CORI Checks

Overview

• We run our own CORI checks on all staff and volunteers that deliver programming. Clients may require an additional background check that they administer. 

• CORI checks are run annually for staff and volunteers.

• The background checks are done for MA only (icori.chs.state.ma.us/icori); information about doing background checks in other states is here.

• We track who has been CORId and when, in this spreadsheet.

• People who can run CORI checks (as of July 2025):

  • CORI Officer is Maija Pratt (username maija, maija@navigationgames.org)

  • Barb Bryant (username navgames, email barb.bryant@gmail.com)

Our CORI Policy

The CORI policy can be found in our policy folder. It includes the following:

• All personnel authorized to review CORI will be thoroughly familiar with the educational materials from the DCJIS.

• We need to keep a list of those authorized individuals and update it every 6 months. The state of MA may request to see it at any time.

• The applicant must be notified of adverse personnel decisions, and given a chance to dispute the accuracy and relevance of the CORI record.

• Access to CORI information is confidential and limited to those who have a need to know, and who have been trained on the educational materials made available by the DCJIS.

How to run a CORI

To get a staff member or volunteer checked for Navigation Games:

1. First confirm that it has not already been done. 

2. Ask the staff member / applicant / volunteer to complete this form.

3. Track results so that we know when to re-run CORIs for long-serving staff members.

4. Save the email confirmation that the CORI has been run and log the date in the certification spreadsheet.

Key information in the training document for organizations

From the organizational training document.

• Navigation Games is "Required 2 access":

  • Non-conviction information

  • All pending criminal charges

  • All misdemeanor and felony convictions from the subject's 18th birthday or adjudicated as an adult

  • All convictions for murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and sex offenses

• Applicant has right to due process

• Individuals can see who has run a CORI on them

• There is a government body that investigates complaints about violations of CORI regulations, with civil and criminal penalties

• We must maintain a CORI policy meeting their standards (model policy at mass.gov/cjis)

• Guidance for steps if you're going to make an adverse employment decision based on CORI

• We must keep a secondary dissemination log if CORI is shared outside the organization

• The CORI Representative must:

  • read and review CDJIS CORI regulations

  • assign a back-up CORI representative

  • Enter organization user information and maintain user accounts

  • Confirm all organization users have reviewed and understand the training

  • Keep all organization registration and contact information up to date

  • Ensure we have a policy

  • Maintain an up-to-date list of indiviuals authorized to view CORI

  • Annually renew the organization's registration

  • Maintain authorized consumer reporting agency information

• An Organization User is authorized by the CORI Representative to request and obtain CORI. They have their own user account and access to all CORI requests entered by any Organization User.

• To make a CORI request, we have to complete a CORI Acknowledgement Form and verify it in person with government ID. It can be completed remotely by having it notarized. Each request for an alias or maiden name is a separate CORI request. Up to 100 names may be submitted at one time. Results may be immediate or pending.

• Results are available for 6 months. They are confidential. 

• CORI information stored electronically must be password protected and encrypted. (Note that all files uploaded to Drive or created in Docs, Sheets and Slides are encrypted in transit and at rest with AES256 bit encryption. Client-side encryption is available in some Google plans, but it does not seem possible in Google for Nonprofits.)

• For help: 617-660-4640 or icori.info@state.ma.us