Clearance Instruction
A Child Abuse Clearance, PA Criminal History Clearance and Federal Criminal Clearance are required by law to be obtained by everyone who is employed by a School Entity and must be processed under the PA Department of Education. Directions for obtaining background certification (clearance) records are as follows:
PA Child Abuse History Clearance - Ph.# 1-877-371-5422 The Child Abuse History Certificate can be completed online. Requests for clearance statements (now called "certifications") may be made online at https://www.compass.state.pa.us/CWIS. The cost is $13.00. Upon signing on to the Child Welfare Portal, you will be asked to "Create Individual Account." If this is your first time to the site, you will be asked to create your Keystone ID (this is an ID that you will create for yourself and retain for later use). When selecting the purpose of certification, you must select; School employee governed by the Public School Code. You will be given the option to have a copy mailed to you. Upon completion and submission of your application you will be notified via email when your certification is ready to view online (anywhere from 1 day to 4 weeks). You will then log back into your account on the Child Welfare Portal and select "Individual Login" to access and print out the certificate. If you selected to have a copy mailed to you, it could take 4 — 8 weeks or longer.
PA State Police Request for Criminal Record Check - Ph. # 1-888-783-7972 The Pennsylvania Criminal History can be done online. The online results are available almost immediately. To complete the process online, go to https://epatch.pa.gov/ and click on "Submit a New Record Check" then read the document and click on "Accept" then click on "Individual Request" and follow the instructions. Beginning December 1, 2017, the cost is $22.00. At the end of the process, you will be shown a receipt on the screen (which you can print if you want a receipt). In the middle of the receipt, you will see "Certification Form" in blue. Click on this and it will bring up your Criminal Background Certificate which you will then print.
Federal Criminal History Record — IdentoGo The applicant must register prior to going to the fingerprint site. Walk in service is allowed but all applicants are required to complete pre-enrollment in the new Universal Enrollment system. Preenrollment can be completed online or over the phone. The registration website is available online 24 hours/day, seven days per week at https://uenroll.identogo.com. Telephonic registration is available at 1- 844-321-2101 Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm EST. During the pre-enrollment process, all demographic data for the applicant is collected (name, address, etc.) along with notices about identification requirements -and other important information. When registering on-line, an applicant must use the appropriate agency specific Service Code to ensure they are processed for the correct agency and/or applicant type. Whitehall-Coplay's service code is 1KG6XN OR (1KG6ZJ VOLUNTEERS ONLY). Fingerprint requests processed through any other agency or purpose cannot be accepted and are not transferrable.
Payment - The applicant will pay a fee of $25.25 for the fingerprint service and to secure an unofficial copy of the Criminal History Record. Major Credit Cards as well as Money orders or cashier's checks payable to MorphoTrust will be accepted on site for those applicants who are required to pay individually. No cash transactions or personal checks are allowed.