Every Appointment
$119
Individual volunteer
- Entity ORI verified first
- Certified electronic capture
- Quality checked on site
- Same-day submission
- Same or next-day slots
- Reprints free if rejected
Volunteer and Employee Criminal History System screening for West Palm Beach nonprofits, youth programmes, and faith organisations.
VECHS — the Volunteer and Employee Criminal History System — is the FDLE programme that lets organisations screen volunteers and employees who work with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities, even where no specific statute licenses their activity. Youth sports leagues, faith organisations, mentoring programmes, scouting groups, and nonprofits are the typical users.
It works differently from agency screening in one important respect: the organisation has to be set up first. A qualified entity signs an agreement with FDLE, receives its own ORI, and only then can send people to be screened under it. Volunteers who arrive without their organisation having done that groundwork cannot be screened under VECHS — so the first call is usually from the organisation rather than the individual.
Troop leaders, club volunteers, and activity supervisors fall inside the programme.
Camp and after-school programme staff are commonly screened through VECHS.
Recreational league volunteers working with young athletes are screened.
Tutors in one-to-one settings with students are commonly screened.
Volunteers serving elderly clients fall inside the programme's scope.
Some organisations screen board members with direct client contact.
Our counter is in West Palm Beach, which makes this the simplest version of the trip for anyone local. West Palm Beach is the county seat, and the address on our door, and the requirement is nearly always the same underneath: fingerprints captured properly, submitted to the right agency, the first time.
We serve clients across West Palm Beach including Downtown, Northwood Village, El Cid, Flamingo Park, Grandview Heights, and SoSo, as well as nearby communities such as Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, and Lake Clarke Shores. Landmarks like Clematis Street, Rosemary Square, and the Norton Museum of Art put us on familiar ground — this is home-turf service, not a mail-order queue.
Being the county seat concentrates a particular kind of demand here. Court-adjacent work, county and municipal hiring, the downtown financial and legal corridor, and the hospital campuses all generate screening requirements, and most of them route through agencies within a few miles of our counter.
The practical advantage for residents is simply proximity. There is no drive to plan around, which matters most when a licensing deadline moves or an employer needs a submission in before a start date. Book a lunch-break slot and the whole thing is done.
We are at 500 S Australian Ave, Suite 600, just off Okeechobee Boulevard, booking Monday to Saturday with same or next-day slots. We also handle vechs fingerprinting for clients in nearby Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Palm Springs.
This distinction saves organisations a lot of confusion. Agency screening through AHCA, DCF, APD, or the Department of Health deposits results in the shared Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, where participating providers can retrieve them. VECHS is a separate FDLE programme with its own agreement, its own ORI, and its own results delivery — VECHS results go to the qualified entity that requested them, and they don't sit in the Clearinghouse for others to pull.
The practical consequence is that a volunteer screened through one organisation generally needs screening again for another, even for identical work. It also means the organisation, not the volunteer, holds the results and the responsibility for handling them. If you're setting up a programme, it's worth reading FDLE's guidance on qualified entity obligations before you start sending people in.
An organisation must have a signed FDLE agreement and its own ORI before anyone can be screened.
VECHS results don't sit in the Clearinghouse. Another organisation generally can't pull them.
If the entity setup isn't finished, volunteers arrive and can't be screened under the programme.
The programme covers those working with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities.
The capture itself is the quick part — roughly ten minutes at the scanner, a little longer when a photo or a printed card is involved. Electronic submissions leave our office the same day, so nothing sits waiting on a courier or a weekly batch run.
What happens after that is the agency's clock, not ours. State and federal processing typically returns a result within a few business days, and posting to a board or to the Clearinghouse follows from there. If you are working against a start date or a filing deadline, say so when you book from West Palm Beach and we will tell you honestly whether the timeline is realistic rather than finding out later that it wasn't.
Your organisation needs its FDLE agreement and ORI in place. We'll tell you if it isn't.
Individuals book with the organisation's ORI, or the organisation books the group together.
Rolled and flat impressions on a certified scanner, quality-checked as we go.
Returned to the qualified entity that requested them, typically within a few business days.
One flat fee, all-in — the state fee, the federal fee, and the AHCA retention fee are already inside it. Nothing is added at your appointment, and we don't charge a separate rolling fee on top.
Need fingerprinting at your office or facility? We bring the equipment to you anywhere in Palm Beach County, Clearinghouse photo included. Call for a quote.
With FDLE rather than with us. A qualified entity signs a VECHS agreement and receives its own ORI before anyone can be screened under the programme. Once that's in place, call (561) 475-4757 and we'll handle the screening side.
Generally no. VECHS results go to the entity that requested them and don't sit in the Clearinghouse for others to retrieve, so most organisations screen their own volunteers even for identical work.
It's fingerprint-based state and national screening, so the depth is comparable. The difference is the programme and the delivery — VECHS runs under an FDLE entity agreement rather than an agency licensing route.
Volunteers and employees whose role brings them into contact with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. Your organisation decides scope within the programme's rules.
Yes, and it's much easier as one block before the season starts. For qualified entities we can come to your venue by special request. Call (561) 475-4757 with a headcount.
The qualified entity that requested them. Volunteers don't receive a copy directly, and the organisation carries the responsibility for handling results appropriately.
There's no universal expiry; most organisations set their own rescreening interval as a matter of policy. Check your own safeguarding policy rather than assuming.
A valid government photo ID and the organisation's ORI. If your coordinator sent instructions, bring the page — the ORI is usually on it.
Qualified entity agreements, ORIs, and programme rules.
Florida Department of Law EnforcementState criminal history records.
FBI Criminal Justice Information ServicesThe national portion of the screening.
One flat fee, all-in, for every Florida agency route.
What to bringThe short checklist that prevents a wasted trip.
ORI number guideWhat an ORI is and where to find yours.
Level 1 vs Level 2Which one your form is actually asking for.
Same or next-day slots, Monday to Saturday — call and we'll confirm a time and verify your ORI first. Companies in West Palm Beach can be handled on site by special request.