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A commitment to a safe athletic and learning environment for youth. South Valley Aquatics is youth serving organization that is compliant with California Assembly Bill (AB) 506 and does Live Scan fingerprint criminal background information requests on all administrators, employees and volunteers.
South Valley Aquatics is authorized by the California Department of Justice as a criminal background history Applicant Agency. All of our employees, coaches and volunteers who work with our athletes have submitted to fingerprinting for Department of Justice and FBI criminal background information requests.
SOVA - California ORI#: AAJ73
Background Check Policy for Coaches and Volunteers
SOVA operates three youth sports clubs:
- SOVA Water Polo Club which is a USA Water Polo Club.
- SOVA Swim Club which is a USA Swimming Club
- SOVA Dive Club which is a USA Dive Club.
In addition to fingerprint checks by South Valley Aquatics, SOVA coaches must also meet the background check requirements of our affiliated national sport organizations:
Each club operates under the rules and guidelines of the national organizations, and our coaches must successfully complete background screening required by each national sports organization.
Each national organization states their background check policy.
Please review here:
USA Swimming Background Check Policy
USA Water Polo Background Check Policy
USA Diving Background Check Policy
California Assembly Bill (AB) 506
Signed into law in 2021 and effective January 1, 2022, requires youth-serving organizations to implement new child abuse prevention policies, including mandatory fingerprint-based background checks and child abuse reporting training for administrators, employees, and regular volunteers.
An update via Assembly Bill 2669 in 2022 delayed the compliance deadline for organizations that did not previously require background checks to January 1, 2024.
Key requirements of AB 506
Background Checks: All administrators, employees, and regular volunteers must complete a state and federal-level background check that includes fingerprinting. Anyone with a history of child abuse is excluded.
Training: Administrators, employees, and regular volunteers must complete child abuse and neglect reporting training, often referred to as mandated reporter training.
Policies and Procedures: Youth-serving organizations must develop and implement child abuse prevention policies and procedures, which include guidelines for secure and anonymous reporting of suspected child abuse.
Insurance: The law authorizes insurance carriers to request proof of compliance with these requirements before providing liability insurance to youth-serving organizations.
Important updates and clarifications
Compliance Deadline Extension: An update via AB 2669 extended the compliance deadline for certain youth-serving organizations to January 1, 2024. This extension applied to organizations that did not require background checks for administrators, employees, or regular volunteers before January 1, 2022.