A family hiring a nanny is an employer, and that is the single most useful thing to understand before running any check. It means you have a permissible purpose under the FCRA, it means the applicant has rights you owe them, and it means the tool for the job is a consumer reporting agency rather than one of the consumer people-search products that dominate the search results for this phrase. This page sets out what to run and how.
You are an employer, so use an employment screening provider
Employing somebody to work in your home puts you in the same framework as any other employer for screening purposes. That is good news: it gives you a lawful basis to obtain a consumer report about an applicant, which somebody merely curious about a person does not have. It also means the consumer people-search products are the wrong purchase. Those are not consumer reporting agencies, their own terms typically prohibit using them for employment decisions, and a report from one carries none of the accuracy procedures or dispute rights that make an employment decision defensible.
What the check should actually cover
For a role involving unsupervised care of children, the sensible set is an identity and address trace, county criminal searches across the addresses it returns, a national criminal database sweep as a pointer, a sex offender registry search, and a motor vehicle record if the nanny will drive the children. Employment verification on the last two positions matters more here than in most roles, because references and continuity of care are much of what you are assessing. Reference calls, which are not a consumer report at all when you make them yourself, remain worth doing.
The duties you owe the applicant
The same three steps every employer owes. A clear standalone written disclosure that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes, the applicant's written authorisation before you order it, and if you decide against them because of something in the report, a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the Summary of Your Rights, a reasonable period for them to respond, and a final notice. Families skip this more often than businesses do, usually because it does not feel like a formal hiring process. The obligations do not soften because the workplace is a kitchen.
Where a fingerprint check fits
Some states run fingerprint-based checks for childcare through a state agency, and in a few contexts a household employer can access one. A fingerprint search against a state or FBI repository identifies a person biometrically rather than by name and date of birth, which removes the identity ambiguity that name-based commercial searching has to work around. It is generally slower, it returns what was reported to the repository rather than what the courts hold, and it is best treated as a complement to county court searching rather than a replacement for it.
Questions people ask about nanny background check
Can I run a background check on a nanny myself?
You can order one from a consumer reporting agency as an employer, with the applicant's written authorisation. What you should not do is use a consumer people-search product, which is not a consumer reporting agency and whose terms typically forbid employment use.
Do I have to tell the nanny?
Yes. A standalone written disclosure and written authorisation are required before you order the report, and an adverse action sequence is required if you decline them because of what it says.
What should a nanny check include?
An identity and address trace, county criminal searches across that address history, a national database sweep, a sex offender registry search, and a driving record if they will drive. Employment verification on recent positions is worth more here than in most roles.
Is a sex offender registry search enough on its own?
No. The registries cover a specific set of convictions and nothing else. They are a necessary part of a childcare check and a very incomplete one by themselves.