Contact with Minors & Required Background Checks

PA Act 153

OVERVIEW

PA Act 153

Pennsylvania Act 153 requires employees working at educational institutions who have direct contact and routine interaction with minors to obtain three different background clearances:

Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Check through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (Act 33)
Pennsylvania Criminal History Check through the Pennsylvania State Police (Act 34)
FBI Criminal History Check; this check requires the individual to submit their fingerprints to the FBI (Act 114)

Direct contact is defined as the care, supervision, guidance, or control of children or routine interaction with children.

Routine interaction is defined as regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person's employment responsibilities.

Certifications must be renewed every sixty months or five years.

Learn More About the Required Clearances for Your Type of Employment

Paid Individual for Campus

Unpaid Volunteer for Camps

Student-Athlete Paid for Camps

Paid Individual for Camps

Any individual who is working at a camp with minors must obtain all background clearances required by PA law and complete an online training component before starting work. All Clearances and completion certificates must be turned into the Human Resource Office with all employment paperwork prior to starting work.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under Act 153, requires individuals who work with Minors to complete the following:

“Pennsylvania Criminal History Records Check" is a check of criminal history information obtained from the Pennsylvania State Police that is maintained in the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository.
“Pennsylvania State Child Abuse Clearance Check” is a check that includes a certification from the Department of Human Services as to whether the applicant is named in the statewide database as an alleged perpetrator in a pending, indicated or founded child abuse investigation in Pennsylvania.
A “Federal Criminal History Records/FBI Check” is a check of federal criminal history information obtained by the submission of a full set of fingerprints to the Pennsylvania State Police or its authorized agent.

How do I Obtain my PA State Criminal Clearance?
1. Go to: https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp
2. Click on “New Record Check”
3. Complete the required information
4. The fee has been increased to $22 for employment as of December 1, 2017.
5. Record must be printed out and send to Human Resources.
What is the process to Obtain My PA Child Abuse Clearance?
1. Go to the new Child Welfare Portal: https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home
2. Click on “Individual Login”
3. Create a Keystone ID by completing all of the required information
4. The system will email the individual an automatic password
5. The individual will go back into the system (https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home) to “LOGIN” using the newly assigned password. The system will then offer the individual an opportunity to create a new password.
6. After a new password is completed, log back into the system, click on “Clearances” and follow the directions to obtain the PA Child Abuse Clearance Check.
7. The fee is $13 for employment.
How do I Obtain My FBI Clearance?
An Individual must register prior to going to the fingerprint site. Walk in service without prior registration will not be provided at any fingerprinting location (Please make sure when you register for fingerprinting you are using the Dept. of Human Services. Also please check with your site to find out manner of payment. Some sites are money order only.)

Go to the Identigo Website to Register:
1. If you wish to visit a site in Pennsylvania go to: https://www.identogo.com and choose Pennsylvania.
2. Click on Digital Fingerprinting. Use Code 1KG756
3. Complete the registration process. You will receive a form that must be taken with you to the fingerprinting site.
4. Visit a Identigo site to have your fingerprints taken. Scheduling, site location and price are found through their site.
5. Fingerprint Clearance check through Identigo is $23.60.
Training
Individuals who are working with minors at Saint Francis University are required to complete an online training module on protecting minors.

Saint Francis University uses a web based program called “Protecting Children: Identifying and Reporting Sexual Misconduct” developed by United Educators. This course discusses how we as educators can keep the children in our care safe. The program is a group of scenarios based on real-life cases to help learners recognize, prevent and report sexual misconduct.
To access the course please follow these instructions:
To Self-Register in the new system and take the courses, follow these steps:
1. Go to https://learn.ue.org/6T7UI494889/StfrancisVolunteers
2. Complete the registration form.
3. Enter your first name, last name, and SFU University email address and click Register.
4. You will receive a welcome email with your username and temporary password.
5. Follow the link in the email to sign on.
6. You will be prompted to
7. Enter your temporary password
  1. Create a new password (example - Fr@ncis2020)
8. Create and answer a security question.
9. Once you are logged in, be sure to complete all courses assigned to you.
10. A history of your completed courses is available in "My Completions." You will also receive an email containing a link to your completion certificate, upon successful completion of the course.
11. If you need to stop, you can log back in, and the course will resume where you left off.
If you need to stop, you can log back in, and the course will resume where you left off. Once you complete the course you will be issued a certificate and the University will have a record of your completion of it.

You are required to take the course prior to the program’s start date. If you are not able to do this at your normal work location, please contact Monica Shedlock at ext. 3883 and arrangements will be made for you to take it within the Office of Human Resources. If you experience technical difficulties, or have questions or comments on the program or about the University’s Protection of Minors policy please contact Human Resources.

Unpaid Volunteer for Camps

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under Act 153, requires individuals who work with Minors to complete the following:
”Pennsylvania Criminal History Records Check" is a check of criminal history information obtained from the Pennsylvania State Police that is maintained in the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository.
“Pennsylvania State Child Abuse Clearance Check” is a check that includes a certification from the Department of Human Services as to whether the applicant is named in the statewide database as an alleged perpetrator in a pending, indicated or founded child abuse investigation in Pennsylvania.
A “Federal Criminal History Records/FBI Check” is a check of federal criminal history information obtained by the submission of a full set of fingerprints to the Pennsylvania State Police or its authorized agent.

