Act 153 Background Clearances

Act 153 Background Clearances


What Background Checks are required?

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under Act 153, requires educational employees to complete the following:

  1. “Pennsylvania Criminal History Records Check” is a check of criminal history information obtained from the Pennsylvania State Police that is maintained in the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository.
  2. “Pennsylvania State Child Abuse Clearance Check” is a check that includes a certification from the Department of Human Services as to whether the applicant is named in the statewide database as an alleged perpetrator in a pending, indicated or founded child abuse investigation in Pennsylvania.
  3. And a “Federal Criminal History Records/FBI Check” is a check of federal criminal history information obtained by the submission of a full set of fingerprints.

Who is required to complete the Act 153 clearances?

Clearances generally will be required in at least the following circumstances:

  • Faculty who have high school students enrolled in or attending one of their courses.
  • Faculty, staff, volunteers, and newly hired employees working camps or programs with minors on campus.
  • Admissions, Athletics, or other staff who interact with high school students while recruiting or working off campus.
  • Summer groups renting our facilities with minors on campus will need to provide the College with an affidavit that they have cleared their employees.

Who is not required to complete the clearances?

Following our review of the Act 153, we have determined that the following individuals generally will not be required to complete the three clearances previously required under Act 153:

  • Current faculty and staff and/or newly hired faculty and staff as long as direct contact with minors is limited to prospective students visiting campus or matriculated students at the institution.
  • Admissions staff who interact with prospective students while recruiting those high school students on Allegheny’s campus.
  • Student volunteers hosting overnight visits sponsored by Allegheny and occurring on Allegheny’s campus provided the student volunteer is currently enrolled at Allegheny and is not responsible for the child’s welfare and the event is not for children who are in the care of a child-care service.
  • Dining and custodial employees or contractors working on campus.

Other changes to Act 153:

  • While clearances can be transferred from one employer to another employer if the clearances are current and the individual signs an affirmation/affidavit that the individual has not been convicted of one of the disqualifying crimes nor is otherwise disqualified from employment under Act 153, Allegheny College will only accept screenings that were completed within the 2 months prior to the start date at Allegheny College.
  • Clearances are good for five years.

Miscellaneous:

  • Allegheny will continue to do criminal background checks on new hires, which will include national and state criminal record checks; credit checks cabinet-level, director-level and finance positions; and motor vehicle checks where driving is required as part of the job.
  • A clearance received for volunteer purposes cannot be used when applying for an employment position but a clearance received for employment purposes can be used when applying for a volunteer position.

What is the process to complete the FBI fingerprinting and PA state criminal record check?

You will first need to complete the Release Form.  We need this information in order to complete the PA state criminal record check and to register you for the fingerprinting at the IndentoGo facility.  You should complete and sign the form and mail it to the Office of Human Resources, Bentley Hall Office 212 or box 4.

The nearest IndentoGo facility for fingerprinting is in the Family Community Christian Association, on Chestnut Street in Meadville, PA. 

Please note that Allegheny College will not receive a copy of your fingerprinting results directly; the results will be accessible through the IdentoGo portal (via email link) or mailed directly to you at your home address.  You must provide your results to the Allegheny College’s Human Resources Office, Bentley Hall Office 212 or box 4.

What is the process to obtain my PA Child Abuse Clearance?

  • Once the Office of Human Resources receives your signed and completed Release Form, you will be e-mailed detailed instructions and a prepayment code to complete your child abuse clearance.  The code will be unique to your registration.
  • Once you receive your Prepayment Code, go to the new Child Welfare Portal
  • Click on “Create a New Account” and then select the blue “Next” button at the bottom of the page.
  • Complete all of the required information to create a Keystone ID.  Hit “Finish” at the bottom.
  • The system will email you an automatic temporary password.
  • After you receive your temporary password via email, you will need to go back into the system to “LOGIN” using the newly assigned password.
  • The system will then offer you an opportunity to create a new password.
  • Complete all of the required information.
  • Where prompted, you will need to copy and paste your pre-paid number that was provided by the Office of Human Resources.
  • When asked for a signature at the end, please include your given name (not your Keystone ID).  Enter your name in lower case letters, DO NOT use capitals.
  • If you have completed your information correctly, you will receive a notice that the application has been successfully received.
  • Allegheny College will receive a copy of the results for your PA Child Abuse Clearance.  It will not be necessary to submit these results separately to Allegheny College.

Who is paying for these background checks?

Allegheny College will be responsible for all fees and charges associated with the completion of the three background checks for employees.  Allegheny College will not release the results of these checks if paid for by the college.

Volunteers will need to provide their own clearances.

How often are these background checks run?

New clearances must be obtained every 5 years for those employees required to obtain them.

I recently had these same checks completed for another employer or organization.  Do I need to have them completed again by Allegheny College if they were done in the last 5 years?

While these clearances can be transferred, Allegheny College will not accept results obtained more than 2 months in advance of the employee’s start date with the college.  If a new employee’s screenings were completed within the 2 months leading up to their start at Allegheny College, the employee needs to provide the screening results and this affidavit.