Home and School

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers for all you do each and every day to support the Archdiocesan community and programs.

Note: All volunteers must have their clearances and certificates submitted to the main office before they can volunteer in school or parish events where children are present.

Heads up! Clearances must be updated every 5 years!

Note that the policies listed below are for the Archdiocese. Please check with your school or parish to determine if they have additional requirements of quidelines.

Archdiocesan policy requires that volunteers who may have any possible contact with children complete the following back­ ground checks and clearances:

Clearances for Volunteers living in PA for less than 10 years:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Clearance
• Pennsylvania State Police Clearance
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance

Clearances for Volunteers Living in PA Continuously for 10 years:

• Pennsylvania State Police Clearance
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance
• Disclosure Statement application for Volunteers to be filed at the place of service.

Volunteers who reside in Pennsylvania do not have a provisional period and must obtain clearances prior to beginning service.

Volunteers who reside in another state or country may serve for no more than 30 days as long as they provide clearances from their state or country of residence.

Volunteers who have regular contact with children (at least one time per week) are required to complete parts one and two of the Safe Environment training within 90 days of beginning their volunteer work.

• Part I: Protecting God's Children, is offered regularly at sites throughout the Archdiocese. The training provides basic facts about child sexual abuse and adults' roles in prevention. Register here
• Part II: The Mandatory Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse, is available online at our Training Institute in English and Spanish. This training provides an overview of Archdiocean reporting procedures for suspected child abuse and Pennsylvania Child Welfare Laws. The Training should take you approximately one hour to complete. Register here

If a Volunteer Suspects Abuse

As a volunteer working within the Archdiocese, we hope that you will always err on the side of protecting children and immediately report any suspicion of child abuse to the proper authorities. Some volunteers are mandated reporters and MUST report suspicions of abuse. Effective December 31, 2014, volunteers working directly with children are mandated reporters in Pennsylvania. This means that you will be legally responsible to report when you have reasonable cause to suspect a child has been abused.

1. PA State Police Criminal Record Check

• Can be obtained online at https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp with results available within a few minutes

2. PA Department Human Services Child Abuse History Clearance

• Can be obtained online at  https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home

   

3. Federal Criminal Background Check
Go to https://uenroll.identogo.com/ to schedule an appointment for the background check.

• The following are service codes needed to register for all current and/or prospective school employees/volunteers:
  -1KG6TR is the code for (PDE) Pennsylvania Department of Education Educators/Staff (non­public schools)
  -1KG6Y3 is the code for (PDE) Pennsylvania Department of Education Volunteers   
  If you don’t fall under any of the above categories, you will need to contact the PDE Pennsylvania Department of Education to determine the appropriate code you should use at 717­214­9755

   

• The following are service codes needed to register for all current and/or prospective parish and other staff/volunteers:
  -1KG738 for Child Care Services/Program Employee and/or Contractors 18 and over (this includes all parish employees)
  -1KG6ZJ for Volunteers -If you don’t fall under any of the above categories you will need to contact (DHS) Department of Human Services to determine the appropriate code you should use at 717­783­6211
  • After above code is entered you should then click on Schedule or Manage Appointment and enter the required information
  • For fingerprint locations please visit the following website: https://www.identogo.com/locations/pennsylvania
  • If any of the results come back as unreadable the applicant will need to go for a 2nd set of fingerprints.  If the results are still unreadable a name search will be conducted and the applicant will receive a letter.  Please know that this process/letter still needs to be completed/updated every 5 years for compliance

   

Minors

Minors, defined as 17 and younger, who are volunteering are not required to obtain any clearances. Minors, ages 14­17, applying for or in a paid position as an employee responsible for the welfare of a child or having direct contact with children are required to obtain all three clearances, but can be exempt from obtaining the FBI fingerprint clearance under certain circumstances.  Please see our Background Checks and Clearances Required for Minors FAQ for more details.

The following is the service code needed to register minors for all current and/or prospective parish volunteer programs:

• 1KG756 for Employees 14­17 year olds that have contact with children

Clearance Renewal Requirements

All required clearances, including FBI, must be renewed every five years. Volunteers who have been a resident of Pennsylvania for less than 10 years must renew their FBI Fingerprint clearance until they reach 10 years of residency in Pennsylvania. Once the volunteer meets the 10 year residency requirement, they must complete a Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers which must be submitted every five years.