Child Protection Program
All local Little Leagues are required to conduct background checks on Managers, Coaches, Board of Directors members and any other persons, volunteers or hired workers, who provide regular service to the league and/or have repetitive access to, or contact with, players or teams.
Individuals are also required to complete and submit a Little League Volunteer Application to their local league. Effective in 2007, the local league must conduct a nationwide search that contains the applicable government sex offender registry data.
Little League International currently provides each league with access to 125 free Supplemental criminal background checks per year. Due to the refusal of several states that only provide access to historical sex offender registry record data, the LexisNexis Supplemental National Criminal File database no longer meets the minimum requirements of the Little League regulations. National Sex Offender Registry, (www.nsopr.gov)
In addition to meeting the minimum requirement of checking the United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry, (www.nsopr.gov) Little League strongly encourages all leagues to also utilize the national criminal records search available through the Little League website. This additional criminal records check may provide additional important information regarding the criminal records of individuals whose crimes do not require that they be listed on a sex offender registry. For example, convictions for assault, battery, theft or drug offenses would not result in a report to sex offender registry.
Information on how to utilize this benefit, as well as how to conduct background checks, can be found on the Little League website at: Programs - Child Protection
If no sex offender registries exist in a province or country outside the United States the local league must conduct the more extensive of a country, province or city- wide criminal background check through the appropriate governmental agency unless prohibited by law.
Click here for the Parent’s Guide to the Little League Child Protection Program (can be printed out and duplicated for all parents in the local league)
Click here for a list of frequently-asked questions about the regulations.