- A Pennsylvania State Police criminal history (now free for volunteers)
- A Child Abuse Clearance from the Dept. of Human Services (also now free for volunteers)
- A Fingerprint (FBI) criminal history*
*The Child Protective Services Law requires all volunteers to complete three clearances, including the FBI Federal Criminal History Clearance However, the Law includes a limited exception which exempts a prospective volunteer from the FBI clearance if both of the following conditions apply: (I) the prospective volunteer has been a resident of Pennsylvania during the entirety of the previous ten-year period; and (2) the prospective volunteer swears or affirms in writing that he/she is not disqualified from service by reason of criminal history. Please ask the school for the Affidavit.
All of these may be done online (You will need a credit card for the FBI fingerprint clearance; the other two are now free); the fingerprint clearance will require that you visit a contracted fingerprint location to be fingerprinted.
First, register online https://www.pa.cogentid.com/index_pde.htm you will make the payment at this time with a credit card. You will then be given a list of approved Cogent Systems fingerprint sites. After fingerprinting, you’ll receive a sheet with a registration number that you’ll provide to the school in order to check your record online.
https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp
Select “Volunteer” as the reason for the request. This clearance is now free. Print out the certification and bring it to school so a copy can be kept with your child’s record.
https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home
You’ll be asked to create a sign-on. You’ll be asked for a Keystone ID# which is a number you’ll create yourself. Print out the submission and once you receive the hard copy, bring to school so a copy can be kept with your child’s record.
