California churches currently adhering to AB506 must now enroll in a new state background check system, CalVECHS,* by December 31, 2026, according to a mandate issued by the California Department of Justice on March 24, 2025. Failure to register by the end of the year will mean churches lose access to the Live Scan portal and can no longer submit fingerprints or receive criminal background check results for staff or volunteers, regardless of how long they have been running background checks in compliance with AB506.
Enrollment does not alter your church’s background-check practices. It changes the system your church is required to use to continue meeting what AB506 already demands. Churches currently in full compliance with AB506 are not exempt from this step and must register directly. Enrollment in CalVECHS is not automatic.
Standard state and federal fingerprint processing fees still apply, but there is no added fee to enroll in CalVECHS.
How to proceed
- Log in to the AAJC portal (the same portal used for Live Scan).
- Go to the “Requests” page and submit a CalVECHS Enrollment request. The portal will walk you through the required agreements and documentation as part of the request.
Be sure to accept both monitoring services bundled with enrollment: California Subsequent Arrest Notification (CA SAN) and Federal RAP Back. Both track new arrests after a background check clears (CA SAN in-state, RAP Back out-of-state).
Processing takes 2–6 weeks, and requests submitted close to the deadline may not be completed in time.
A step-by-step walkthrough is available via a webinar hosted by ChurchWest and Church HR Network: Mandatory Live Scan Updates.
Legacy Staff and Volunteers
Current staff and volunteers do not need to be re-fingerprinted. Legacy applicants, meaning those fingerprinted before a church enrolls, continue to receive in-state (CA SAN) arrest notifications without interruption.
They will not, however, be included in the new federal monitoring service (RAP Back) unless they are re-fingerprinted after enrollment. RAP Back tracks only fingerprints submitted after a church’s enrollment date. Re-fingerprinting legacy staff and volunteers is a decision left to each church, not a compliance requirement.
Additional Requirements After Enrollment
Once enrolled, your church will need to collect a signed CalVECHS Waiver Agreement (BCIA 9018) from every employee and volunteer fingerprinted under CalVECHS. This is a DOJ-issued form. Churches may not draft their own version. The waiver confirms your church’s authority to receive that person’s background check results, and it must be renewed annually and kept on file for three years.
Churches that enrolled in CalVECHS before April 9, 2026, must separately request Federal RAP Back through the AAJC portal, as it was not automatically included for early enrollees. Churches enrolling after that date receive both CA SAN and RAP Back automatically in one request.
Deadline
Churches that have not completed enrollment into CalVECHS by December 31, 2026, will lose Live Scan access and will no longer meet the requirements of AB506.
Questions or clarification about your church’s enrollment status or process can be directed to CSBC’s Church Matters Initiatives Team (kvana@csbc.com).
*CalVECHS (California Volunteer and Employee Criminal History Service)
