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Background Check Screening for Churches

Safety Done Right in Volunteer and Employee Management

It’s never been more important to know exactly who is volunteering, serving, working, and caring for your church family. That’s why we have partnered with Verified First to provide your church with the most comprehensive background checks available. This service integrates seamlessly and makes it super simple to run thorough background checks on anyone in your church or whom you may be considering for your staff.

Packages & Pricing

As of January 1, 2023

Serving Volunteer

Best used for volunteers in greeting or hospitality roles
$ 11
50
Per person searched*
  • This is the most basic package and includes all of the below.
  • Nationwide Criminal Database search
  • Global Watch Lists, Homeland Security Lists, Sanctioned Lists
  • International and Interpol of 190+ countries
  • Nationwide Sex Offender Database search
  • Social Security Address Trace Report, including Death Index

Applicant Pay Serving Volunteers*

  • Give your volunteers the opportunity to cover the cost of their background check. The applicant will receive an email to complete the application and provide payment.
  • This package is the same cost and includes the same searches as the Serving Volunteers package.

Children and Youth Volunteer

Best used for volunteers assisting with children or youth ministries
$ 31 Per person searched*
  • Everything in the previous package:
  • Unlimited County Criminal Search for all filings over at least the last 7 years
  • Nationwide Sex Offender Registry Search

Leadership and Staff

Best used for staff or other church leaders.
$ 48 Per person searched*
  • Everything in the Child/Youth Volunteer package plus:
  • Education Verification
  • Employment Verification

All packages include:

We offer a special Child/Youth Volunteer package that meets the standards of Pennsylvania ACT 153. It includes our basic package, plus:

  • PA child abuse clearance check
  • PA statewide criminal search

The cost is $40 per person searched, plus any state access fees, if applicable. Please note, fingerprinting is not available with this package.

Additional Details

The difference between the National Sex Offender Registry and the Nationwide Sex Offender Database is the timing of the products. The Database contains static data and is not considered a system of record as it is not live. The states maintain the Registry, and our access to it is real-time.

The Registry will have states unavailable, and when that occurs, our team waits to finish the processing until that state is back up and has been searched. With the Database, if a state is down when the Database is updated, that state’s information is missing until the next time the Database is updated.

Extra Add-Ons:

To learn more or turn on add-on reports, please contact 

Motor Vehicle Registration (MVR)

$ 4
25
added to package*
  • Best used for anyone driving a church vehicle.

Credit Check

Best used for anyone handling money.
$ 6
35
added to package
  • Best used for anyone handling money.

Nationwide Sex Offender Registry Search

$ 3
15
added to package*
  • Best used for anyone working with children.

Vulnerable Abuse Registry

$ 12
03
added to package*
  • Statewide report that pulls abuse and neglect records from a centralized database for child, elderly, and/or other vulnerable groups.

Drug Testing

$39.78 - $104.98
  • added to package*

International Criminal Check

$ 16
00
added to package*
  • Reveals if a candidate has criminal records outside of the United States and Canada.

County Civil Records

$45.00 - $75.00
  • added to package*
  • Searches a specified county to identify non-criminal suits filed by individuals or corporations.

Personal Reference Verification

$ 10
08
added to package*
  • Provides insight to candidate’s character, reliability, strengths, and weaknesses.

International Education or Employment Verification

$ 29
25
added to package*
  • Verifies education, history, degree provided by applicant outside of the United States and Canada.
  • Verifies job title, tenure, salary, reasons for leaving, rehire eligibility, outside of the United States and Canada.

