Act 34

Section 1-111 of the Pennsylvania School Code requires thatall applicants for school employment, including those of independent contractorsbut excluding employees who do not have direct contact with students, mustobtain a criminal background check. All applicants are required to submit aRequest for Criminal Record Check to the Pennsylvania State Police. The resultswill be returned directly to you and must be submitted to the school entitywith which you are seeking employment.

Criminal reports may be obtained electronically from thePennsylvania State Police at https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp. ThePennsylvania Access to Criminal History (PATCH) Invoice for Criminal RecordCheck with a copy of the State seal imbedded on the paper is an official recordcheck.

The Criminal History Request Form (SP4-164) is alsoavailable from schools, Pennsylvania State Police Barracks and from thePennsylvania State Police web site:http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=4451&&PageID=

458621&level=2&css=L2&mode=2. This backgroundcheck requires a ten dollar ($10) payment in the form of a certified check ormoney order payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To check on the statusof a request for a Pennsylvania State Police Request for Criminal Record Checkcall 717-783-9973.

Applicants who ARE NON-RESIDENTS OR have not been a residentof Pennsylvania for at least two years immediately preceding the date ofapplication for employment must also obtain a criminal background check fromthe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI check requires applicantfingerprints be placed on a special card available from the school in which youare seeking employment or from the School Services Unit in the Department ofEducation. It is important that you use the card that identifies thePennsylvania State Board of Education as the requesting agency, otherwise theresults may not be returned through proper channels. The FBI check requires apayment of twenty-four ($24) in the form of a certified check or money orderpayable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Call, write or send an emailrequesting the FBI fingerprint card to:

School Services Unit

PA Department of Education

333 Market Street 5th floor

Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333

Voice: 717.783.3750

TTY: 717.783.8445

email: dwolfgang@state.pa.us

The department of education will not accept requests fromapplicants. School administrators shall forward the set of fingerprints for thefederal criminal history record to the department of education.

Act 114

Act 114 - Requirements Federal Fingerprinting Web Site

Act 114 of 2006, Section 111 of the Public School Code wasamended effective April 1, 2007. All student teachers (participating inclassroom teaching, internships, clinical or field experience) and prospectiveemployees (including but not limited to administrators, teachers, substitutes,janitors, cafeteria workers, office employees) of public and private schools,Intermediate Units and area vocational-technical schools, including independentcontractors and their employees and bus drivers, who have direct contact withchildren, must provide to their employer a copy of their Federal CriminalHistory Record that cannot be more than one (1) year old. This only applies toemployees hired on or after April 1, 2007.

This clearance costs $40 and may be paid for on-line duringthe registration process. A person MUST register before going to a sitelocation to be fingerprinted. Cashiers checks or money orders made payable to“Cogent Systems” must be taken to fingerprint location if payment has not beenmade on-line.

•             NewProcess for Federal Criminal History Records - Dec. 1, 2008

Act 151

In addition to the criminal background check, Sections6354-6358 (Act 151) of the Public Welfare Code requires that all applicants forschool employment, both Pennsylvania residents and non-residents, also obtain aChild Abuse History Clearance. This request is submitted to the PennsylvaniaDepartment of Public Welfare, Child Line. The Pennsylvania Child Abuse HistoryClearance Form (CY 113) may be obtained from the school to which you areapplying for employment, the Department of Public Welfare web site athttp://www.dpw.state.pa.us/child/childabuseneglect/003671038.htm or from theSchool Services Unit in the Department of Education. The Child Abuse HistoryClearance requires payment of ten ($10) payable to the Department of PublicWelfare in the form of a certified check or money order. To check on the statusof a request for the Child Abuse Clearance call 717-783-6211.

The criminal background check and child abuse clearanceresults are valid for one year. Applicants should make and retain a copy of thereports since the Department of Education, Pennsylvania State Police andDepartment of Public Welfare do not maintain copies of the criminal recordcheck or child abuse history clearances.