Under PA Act 153, school employees and volunteers who are deemed as having “direct contact” with children must obtain the following state-required clearances:
(1) Report of criminal history from the Pennsylvania State Police (State Police); and
(2) Child Abuse History Clearance from the Department of Human Services (Child Abuse); and
(3) Fingerprint based federal criminal history submitted through the Pennsylvania State Police or its authorized agent (FBI).
School employees or volunteers who have not obtained the state-required clearances mandated by PA Act 153 because they have been continuously employed prior to Jan. 1, 1986, or employees or volunteers who obtained any or all of these checks prior to Dec. 31, 2009, are required to have these clearances obtained or renewed by Dec. 31, 2015.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has stated that third-party vendors, such as Truescreen, may be used to process the Child Abuse and Pennsylvania State Police clearance requirements. Due to an anticipated backlog with the state for renewal requests, we are suggesting that clients submit their requests for these checks to Truescreen by no later than Friday, Oct. 16, to ensure that they can be processed prior to the Dec. 31 deadline.
For more information regarding PA Act 153, click here to read our White Paper titled “The Impact of PA Act 153 on Employment Screening in Higher Education”.
Posted: October 5, 2015