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CA AB506 – Overall California YPP Clearance Status

UPDATED REQUIREMENTS – FIRST enforcement of CalVECHS starts January 1, 2027

tl;dr
If you have completed the LiveScan specifically for FIRST  –  Fill out this FIRST 9018 form annually

What is CalVECHS and why is this required?

FIRST is required to adopt the CalVECHS Program as a nonprofit providing services to California children.    FIRST Knowledgebase Article

The California Volunteer and Employee Criminal History Service (CalVECHS) Program enables qualified entities providing services to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, to receive both state and federal criminal offender record information (CORI) on behalf of their current and prospective employees and volunteers.

Federal CORI includes out-of-state criminal records, which are collected by the FBI. To support this access, all qualified entities participating in the program are required to maintain a CalVECHS Waiver Agreement signed annually by each of their applicants.

Nonprofits should participate in CalVECHS (California Volunteer and Employee Criminal History Service) to legally access federal-level FBI background checks, comply with state child protection mandates, and ensure the safety of vulnerable groups. This program enables nonprofits to receive Federal (FBI) Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) via fingerprint-based Live Scan. It is required by the California Department of Justice for all entities currently authorized under Penal Code section 11105.3 to continue submitting applicant fingerprints and receive federal responses. It will also integrate with subsequent arrest notifications (RAP Back) to alert organizations if a staff member or volunteer has a new arrest record.

To keep our youth participants safe and meet California state law, adults volunteering or work with youth in California have ADDITIONAL registration steps to complete—in addition to your standard FIRST background check and Youth Protection training.

 

You may have already seen the blog post from FIRST about AB 506, a California law that requires youth-serving organizations to take extra safety steps for volunteers who work closely with minors.

 

AB 506 became law as Section 18975 within Chapter 2.9 Youth Service Organizations, which falls under Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code. Many youth service organizations operate with the assistance of volunteers. AB 506 requirements apply to “regular volunteers” in addition to administrators and employees of youth services organizations.

Under AB 506, a Regular Volunteer is defined as someone over 18 years old who volunteers with a youth-serving organization: 
  • 16-hours or more per month, or
  • 32-hours or more per year

FIRST requires this screening for anyone volunteering in California or being a coach or mentor on a California team.

 

REGULAR VOLUNTEERS

includes all FIRST team coaches/mentors, and most event volunteers

  1. Live Scan Background Check

    • IMPORTANT:  After January 1,2027,  use the BCIA 8016VECHS form
    • Fingerprinting done through a Live Scan service provider
    • Must be done through a California-approved Live Scan provider. Cost is generally between $20 – $40.
    • Must be done separately for every youth-serving organization/school/agency that you work or volunteer for – see Common Questions for more information about why the California DOJ will not share this amongst agencies.
    • Two Options available:
    • IMPORTANT:  FIRST is reporting that it is taking them 5 business days to get the report from the California DOJ, match it to your individual profile status and then update the team information on the FIRST team dashboard.  Note that it can then take a few extra days (up to 72 hours) for that change in a team status in the FIRST team dashboard to be reflected in a report that Playing At Learning has access to. Playing At Learning does not have direct access to the FIRST team dashboard nor can we expedite or do anything about getting your status to be updated.

Mandated Reporter Training

    • Approx 2 hour online training on recognizing and reporting child abuse, as required by California law.
    • FREE!   No cost
    • Go to https://invite.mandatedreportertraining.com/FIRST   – Note that this may not show well on mobile/tablet device. 
      • RECOMMENDATION – do training on laptop or similar device with a larger screen
      • Once training is completed (or shared), FIRST verifies and matches the data based on email address on a regular basis.  This is a manual process based on matching email addresses and can take a few days.
      • If you follow this process  (going in through the FIRST section as directed above), you do NOT have to separately share the certificate with FIRST – that part is already done.  You only have to share the certificate as directed below if you had previously completed the training with a different organization.

