Other Entities
The electronic system contains only FBI Criminal History Record
Information (CHRI) reports for applicants who were fingerprinted through
PDE under Act 114 of 2006. Effective April 1, 2007, the Act requires
that all employees and prospective employees of schools and their
contractors as well as student teacher
candidates obtain the federal background check report prior to
employment in
which they will have contact with children. Only Pennsylvania public
and
private schools and higher education institutions with an approved
teacher
preparation program will be authorized to access the reports in the
secure
online system.
DHS-licensed agencies, such as daycare facilities
are not permitted to access the Department of Education’s online system
for their employees. These agencies’ employees are required to obtain
background check reports under the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL).
This Act requires applicants to register and be fingerprinted under a
system administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS) to obtain
results for their employers.
In some cases, DHS-licensed agencies send employees into schools.
These applicants may submit a DHS report to a school as an acceptable
clearance so that an additional FBI clearance through PDE is not
required. Although DHS contracts with IDEMIA to obtain the FBI
fingerprint-based background check reports, PDE may not access reports
in the DHS system, and DHS may not access the PDE online system. Please
see the Q & A’s regarding PDE and DHS report issues on our website
for more information on this topic.
It is important for applicants to register and be
fingerprinted under the system where the applicant will be employed (DHS
or PDE). In order to avoid confusion and the need to
register and be fingerprinted a second time, applicants should check
with their prospective employer prior to registering and being
fingerprinted. Further questions on DHS requirements should be addressed
to the DHS office, reachable by phone at 717-783-6211.
Entities such as Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth (AEDY) providers, tutoring agencies, and staffing agencies are
considered independent contractors and are not permitted to access the
official reports online. Applicants to these entities will provide
their UEID to their prospective employer. The agency is then
responsible to provide the applicant’s UEID and other reports to the
school entity that is contracting for the services. The school entity
associated with the services will review the official CHRI through the
online database to make a determination as to the fitness of the
applicant to work in
a position in which they will have contact with children.
Head Start, Behavioral Health agencies, and other child care facilities, please review the Q & A’s on our website regarding PDE and DHS report issues for guidance and clarification on procedures.
Only higher education institutions with an approved teacher
preparation program will be granted access to reports. Other
post-secondary programs that do not train educators through a field
experience/student teaching program are not provided access to the
online system. Applicants within a higher education facility that fall
under Act 114 are student teachers or others in educator
preparation programs. All other applicants in a college or university that need to obtain fingerprinting (such as nursing students completing
clinical rotations) must apply through the DHS system under the requirements of
the CPSL.