Yes. Massachusetts requires background checks for youth sports coaches and volunteers under M.G.L.A. Chapter 6, § 172H. Organizations that primarily serve children 18 and under must obtain all available criminal offender record information from the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services before accepting any employee, volunteer, vendor, or contractor.
What Massachusetts’ Background Check Law Requires
Massachusetts routes its screening requirement through the state’s Criminal Offender Record Information system, known as CORI, rather than through a private consumer reporting agency. The law requires organizations to pull all available CORI on a person before that person is accepted into a covered role, and “all available” is a notably broad standard.
Who the Law Covers
The statute reaches any employee, volunteer, vendor, or contractor at an organization primarily serving children 18 and under. A youth sports league or club fits squarely within that description, and the law does not carve out an exception for unpaid coaches or seasonal help.
What the Check Includes
This is the detail that catches organizations off guard: Massachusetts’ “all available” CORI standard includes non-convictions and pending court appearances, not just finalized convictions. That is a meaningfully wider net than states whose laws focus only on conviction history, and it means an applicant with an open, unresolved case can surface in the results even without a conviction on record.
Handling a CORI Result Fairly
Because Massachusetts’ standard surfaces information beyond convictions, an organization needs a way to evaluate a pending case or a non-conviction record without treating every result as an automatic disqualifier. A written standard, applied the same way to every applicant, is what keeps a program’s decisions consistent and defensible if a family or a court ever asks how a coach was evaluated.
How Massachusetts’ Law Compares to Other States
Massachusetts is one of thirteen states with a youth sports background check statute, and its CORI standard, reaching non-convictions and pending cases, is broader than what most other states require. See our full breakdown of which states require background checks for youth sports to compare what each state’s law actually reaches.
What This Means for Your Youth Sports Organization
Because Massachusetts’ standard goes beyond convictions, organizations need a documented policy for how to weigh a pending case fairly rather than treating every CORI result as disqualifying on its own. Our guide on building a volunteer coaching program parents can trust walks through how to write that standard down before you have a live decision to make.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Massachusetts require background checks for youth sports coaches?
Yes. Massachusetts law (M.G.L.A. Ch. 6 § 172H) requires organizations primarily serving children 18 and under to obtain all available CORI from the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services before accepting any employee, volunteer, vendor, or contractor.
Does Massachusetts’ background check requirement cover volunteer coaches?
Yes. The statute applies to volunteers, vendors, and contractors as well as employees, so a volunteer coach is covered the same as paid staff.
Does a Massachusetts CORI check show non-convictions and pending cases?
Yes. Massachusetts’ “all available” CORI standard includes non-convictions and pending court appearances, not only finalized convictions.