Local League Background Check Information

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Before You Begin

Before beginning the background process, which must be completed annually on all new and returning individuals prior to the individual assuming his/her duties for the current season you need to understand who needs to be checked and how the background check should be completed. It should be noted that all those individuals that meet the requirement of regulation I(c) 8 need to be checked and is not limited to just coaches.

Some questions to ask before you begin:

1. Are we doing all of the background checks that are required? It does not matter who was checked last year – background checks must be performed on an annual basis.
2. How many managers/coaches do we have per team - 2 or 3?
3. How many additional people are helping at practices as "practice coaches"?
4. How many umpires are being checked?
5. How many board members?
6. How many parent(s) are assisting teams in various capacities?
7. Do we have other positions in the league like equipment manager, field maintenance, scorekeeper, and/or announcer?
8. Once you answer these questions you should come up with 5 to 6 people per team as an average number of people per league that require background checks.

To begin conducting background checks, the league needs in its possession a fully completed official "Little League Volunteer Application" along with a copy of a government-issued photo ID, usually a driver's license, in order for the league to verify that the information on his/her volunteer application is correct, i.e. spelling of name, address, date of birth, etc.

Effective in 2007, the local league must conduct a nationwide search that contains the applicable government sex offender registry data. Little League International has contracted with LexisNexis Screening Solutions to provide local leagues and districts with a special Internet site that allows members to search a criminal records database of more than 270 million criminal records - instantly. This site provides searches of available criminal records from various repository sources and state-level sex offender registries. The fee for the first 125 searches per chartered league and district is free to the local league and district as the cost for these searches is being provided by Little League International. Any additional searches above 125 will cost the league and district a reduced fee of only $1 per individual search. Though Little League International requires members to search a minimum of the Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry, this special Internet site also includes the LexisNexis National Criminal File database that contains more than 270 million records including criminal and sex offender registry records covering 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In addition to meeting the minimum requirement of checking the United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry, (www.nsopr.gov) Little League strongly encourages all leagues to also utilize the national criminal records search available through the Little League website. This additional criminal records check may provide additional important information regarding the criminal records of individuals whose crimes do not require that they be listed on a sex offender registry. For example, convictions for assault, battery, theft or drug offenses would not result in a report to sex offender registry. Details can be found at http://littleleague.LexisNexis.com/. Just click on the "Data Matrix" section to review the records nationwide, broken down by state, which will be processed instantly when utilizing this internet based system any hour of the day.

Information on how to utilize this benefit, as well as how to conduct background checks, can be found on the Little League website at: Child Protection Page

The search conducted on LexisNexis Screening Solutions at http://littleleague.LexisNexis.com/ limits the name-only search to 10 state sex offender registries while providing a far more thorough check that includes criminal records not found on an SOR, as well as utilizing the birth dates and Social Security Numbers entered which screens additional databases.

When positive results are returned in the states with name-only searches (Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin), you are required to perform more research to determine whether the results belong to your candidate. To do this, please visit the individual state sites which are available through a link listed below and search for your candidate to retrieve more demographic information. This additional information will help you exclude records that do not belong to your candidate.

Using the LexisNexis Screening Solutions Background Check System

• Credit cards are now only being verified or "pinged" once during every batch instead of each search (Credit cards will only be necessary after 125 searches).
• LexisNexis Screening Solutions and the official "Little League Volunteer Application" requires a social security number be used by the local league.
• LexisNexis Screening Solutions provides a toll-free number for after hours as well as extended hours during the Little League prime season. Photo Identification is now available for record matches on Sex Offender Registry

Note: As a reminder, LexisNexis will reset your 125 free criminal background checks on Nov. 1st of each year.

Registration Process

• It is no longer necessary to enter a credit card number until after the first 125 background checks are completed which are paid for by Little League International. However, we do recommend entering a credit card number during the initial registration process if you plan to do more than 125 searches which will eliminate a needless disruption to your search process when you reach 126 searches.
• The registration process has been streamlined with the e-mail submission and has eliminated the need to fax a second page registration form to LexisNexis Screening Solutions.
• The new registration process allows users the ability to complete the form by e-mail using an "e-signature" through LexisNexis Screening Solutions.
• Users will be able to change account information via email or by fax.
• A new "Frequently Asked Questions" section has been added to the LexisNexis Screening Solutions website to assist local leagues in the registration process.
• LexisNexis Screening Solutions is providing a new credentialing team specifically for non-profit organizations which includes Little League.
• District Administrators will receive 125 free checks as well as all chartered local leagues
• Users will have the ability to search the LexisNexis Screening Solutions website using their Little League ID number to verify existing accounts.

After using LexisNexis Screening Solutions Background Check System

• Note: A letter, which includes a copy of the completed background screening report & Summary of Rights, will be sent to every volunteer where a criminal record from the public records database is reported to your local Little League. A toll free number is listed on the letter if the volunteer decides to dispute the information reported.

Future Enhancements

• You will not have to enter a credit card until after the first 125 background checks which are paid for by Little League International.

Minimum Background Check Website

Select your state from the list below:

Other U.S. Areas:

• American Samoa (*American Samoa does not maintain an online sex offender registry.)
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands (*Northern Mariana Islands does not maintain an online sex offender registry.)
• Puerto Rico (*Puerto Rico does not maintain an online sex offender registry.)
• Virgin Islands (*The Virgin Islands does not maintain an online sex offender registry.)