Clearances for Persons Who Provide Child Care Services and for School Employees

Child care agencies are prohibited from employing any person who will have direct contact with children if the individual was named as a perpetrator of a founded report of child abuse or if they were convicted of a felony offense under the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act (P.L. 233, No. 64) within five years preceding the request for a clearance.

The CPSL requires prospective child care service employees, prospective school employees, and any prospective employees applying to engage in occupations with a significant likelihood of regular contact with children, in the form of care, guidance, supervision or training to obtain child abuse clearances from the Department to ensure they are not a known perpetrator of child abuse or student abuse.

These same prospective employees are required to obtain clearances from the Pennsylvania State Police to determine whether they have been convicted of any of the following crimes at the time of the background clearance.

• Criminal homicide
• Aggravated assault
• Stalking
• Kidnapping
• Unlawful restraint
• Rape
• Statutory sexual assault
• Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse
• Sexual assault
• Aggravated indecent assault
• Indecent assault
• Indecent exposure
• Incest
• Concealing the death of a child
• Endangering the welfare of children
• Dealing in infant children
• Prostitution and related offenses
• Pornography
• Corruption of minors
• Sexual abuse of children

Child care services include:

• Child care centers
• Group and family child care homes
• Foster family homes
• Adoptive parents
• Residential programs
• Juvenile detention services
• Programs for delinquent/dependent children
• Mental health/mental retardation services
• Early intervention and drug/alcohol services
• Any child care services which are provided by or subject to approval, licensure, registration or certification by DPW or a county social service agency
• Any child care services which are provided under contract with DPW or a county social service agency

An applicant for school employment includes:

• Individuals who apply for a position as a school employee
• Individuals who transfer from one position to another
• Contractors for schools

The CPSL requires that administrators shall not hire an individual convicted of one of the offenses previously listed above. However, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in Warren County Human Services v. State Civil Service Commission, 376 C.D. 2003, that it is unconstitutional to prohibit employees convicted of these offenses from ever working in a child care service. The Department of Public Welfare issued a letter on Aug. 12, 2004, outlining the requirements agencies are to follow when hiring an individual affected by this. Individuals are permitted to be hired when:

• The individual has a minimum five year aggregate work history in care dependent services since conviction of the crime or release from prison, whichever is later. Care dependent services include health care, elder care, child care, mental health services, mental retardation services or care of the disabled.
• The individual’s work history in care dependent services may not include any incidents of misconduct.

This court ruling does not apply to prospective foster and adoptive parent applicants. Agencies with questions regarding these requirements should contact their program representative from their respective regional office.

Federal criminal history record clearances by the FBI are also required for applicants for employment or approval for the following positions in Pennsylvania:

• Public or private schools (effective April 1, 2007)
• Adoptive parents and adult household members (effective January 1, 2008)
• Foster parents and adult household members (effective January 1, 2008)
• Child care services (effective July 1, 2008)
• Any prospective employee applying to engage in an occupation with a significant likelihood of regular contact with children, in the form of care, guidance, supervision or training (effective July 1, 2008)

At any time, a person can request voluntary certification to prove that he or she is not on file as a perpetrator of child or student abuse or been convicted of any crimes that would prohibit hire.

In 2007, ChildLine received 476,895 requests (a six percent increase over 2006) for a background clearance. All requests were processed in the following categories:

• School employment - 223,224 (47 percent)
• Child care employment - 162,779 (34 percent)
• Volunteers - 36,568 (eight percent)
• Foster care - 33,844 (seven percent)
• Adoption - 12,334 (three percent)
• Big Brother/Big Sister - 4,467 (one percent)
• Work Experience (see Footnote 10 below) - 3,211 (less than one percent)
• Domestic Violence - 468 (less than one percent)

The average processing time was about ten days (an increase of one day from 2006). The CPSL mandates that requests for clearances be completed within 14 calendar days.

A total of 1,295 applicants (less than one percent) were named as perpetrators in child abuse reports. Of these perpetrators, 62 were identified as being prohibited from hire.

The purpose of requiring clearances is to protect children from abuse at school and in child care settings. Less than one percent of the applicants were identified as being perpetrators. However, it is unknown how many perpetrators do not apply for employment in schools and child care settings because they know they are on file at ChildLine or have a criminal history.

Footnote 10: This category refers to individuals in work experience or job training programs arranged by the Department of Public Welfare.

View Previous Section - Children Abused in Child Care Settings

Back to Table of Contents

View Next Section - Volunteers for Children Act