Critical Child Safety Legislation
The Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA) is modeled after the successful “SafetyNET” Child Safety pilot that provided mentoring organizations with direct access to national FBI fingerprint checks of volunteers at a low cost and with a swift turnaround time. Currently, only half of the states provide access to national FBI fingerprint checks to mentoring programs and other youth-serving organizations. Programs without access are left to choose between often costly screenings offered through private companies or skip a national FBI fingerprint check altogether.
MENTOR recommends including a national FBI check as part of a comprehensive screening of all potential volunteers wishing to work with children. For this reason, we strongly support CPIA.
- CPIA would ensure universal access to FBI fingerprint background checks for all youth-serving organizations
- CPIA would help minimize the costs of screenings and emphasize the need for timely results
- CPIA is bipartisan, focused on ensuring the safety of the country’s young people, and carries no taxpayer expense
Contact your members of Congress today and urge them to protect youth by passing CPIA now!
CEOs from 22 organizations who support and provide services to America’s youth have signed letters in support of the bill to Senate and House leaders.
Read the letters in full and additional CPIA documents below.
Recent Letters to Congress
March 2017 – Support Letter for House Judiciary Hearing on Combating Crimes Against Children
November 2015 – CPIA Support Letter to Congress (House)
November 2015 – CPIA Support Letter to Congress (Senate)
November 2014 – CEO Support Letter to House Leadership
November 2014 – CEO Support Letters to the Senate Judiciary Committee
Curious About the Background Check Laws in Your State?
The American Camp Association has a resource that shows whether or not FBI criminal background checks are required for volunteers and the amount for processing these checks. To complete a search, enter your state and identify the row titled “State Allows FBI Checks”. Information is updated annually.