Safety & Security

California DOJ’s CalVECHS Email: Breaking Down the Update and What You Need to Know

by | March 17, 2025

If your ministry is a California Live Scan “Authorized Agency,” you likely received a recent email on or about March 11, 2025, from the CA DOJ titled “California Department of Justice – CalVECHS (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking),” with eight attached documents (see References below). Understandably, this may have led some of you to wonder, “What new regulations have been added now?!” Take a deep breath… there’s actually nothing you must do right now!

SO JUST WHAT DOES THIS RECENT DOJ EMAIL MEAN TO YOUR MINISTRY? Since 2022, California Business & Professions Code §18975 (aka AB 506) has mandated that Youth Service Organizations complete fingerprint-based California DOJ criminal history checks of all administrators, employees, and regular volunteers. In late 2023, California Penal Code §11105.3 added a requirement that Youth Service Organizations also query federal (FBI) criminal records. The problem was that there were no existing, comparable federal regulations or statutes dealing specifically with California’s ability to disseminate federal-level criminal offender record information (CORI) to private non-governmental agencies (NGAs), hence, the reason some of you have previously received cryptic Live Scan responses from DOJ on your candidate indicating “DOJ Hit Non-Governmental Agency” but with no further explanation offered or even available to you.

The DOJ’s recent email serves simply to inform you that:

  1. DOJ is proposing to adopt a new rule under the California Code of Regulations (CCR) that will allow DOJ to disseminate state and Federal-level CORI to qualified entities via the CalVECHS (California Volunteer and Employee Criminal History System) program established under the National Child Protection Act as amended by the Volunteers for Children Act (NCPA/VCA). If adopted, the new rule would allow non-governmental agencies to receive a detailed federal response when their candidates undergo fingerprint-based criminal history checks.
  2. There is a window of opportunity for interested persons to provide public comment relevant to the proposed regulatory action. DOJ will consider only timely-received comments submitted to DOJ prior to April 22, 2025, at 5:00pm:
    • Department of Justice
    • Authorization & Certification Program
    • Attn: Shelley Rider
    • P.O. Box 160608
    • Sacramento, CA 95816-0608
    • (916) 210-2517
    • [email protected] 

Any changes as a result of this new rulemaking seem to be straightforward and relatively simple involving:

  1. a modified Request for Live Scan Service form (BCIA 8016)
  2. a new waiver form (BCIA 9018) to be signed annually by the employee/volunteer
  3. a CalVECHS enrollment form (BCIA 9017)

Under REFERENCES below are the attachments that were included with the DOJ’s email to Applicant Agencies. They are included only for reference and for purposes of providing public comment to DOJ. Your ministry should NOT yet adopt these forms for use as these are subject to change. For now, continue to use only your current forms.

Once the new “rule” has been adopted, DOJ will formally communicate with Applicant Agencies about the changes and any new or amended forms. Agencies will have until the end of 2026 to enroll in CalVECHS in order to continue receiving state and federal CORI, and there will be no cost to enroll. Until then, there’s nothing your ministry is required to do at this time.

If you have any questions about Live Scan or the newly “Proposed Rulemaking”, please reach out to Church HR Network at (888) 807-CHRN (2476) or [email protected].

REFERENCES:

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