The Arizona DCS-1083A Central Registry clearance form is the background check that confirms you have no substantiated child abuse or neglect findings on the Department of Child Safety’s Central Registry before you take a job with direct contact with children or vulnerable adults. Arizona has moved this process online: the paper DCS-1083A and several related forms have been replaced by the Centralized Background Checks (CBC) portal at cbc.az.gov, where most applicants now submit the request.1Arizona Department of Economic Security. Arizona Centralized Background Checks (CBC) Web Portal Your employer typically starts the process and tells you what to complete on your end.
Do You Actually Need This Check
Arizona Revised Statutes § 8-804 requires a Central Registry check for anyone whose primary duties involve in-person contact with a child or a vulnerable adult (someone 18 or older who cannot protect themselves from abuse, neglect, or exploitation because of a physical or mental impairment). That covers state employees in direct-service roles, state contractors and their subcontractors, child welfare agency staff, foster and adoptive parent applicants, child care home certification applicants, workers in group homes and residential treatment settings, direct-service staff at licensed behavioral health residential facilities and intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual disabilities, and anyone seeking certification to provide home and community based services.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 8-804 – Central Registry; Notification; Definition
If you are unsure whether your position qualifies, ask the hiring agency before you submit anything. Employers in covered positions already know they need the clearance and will tell you how they want it done.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
The information the system asks for is the same whether you fill out a paper form or use the portal. Gather it before you log in so you don’t time out partway through:
- Your full legal name — first, middle, and last — exactly as it appears on your government-issued ID.
- Any previous names you have used as an adult, including maiden names and aliases. Nicknames don’t count.
- Your date of birth.
- Your Social Security number. Providing it helps DCS locate records faster; on some related forms it is listed as voluntary.
- Your employer or agency’s name, mailing address, phone number, representative name, and the email tied to their CBC account.
Check your spelling and your date of birth carefully. A mismatch between what you enter and what the state has on file is the most common cause of processing delays. If you have changed your name through marriage, divorce, or a court order and haven’t yet updated your ID, list both the current legal name and the former one.
Submitting Through the CBC Portal
The Department of Economic Security publishes a user guide for individuals (CBC-1000A) in English and Spanish, and a separate guide for employers (CBC-1002A).1Arizona Department of Economic Security. Arizona Centralized Background Checks (CBC) Web Portal The applicant steps run like this:
- Log in at cbc.az.gov with the credentials you set up for a Fingerprint Clearance Card application through the Department of Public Safety. Reset passwords carefully; several failed attempts can lock you out for 24 hours.
- Click Requests and choose whether you need a Fingerprint Clearance Card along with the registry check, or only the registry check.
- Indicate whether you are affiliated with the Department of Economic Security.
- Enter your employer’s name, representative, mailing address, phone number, and CBC account email. Your employer should give you these details.
- Confirm your personal profile: name, date of birth, Social Security number, and any previous names.
- Check the acknowledgment box, type your name as it appears on your profile, review the entry, and submit.
The portal also handles Adult Protective Services Registry checks and Fingerprint Clearance Card status in the same account, so you can see everything in one place.1Arizona Department of Economic Security. Arizona Centralized Background Checks (CBC) Web Portal
The Penalty-of-Perjury Certification
Separate from the background check request itself, § 8-804(J) requires you to certify under penalty of perjury, on forms provided by the Department of Child Safety, whether any allegation of abuse or neglect has ever been made against you and placed on the Central Registry.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 8-804 – Central Registry; Notification; Definition
This certification matters for timing. If your signed statement discloses no current investigation or substantiated report, you can begin providing direct services while the formal registry check is still processing. Be accurate. The existence of a past allegation does not automatically disqualify you, but lying on a sworn statement is a serious offense. Disclose anything you have been investigated for and let the formal process sort it out.
What the Results Say
The completed check goes to the requesting employer, not to you. The report tells the employer three things: the date the registry was checked, whether you were identified as a perpetrator in any substantiated report, and whether the acts involved are classified as disqualifying or non-disqualifying.3Arizona Department of Child Safety. DCS 18-02 Central Registry and Fingerprint Clearance Checks for Direct Service Employees
Most applicants clear with no complications and the hiring process moves forward. If there is a substantiated finding, the distinction between disqualifying and non-disqualifying acts controls what happens next. Disqualifying acts are the categories serious enough to also prevent you from getting a Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card. Non-disqualifying findings still appear on the report, and the employer can weigh them, but they do not automatically bar you from the job.
If You Have a Disqualifying Finding
A substantiated, disqualifying finding is not necessarily the end of the road. DCS must notify anyone disqualified by the Central Registry that they can apply to the Board of Fingerprinting for a Central Registry exception.3Arizona Department of Child Safety. DCS 18-02 Central Registry and Fingerprint Clearance Checks for Direct Service Employees
An investigator first checks whether your application is complete. The Board then conducts an expedited review within 20 days of a complete application; no application is denied at this stage, and if the record already shows enough rehabilitation the exception is granted on the papers. If not, the case goes to a hearing before an administrative law judge where you can present testimony and evidence, and the Board makes a final decision within 80 days after the hearing.4Board of Fingerprinting. Central Registry Exception Process
In deciding, the Board weighs how long ago the abuse or neglect occurred, the nature and severity of the conduct, any mitigating circumstances, your degree of participation, and your rehabilitation, including completion of counseling, drug treatment, domestic violence, or parenting programs, and personal references.5Arizona Legislature. SB1664 – Arizona Legislature The question the Board is answering is whether you have genuinely rehabilitated and are unlikely to reoffend.