How do I Obtain my PA State Criminal Clearance?
1. Go to: https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp
2. Click on “New Record Check”
3. Complete the required information
4. The fee has been increased to $22 for employment as of December 1, 2017.
5. Record must be printed out and send to Human Resources.
What is the process to Obtain My PA Child Abuse Clearance?
1. Go to the new Child Welfare Portal: https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home
2. Click on “Individual Login”
3. Create a Keystone ID by completing all of the required information
4. The system will email the individual an automatic password
5. The individual will go back into the system (https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home) to “LOGIN” using the newly assigned password. The system will then offer the individual an opportunity to create a new password.
6. After a new password is completed, log back into the system, click on “Clearances” and follow the directions to obtain the PA Child Abuse Clearance Check.
7. The fee is $13 for employment.
How do I Obtain My FBI Clearance?
An Individual must register prior to going to the fingerprint site. Walk in service without prior registration will not be provided at any fingerprinting location (Please make sure when you register for fingerprinting you are using the Dept. of Human Services. Also please check with your site to find out manner of payment. Some sites are money order only.)

Go to the Identigo Website to Register:
1. If you wish to visit a site in Pennsylvania go to: https://www.identogo.com and choose Pennsylvania.
2. Click on Digital Fingerprinting. Use Code 1KG756
3. Complete the registration process. You will receive a form that must be taken with you to the fingerprinting site.
4. Visit a Identigo site to have your fingerprints taken. Scheduling, site location and price are found through their site.
5. Fingerprint Clearance check through Identigo is $23.60.
Training
Individuals who are working with minors at Saint Francis University are required to complete an online training module on protecting minors.

Saint Francis University uses a web based program called “Protecting Children: Identifying and Reporting Sexual Misconduct” developed by United Educators. This course discusses how we as educators can keep the children in our care safe. The program is a group of scenarios based on real-life cases to help learners recognize, prevent and report sexual misconduct.
To access the course please follow these instructions:
To Self-Register in the new system and take the courses, follow these steps:
1. Go to https://learn.ue.org/6T7UI494889/StfrancisVolunteers
2. Complete the registration form.
3. Enter your first name, last name, and SFU University email address and click Register.
4. You will receive a welcome email with your username and temporary password.
5. Follow the link in the email to sign on.
6. You will be prompted to
7. Enter your temporary password
  1. Create a new password (example - Fr@ncis2020)
8. Create and answer a security question.
9. Once you are logged in, be sure to complete all courses assigned to you.
10. A history of your completed courses is available in "My Completions." You will also receive an email containing a link to your completion certificate, upon successful completion of the course.
11. If you need to stop, you can log back in, and the course will resume where you left off.
If you need to stop, you can log back in, and the course will resume where you left off. Once you complete the course you will be issued a certificate and the University will have a record of your completion of it.

You are required to take the course prior to the program’s start date. If you are not able to do this at your normal work location, please contact Monica Shedlock at ext. 3883 and arrangements will be made for you to take it within the Office of Human Resources. If you experience technical difficulties, or have questions or comments on the program or about the University’s Protection of Minors policy please contact Human Resources.

Student-Athlete Paid for Camps

If it is a one day clinic/camp and some student-athletes are participating as volunteers, no clearances are required.

If it is a multi-day camp and/or the student-athletes are paid, the coaches need to account for them as part of the camp budget. Student-athletes and anyone else working the camp must have the clearance checks completed prior to the start of the camp. Clearances are completed through CBY Systems and the camp will be billed.
A list of students should be provided with their email and specific camp to Human Resources so that Clearances can be run through CBY. This should be done no less than 90 days before the start of camp to give the company time to process all requests.

Training
Individuals who are working with minors at Saint Francis University are required to complete an online training module on protecting minors.
Saint Francis University uses a web-based program called “Protecting Children: Shine a Light” developed by United Educators.
If you already have an account, please sign in at this URL: https://learn.ue.org/Login2.aspx
to complete the course Shine a Light.
If you do not have an account, please complete the following steps to create and account and take Shine a Light.
To Self-Register in the new system and take the courses, follow these steps:
1. Go to https://learn.ue.org/6T7UI494889/StfrancisStudents
2. Complete the registration form.
3. Enter your first name, last name, and SFU University email address and click Register.
4. You will receive a welcome email with your username and temporary password.
5. Follow the link in the email to sign on.
6. You will be prompted to
7. Enter your temporary password
  1. Create a new password (example - Fr@ncis2020)
8. Create and answer a security question.
9. Once you are logged in, be sure to complete all courses assigned to you.
10. A history of your completed courses is available in "My Completions." You will also receive an email containing a link to your completion certificate, upon successful completion of the course.
11. If you need to stop, you can log back in, and the course will resume where you left off.
You are required to take the course prior to the program’s start date. If you are not able to do this at your normal work location, please contact Monica Shedlock at ext. 3883 and arrangements will be made for you to take it within the Office of Human Resources. If you experience technical difficulties or have questions or comments on the program or about the University’s Protection of Minors policy please contact Human Resources.