North Dakota Foster Care Background Check Requirements

Most prospective foster parents expect a background check. What surprises them is how many checks there actually are — and that all of them apply to every adult living in the household, not just the primary applicant.

North Dakota runs five separate background investigations as part of the foster care licensing process. Understanding what each check covers, where the results go, and which criminal history can actually disqualify you — versus which gets reviewed on a case-by-case basis — saves time and prevents the anxiety of finding out mid-process that something in your past needs to be disclosed.

The Five Background Checks

The Criminal Background Check Unit (CBCU) in Bismarck manages the process through the ND Gateway Portal. All five checks must be completed before a license can be issued.

1. North Dakota State Criminal History Check Conducted through the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), this is both a name-based and fingerprint-based search of the state's criminal records. It covers convictions, arrests, and pending charges in North Dakota.

2. FBI National Criminal History Check A fingerprint-based search of the national FBI database. This captures criminal history from all 50 states, not just North Dakota. If you've lived or worked in other states, this is where that history appears.

3. North Dakota Child Abuse and Neglect Registry An inquiry into the state's Central Registry — the database that tracks substantiated child abuse and neglect findings. A founded finding on this registry is one of the most serious potential disqualifiers in the licensing process.

4. Sex Offender Registry Check A verification against both the North Dakota sex offender registry and the national sex offender registry. Both public and non-public registry entries are searched.

5. Interstate Registry Checks If any adult in your household has lived in another state within the last five years, North Dakota must check that state's child abuse registry and criminal records. This is not optional and is not waived for brief residency periods. You'll need to disclose all states of residence for the preceding five years.

Who Must Be Checked

Every adult residing in the household — defined as anyone age 18 or older — must complete the background check process. This includes:

• Both spouses or partners in a couple application
• Adult children living in the home
• Other adult relatives or non-relatives in residence
• Anyone who regularly cares for children in the home, even if they don't live there full-time

If a household member moves in after licensing is complete, the state must be notified and that individual must complete their own background check before the license can continue.

How Fingerprinting Works

North Dakota has centralized fingerprinting at eight primary locations — one at each Regional Human Service Center (Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, Jamestown, Dickinson, Devils Lake, Williston). Appointments must be scheduled online through the CBCU portal after the background check request is submitted.

Fingerprinting at HHS locations is free for foster care applicants. If you choose to use local law enforcement or a private vendor, you'll pay that agency's fee — typically $10 to $40 — and must use the standard FBI applicant card (FD-258).

Background check results typically take 15 to 30 days to return. During that waiting period, you cannot have unsupervised contact with foster children. This waiting period is built into the licensing timeline, which overall runs three to six months from first inquiry to license issuance.

What Disqualifies You — and What Doesn't

North Dakota draws a clear line between absolute disqualifiers and offenses subject to a rehabilitation review.

Absolute disqualifiers — no exceptions: These convictions result in automatic denial, regardless of how much time has passed or what evidence of rehabilitation exists:

• Child abuse or neglect
• Domestic violence
• Any crime against a child, including child pornography
• Rape, sexual assault, or murder
• Human trafficking

Five-year exclusionary offenses: These convictions disqualify an applicant if the conviction occurred within the past five years. If the conviction is older than five years, the department conducts a "sufficient rehabilitation" review — a case-by-case assessment weighing the nature of the offense, evidence of change, and current circumstances:

• Physical assault or battery
• Drug-related offenses
• Attempt or conspiracy to commit any absolute disqualifier

Everything else: Misdemeanors, older convictions, and arrests without conviction are reviewed individually. The licensing specialist will ask about them, and the department will consider the full context. Disclosing history proactively — rather than hoping the BCI won't find it — is strongly advised. The BCI nearly always finds it, and undisclosed history delays the process significantly more than disclosed history.

A DUI from 12 years ago, a minor drug charge from college, an arrest that didn't result in a conviction — these are not automatic bars. They're items that need to be disclosed, discussed, and contextually evaluated. Applicants who disclose everything upfront and can speak to their history honestly typically move through the process without major delays.

The CFS Licensing Unit in Bismarck

All licensing decisions — including background check results and how they affect your application — flow through the CFS Licensing Unit, centralized in Bismarck following the 2022 redesign under Senate Bill 2086. Your local Human Service Zone handles child placement and case management, but the Licensing Unit handles your family's approval.

The toll-free inquiry line for the licensing process is 1-833-FST-HOME (1-833-378-4663). For background check questions specifically, the CBCU portal at the HHS website handles the submission process after your application is initiated.

Renewals and Lapsed Checks

A North Dakota foster care license is valid for two years. Background checks are not indefinitely valid — when your license comes up for renewal, an updated check is required. If a background check lapses during the renewal process, the provider is legally treated as a "prospective" family and a new complete fingerprint set is required. The state sends renewal notices 90 days before expiration, which is enough lead time to initiate the background check refresh without a lapse.

The Bigger Picture

The background check is one step in a multi-part process. Once cleared, you'll also need to complete PRIDE pre-service training, pass the physical home inspection, and go through the home study interviews. The complete guide to becoming a licensed foster parent in North Dakota — including all steps, timelines, and what to expect at each stage — is at /us/north-dakota/foster-care/.

Knowing exactly what the background check looks for, and preparing accordingly, removes one of the biggest sources of anxiety from a process that's already demanding. Most people who are genuinely ready to foster have nothing in their history that will stop them — they just need to know what's being looked for.

See more United States guides →