Canadian Searches

Canadian National Criminal Check (CPIC)

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Search
$ 37 per person searched*
  • Royal Canadian Mounted Police Search

Canadian Employment Verification

$ 41
50
per person searched*
  • Job Title
  • Tenure
  • Reasons for leaving
  • Rehire eligilibty

Canadian Education Verification

$ 41
50
per person searched*
  • Education history
  • Degree

Canadian Credit Report

$ 37 per person searched*
  • Bankruptcies
  • Collections
  • Other credit trade lines

Canadian MVR

$ 29 per person searched*
  • License class
  • Status
  • Violations
  • Accidents

*Search Access Fees – In addition to the cost of the background check, your reports may be subject to various third-party access fees, including county and state court access fees, DMV access fees, and employment/education verification fees. ACS Technologies does not mark up any of these fees; instead we include them on your invoice at cost. Pricing listed in US dollars.

Start protecting your church today.

Realm logo
  1. Sign in using an administrative login.
  2. Click on Settings, then Additional Features.
  3. In the Background Checks section, click Learn More.
  4. Click Sign Up for Background Checks.
  5. Complete provided application form.
acs technologies icon

To take advantage of the integration between ACS and Verified First, you will need to be on version 11.7.1.22 or later.

  1. Log in to ACS.
  2. Click “Grow Your Ministry” in the toolbar.
  3. Select “Background Checks,” and you’ll be taken to the Verified First signup page.
  4. Follow the prompts to start using background checks.
PDS Parish Data System logo

To take advantage of the integration between PDS and Verified First, you will need to be on version 9.0G or later.

  1. In the Personnel section, click “Safe Environment.”
  2. Click “Request Background Check.”
  3. Click “Sign Up”, and you’ll be taken to the Verified First signup page.
  4. Follow the prompts to start using background checks.
Realm logo

Group and One-Way Mass Texting in Realm offers a single, comprehensive vehicle for real-time communication. Integrated directly in Realm, your church is assigned a dedicated phone number so that staff can send or schedule one-way texts to your entire congregation or specific people. Group leaders can also use text communication to engage with group members. Realm keeps track of everything that has been sent, so that staff and group leaders know who they are reaching and if any one may be falling through the cracks.

Reach more people and engage your church instantly

  • Staff can send one-way text messages from anywhere in Realm where an email can be sent (queries, dashboards, pathways)
  • Group leaders can send text communications to their groups or specific people in their groups and specify if replies are allowed for group text messages
  • View a history of text messages sent
  • Congregants can specify their communication preferences related to text communications and receive instant communications from your church

Keep your groups connected:

  • Group leaders can send messages to all or a subset of group members
  • Group leaders can access a history of previously sent communications, which includes text messages
  • Group members can receive and reply to texts whether or not they have a Realm account
  • Administrators can limit the groups for which texting is available

Your Realm subscription (Connect or Multiply) includes the ability for congregants to receive text messages as a communication preference. There are multiple pricing plans that best the communication needs of your church. These plans include both group and one-way mass texting.

Base Subscription 400 Texts / $7 month

Texts Pricing*
1,000 +$21 / month
1,500 +$31.50 / month
2,000 +$42 / month
2,500 +$52 / month
5,000 +$105 / month
10,000 +$210 / month
15,000 +$315 / month
25,000 +$525 / month
35,000 +$700 / month
50,000 +$1000 / month
75,000 +$1500 / month

*An overage fee of $0.03 will be added to the bill for each additional text sent above the selected text package. Texting packages do not roll over to the next month. The billing cycle starts at the beginning of the month regardless of when the church signs up.

Ready to get started? It’s easy to enable text messages for your church in Realm:

  1. Click Settings > Text Messaging.
  2. Click Enroll Now.
  3. Choose text options to turn on One-Way Texts and/or Connect Inbox Texts (Group Texts).
  4. If One-Way Texts is turned on, enter a Text ID (this is what tells your recipient who the message is coming from – e.g. your church name).
  5. Select the staff users who will have permissions to send One-Way Texts.
  6. If Connect Inbox Texts is turned on, add ministry area/group and/or serving teams in order to turn on group messaging for them.
  7. Click Choose a Plan (you’ll automatically be enrolled in the base subscription).
  8. Select Additional Texts (optional).
  9. Click Next.
  10. Fill out the application > click Submit Application > click Confirm.