A Florida Level 2 check is a fingerprint search of state and national records, and Hineni guides volunteers through it

Florida law requires Level 2 screening for some volunteer roles and allows it for many others. Section 943.0438 of the Florida Statutes requires it for coaches, managers and referees in youth athletic programs who have direct contact with minors, paid or volunteer. Leagues must keep screening records for at least five years.

The Volunteer and Employee Criminal History System (VECHS), run by FDLE under section 943.0542, lets organizations that serve children, older adults or people with disabilities screen their volunteers. An organization qualifies if it provides care, treatment, education, supervision or recreation to those groups, even as a limited part of its work. Results go to the organization alone. For a congregation, joining VECHS is a choice.

The fixed government fees come to $60 per person: $24 for the state check, $12 for the FBI check and $24 to keep the prints on file for five years. These are the fees the AHCA clearinghouse listed in its FAQ updated in April 2025, so confirm them before you budget. The Live Scan site adds its own fee. Renewal after five years is listed at $42.

An older VECHS volunteer rate of $31.50, set in 2015, may still apply to organizations that remain outside the clearinghouse. Each organization decides whether it pays, the volunteer pays or the cost is split. Hineni shows the cost and the payer before a volunteer starts.

Turnaround estimates vary across the sources Hineni has reviewed, so plan for a range. Hineni's clearance market analysis cites two to three working days for results after fingerprinting. A screening vendor's blog, cited in Hineni's volunteer research, puts the range at roughly 3 to 10 or more days.

An organization joining VECHS for the first time also waits for FDLE's eligibility review, which FDLE says takes ten business days, before its volunteers can be printed. Build that lead time into registration deadlines for any role that starts on a fixed date. In Hineni, each locked role shows its expected wait, marked as an estimate.

Hineni guides each step and keeps the results out of its own records. The organization's designated screener receives the results and makes each decision.

• Ask first whether the volunteer was fingerprinted for a Florida school or care job in the last five years, and route them to clearinghouse review where the law allows it.
• Explain the check, show the cost and who pays, and link to a nearby compliant Live Scan site.
• Record the clearance status, date and expiry, with no criminal history.
• Send reminders 60 and 30 days before a clearance expires.
• Handle a result that is not eligible privately, with notice, a copy of the report, the right to challenge it and a named contact.