
      • Manually convert the volunteer to a visitor (this preserves the data history recorded for this person in lieu of deleting their profile which would delete all information relating to this visitor/volunteer)
  • No background check date recorded
    • If automatic criminal history checks are enabled and volunteer profiles already exist in the system without a recorded background check date, an automated email report will be sent out listing each volunteer that does not have a date recorded on their profile. Steps to take for those individuals listed:
      • Manually enter the background completion date
      • Run the criminal history check and review the report to continue volunteer status or deny their status and/or convert them to a visitor


Opt-in Report

Individuals within the organization can opt-in to receive reports detailing who submitted volunteer applications. To receive these emails:

  1. Navigate to the Volunteer Settings page (https://app.visitor-aware.com/client-settings/volunteers)
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page to "Automatic Report Email Addresses"
  3. Enter a comma separated list of individuals who would like to receive the email report
  4. Click "Save"