Common Questions / Issues:

Questions related to Livescans

 

 

  • IMPORTANT:  Livescan fingerprinting results are NOT transferable from another organization, so you need to perform this process for each applicable organization you volunteer with or work for, but the good news is that this is a one-time requirement.
    • Live Scan results are not transferrable across agencies, even if both are authorized entities. This is due to the way the California DOJ handles criminal offender record information (CORI) under strict privacy and data-sharing laws (Cal. Penal Code § 11142). Each requesting agency must have its own ORI (Originating Requester Identifier) number, and DOJ policy requires a new Live Scan submission with that agency’s specific ORI.
    • The ATI number alone is not sufficient to retrieve an individual’s record without a new Live Scan tied to the specific agency’s ORI and the defined purpose (e.g., working with youth). Even if someone previously submitted fingerprints for a teaching credential or other role, those results legally cannot be shared with a different organization like FIRST unless DOJ has explicitly authorized it through a formal subsequent arrest notification agreement.

COMMON ISSUES:

    • Your Legal Name plus all identifying information  (email, date of birth,  address) have to match EXACTLY between the Form 8016 that you filled out and your FIRST profile.  You should confirm that your FIRST profile on your dashboard is accurate!   FIRST can not match your DOJ record without all of the identifying information matching exactly.

TIMELINE:

Fill out form -> Go to a LiveScan provider  ->   Provider submits to CA DOJ ->   CA DOJ sends report to FIRST ->  FIRST manually updates your profile record

  • The  California DOJ has several steps that they go through:
    • Once DOJ received the record from the Live Scan provider, they will issue an SCN/OSCN number. This is your proof of receipt
    • The California DOJ does say that they can take up to 30 days to process a transaction so please be advised that this process is not immediate though many transactions can come back in just a few days
    • You can also check the DOJ’s website for a status. This website shows all transactions on the automated system. If the transaction has been removed from the automated system for manual intervention and review by DOJ staff, it will not show
  • Once the DOJ has processed your fingerprints, it gets sent over to FIRST.    They then have to review the DOJ report,  and then manually find your individual record in their system and match the results with your information.

 

  • FIRST can take up to 5 business days to manually review the results and update your individual dashboard profile.

 

 

Questions related to the Mandated Reporter Training:

  • Mandated Reporter Training is a one-time requirement and is offered free (no fees).
  • If you’ve already completed this specific training for another organization, you do not need to retake it. You can simply associate your existing certificate with our FIRST account – see above for step by step instructions.
    • Mandated Reporter Training certificate displays a 2-year expiration date because that is the default setting by the State of California’s provider, Simple Learning Solutions. However, AB506 does not require renewal for volunteers in youth serving organizations. It simply requires that the training be completed. FIRST has opted to treat this as a one-time requirement, aligning with the approach used for Live Scan
  •  If it’s been more than 5 business days and your Dashboard hasn’t updated, feel free to reach out to FIRST by submitting a support ticket via https://help.firstinspires.org/s/contactsupport?language=en_US and select Type: Youth Protection Program
  • AB506 applies based on where the volunteer service occurs, not where the person resides. Any adult volunteer in California must meet the Live Scan and Mandated Reporter requirements   (if they meet the 16 hrs/month or 32 hrs/year threshold).
  • All adult FIRST Volunteers are (still) required to complete the FIRST youth background screening through Sterling Volunteers and the Youth Protection Program training that FIRST provides. Existing regular volunteers most likely have already completed this.
    • FIRST background screening through Sterling Volunteers is valid for 4 years and does not require any fee (it is a suggestion only and completely optional).   You are not required to submit your SSN  – click on the box saying “No SSN”  (intentionally confusing I believe).
    • The Youth Protection Program training is done annually through the FIRST training website.

More information available on the Local YPP State Requirements for California section on FIRST website…  If you need help, you can also call the FIRST Customer Support line:   📞 (603) 666-3906   or (preferred) by submitting a support ticket via https://help.firstinspires.org/s/contactsupport?language=en_US and select Type: Youth Protection Program

How to Check Your Status on the FIRST Dashboard:

You can access your status by logging into your FIRST dashboard account.  Click on the Youth Protection Screening on the left navigation.

Select Youth Protection Screening

This is what it will look like on your FIRST dashboard once you have fully completed all of the FIRST YPP, California AB506 and CalVECHS requirements.   You can ignore the Pennsylvania requirements unless you volunteer/coach there as well.

To complete the overall California YPP Clearance, follow the instructions on this page.