Read & act on results

Open a volunteer's profile to see their background-check report. Common statuses:

Status	What it means
Processing	The check is running (results usually arrive in minutes).
Clear	No reportable records found — you’re good to approve.
Under review	Records were found and are being reviewed by the ScreenForge Labs CRA team before anything reaches you (typically within up to 3 business days).
Consider	Records were confirmed after review — open the CRA Reviewer note at the top of the volunteer profile (also included in the PDF) and follow the adverse-action process.
Refunded / Error	The check couldn’t be completed and the charge was refunded.

Clear reports show an “All Clear” panel with the jurisdictions searched and a note that records older than 7 years, arrests, warrants, and dismissed cases are excluded.
Reports with records are never shown to you automatically. They're held for human CRA review by our team (up to 3 business days), who removes anything that isn't truly your applicant before releasing the report. When our CRA reviewer adds a note, a prominent button at the top of the volunteer profile lets you open it — including an explanation of FCRA responsibilities and the note for that check. The same content is included in the Download PDF export.
Download the report as a PDF — click the green “Download Report PDF” button and pick one of two formats:
- Full report — all details (password-protected). The complete, official compliance document: identity verification, application details, the background-check result, and address history. This is the copy you keep for your compliance file and attach to any adverse-action notice. If you've set an organization Report PDF password (Settings → Screening), it's required to open this file — and the first time you download, we offer to set one.
- Brief summary — no personal info. A privacy-safe one- to two-page record with every personal identifier stripped out: no date of birth, contact info, home address, SSN, ID-document details, biometric photos, application answers, or location signals. It keeps only the volunteer's name, the pass/fail result and what was searched, the identity-verified assertion, and the FCRA notice. It is never password-protected, so it's safe to store on your own drive or share internally when you don't want personal data sitting in your files.

The Status column on your Volunteers list

The Status badge next to each volunteer is a plain-English summary of where they are in screening — it updates itself as the check moves along, so you never set it by hand:

Status	What it means	What to do
Pending	Invited, but hasn’t finished their application yet.	Click Nudge to remind them (up to 3, no credits) — or ask Victor to nudge them.
Submitted	Application is in — but no background check has run yet.	Click the green Run Check button on the row to start the $5 check.
Screening…	The background check is running.	Nothing needed — results usually arrive within minutes to a few hours.
All Cleared	No reportable records found.	You can approve them to serve — approval is your decision.
Investigating Hits	Records were found; the ScreenForge Labs CRA team is reviewing them.	Wait for review (up to 3 business days); you’ll be notified.
Consider	Records were confirmed after review and released for your decision.	Open the volunteer for the CRA note, then approve — or decline with adverse action.
Approved / Declined	The decision you made.	—

The new Identity Verify column shows Yes / Pending / No — whether the volunteer completed government-ID verification. You can narrow the list with the Status and Identity dropdowns above the table.

VolunteerBadge never decides for you

Approve and Decline are always your call. Even when a check comes back clear (“All Cleared”) or records are released (“Consider”), VolunteerBadge only surfaces the information — it never auto-approves or auto-declines a volunteer.

Download the volunteer's signed FCRA authorization

Separate from the background-check report, you can download a PDF copy of the FCRA Disclosure & Authorization the volunteer signed when they applied — the consent that legally allowed you to run the check. Open the volunteer's profile and scroll to the “FCRA Consent” card (it shows their signature, timestamp, and IP address), then click “Download authorization (PDF).” The document reproduces the exact disclosure and authorization text the volunteer agreed to, along with the electronic-signature audit trail (typed signature, date and time, IP address, and method). Keep it in your compliance file alongside the report.

The FCRA Consent card and its download button appear only after the volunteer has actually signed. If someone hasn't finished their application yet, there's no signed authorization to download.

Which PDF should I keep?

Keep the full report in a secure, access-controlled location — it's your compliance record and the document you attach during adverse action. Use the brief summary for everyday record-keeping when you just need proof a volunteer was screened, without their personal details living in your files.

Considering declining a volunteer based on a record?

The law (FCRA) requires a specific process, and the Compliancecenter walks you through it: email a Pre-Adverse Action Notice (with a copy of the report and the CFPB “Summary of Your Rights”), wait at least 5 business days while the applicant can dispute online, then email the final Adverse Action Notice. Never auto-reject — assess each record's relevance to the role, and consult counsel when in doubt.