California AB 506: Training, Background Checks, and Policies

California Assembly Bill 506 requires any organization whose primary purpose is serving minors to run Live Scan fingerprint background checks, provide child abuse identification and reporting training, adopt written child abuse prevention policies, and designate a Custodian of Records for criminal history data. The law is codified at California Business and Professions Code Section 18975 and took effect on January 1, 2022.¹ It applies on an ongoing basis, which means new hires and new volunteers have to be screened and trained before they start working with children, not afterward.

Which Organizations the Law Covers

AB 506 applies to “youth service organizations,” defined as organizations that employ or use the services of people who, because of their relationship with the organization, have supervisory or disciplinary power over children, and whose primary purpose is providing services or activities to people under 18.¹

In practice that sweeps in youth sports leagues, scouting groups, after-school programs, camps, nonprofit mentoring organizations, and religious groups that sponsor youth activities. Organizations that only incidentally interact with children, such as a restaurant that happens to serve families, are not covered.

Who Inside the Organization Must Be Screened and Trained

Three categories of people trigger AB 506: administrators, employees, and regular volunteers. Administrators and employees are covered regardless of hours worked or whether they directly interact with children. Volunteers are treated differently. A “regular volunteer” is someone 18 or older who has direct contact with, or supervises, children for more than 16 hours in any month or more than 32 hours in any year.¹

That hour threshold is where most compliance headaches start. A parent who helps at one weekend event probably won’t hit it. A parent who coaches every Saturday will reach it quickly. Organizations need a reliable way to track volunteer hours, because the moment someone crosses either line, the full set of requirements applies to that person.

Child Abuse Prevention Training

Every covered administrator, employee, and regular volunteer must complete training on identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect. The training covers a mandated reporter’s legal obligations, how to recognize physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, and the formal procedure for reporting to law enforcement or child protective services.¹

The California Department of Social Services, through its Office of Child Abuse Prevention, hosts a free online mandated reporter training that satisfies the requirement.² Keep a completion certificate for every person you’ve trained.

The statute itself doesn’t set a renewal interval. It requires each covered person to complete the training but is silent on how often. Many organizations adopt a two-year cycle as a best practice, and some insurers expect it. Ask your carrier what they require and treat that answer as effectively binding, since falling out of step with an insurer’s expectations can put your coverage at risk.

Live Scan Background Checks

Every covered individual must go through a fingerprint-based background check using California’s Live Scan system. Live Scan captures fingerprints digitally and sends them to the California Department of Justice, which runs a state-level criminal history check and a federal check through the FBI.¹ Under Penal Code Section 11105.3, the DOJ screens for convictions and pending arrests involving offenses listed in the Welfare and Institutions Code, which covers sex offenses, violent crimes against children, and other serious offenses related to child safety.³

How to Set Your Organization Up

Before you can receive results, your organization has to register with the DOJ as an applicant agency and obtain an Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) number. The ORI links each fingerprint submission back to your organization so the DOJ knows where to send the criminal history response. Registration involves submitting agency information, designating a Custodian of Records, and being approved to receive criminal offender record information. Organizations that haven’t done this yet should contact the DOJ’s ORI unit to start the application.

Once you have an ORI, the individual visits a Live Scan service provider, often a local police department, a UPS store, or a private fingerprinting business, and has their prints captured electronically. The provider transmits them to the DOJ. State results usually come back within a few business days; FBI results can take longer.

What It Costs

Live Scan fees have three parts. The California DOJ charges $32 for state fingerprint processing, and the FBI charges $17 for its federal processing.⁴ On top of those, the Live Scan provider charges its own “rolling fee” for capturing the prints, typically $20 to $40 at private locations. Expect each background check to run roughly $69 to $89 per person.

The statute doesn’t specify who pays. Some organizations absorb the cost; some pass it to the individual. A league with 50 volunteers can easily spend $3,500 or more on background checks, so budget for it before you begin.

Designating a Custodian of Records

Any organization that receives criminal history information through Live Scan must designate at least one Custodian of Records. This person secures, stores, and eventually destroys the criminal record data the DOJ shares with you, and serves as the DOJ’s primary point of contact at your organization.⁵

The custodian must pass their own state and federal background check before the DOJ confirms the designation. Anyone convicted of a felony, or of an offense related to a custodian’s duties, will be denied.⁶ Confirming a custodian involves an additional round of fees: $32 for the state check, $17 for the federal check, and a $30 confirmation fee.⁵

Smaller organizations often overlook this. A volunteer-run league still needs a designated custodian with a clean record who understands the legal limits on sharing criminal history data. Build the role into your structure before you start submitting Live Scans.

Written Child Abuse Prevention Policies

AB 506 also requires every covered organization to develop and implement formal written child abuse prevention policies. At minimum, those policies must include two elements:¹

Protocols ensuring that suspected child abuse is reported to people or entities outside the organization, including any reports required under Penal Code Section 11165.9. Internal investigation is not enough; there has to be a clear path to law enforcement or child protective services.
A requirement that, to the greatest extent possible, at least two mandated reporters be present whenever administrators, employees, or volunteers are supervising or in contact with children.

The two-adult rule is not absolute. The statute says “to the greatest extent possible,” which acknowledges perfect compliance isn’t always feasible. Organizations that provide one-on-one mentoring to youth are explicitly exempted from the two-adult requirement, provided they’ve adopted comprehensive screening policies, volunteer training, and regular contact protocols with both volunteers and parents.¹

Handling Criminal History Data

Once you receive background check results, you’re holding confidential criminal offender record information, and California law is strict about what you can do with it. Unauthorized disclosure of state summary criminal history information is a misdemeanor under Penal Code Section 11142, and unauthorized receipt or possession is a separate misdemeanor under Section 11143.

In practice: store results securely, limit access to the Custodian of Records and authorized personnel, and destroy records when they’re no longer needed for the purpose you obtained them. Never post, email, or casually share an individual’s criminal history results.

Deadlines and Enforcement

The law took effect on January 1, 2022. All existing administrators, employees, and regular volunteers should have been trained and screened by then. Anyone new must complete both requirements before beginning their duties, not during a grace period afterward.¹

No single state agency audits youth organizations or issues fines under AB 506. Enforcement runs through liability insurance instead. The statute expressly authorizes insurers to request proof of compliance before writing a policy for a youth service organization.¹ An organization that can’t show compliance may struggle to get coverage, and for most youth programs, operating without liability insurance isn’t realistic. Facilities, parent organizations, and league affiliations almost always require it.

1
California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 18975
2
State of California – Department of Social Services. Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 11105.3
4
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Applicant Fingerprint Processing Fees
5
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Custodian of Records
6
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 11102.2