On June 30, 2015, the Governor signed into law Act 15 of 2015, which amends Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law (Title 23, Chapter 63) by making necessary clarifications and modifications to the requirements and the clearance process. Act 15 more clearly defines who is and who is not subject to the background check requirements; makes the statute more explicit where necessary; and, where possible, makes the requirements less onerous for those individuals who have direct and routine contact with children in the course of their employment or volunteer service.

The background check requirements were originally established last October with the enactment of Act 153 of 2014, the last of 23 bills in the landmark Child Protection Legislative Package that was enacted during the 2013-14 legislative session. That legislative package constitutes the first comprehensive update and improvement of Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law in nearly two decades.

Since its enactment, Act 153 generated numerous concerns, questions and complaints emanating from virtually every sector of employees and volunteers that it affected. In an effort to clear up ambiguous aspects of the statute and to address specific concerns expressed by numerous volunteer-based organizations and other entities from across the state, legislative staff from the House and Senate, together with the Department of Human Services, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Department of Education and the Governor’s Office, spent seven months developing amendatory legislation.

That amendatory legislation was House Bill 1276, sponsored by State Representative Katharine Watson, Chairman of the House Children and Youth Committee. House Bill 1276 was overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly in June of this year and then signed into law by the Governor as Act 15 of 2015.

As you may know, employees, including certain employees 14 to 17 years old, and adult volunteers who have direct, routine contact with children in the course of their employment or volunteer duties are subject to the law’s requirements and must obtain three specific background check clearances:

  • PA State Police criminal background check clearance.
  • Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Abuse clearance.
  • FBI criminal background check clearance, which includes fingerprinting.

It is important to note that adult volunteers are not subject to the FBI check unless they have not resided in Pennsylvania for the past 10 years. And, thanks to a change made by Act 15, even those volunteers who are subject to the FBI check must obtain that clearance only once until they establish 10 continuous years of residency in the Commonwealth.

The background checks are conducted to determine whether an individual has been convicted of any serious felonies or sex crimes [enumerated in Title 23, Section 6344(c)] or has been identified as a perpetrator in a substantiated case of child abuse. Also, convictions of a drug offense within the past five years will disqualify an individual from being employed or serving as a volunteer in positions that put them in direct contact with children.

Please keep in mind that the vast majority of organizations, schools and churches that utilize volunteers in youth programs already have their own stringent background check clearance policies in place. Pennsylvania is simply for the first time establishing background check standards for adult volunteers under state law. The new law sets the bar for what will be the minimum requirements, but nothing in this law prohibits organizations from establishing or continuing even more stringent internal policies regarding the clearance process for their volunteers.

Act 15 of 2015 makes several significant changes to the background check requirements and the clearance process. I want to make sure you are aware of the following important modifications:

  • Effective July 25, 2015, the fees for both the DHS child abuse clearance and the PA State Police criminal background check ($10 each) are waived for all volunteers. The fees for those two background checks are reduced from $10 apiece to $8 apiece for employees. Unfortunately, for those who already have paid for their background clearances, there will be no refunds.
  • The new deadline for prospective adult volunteers (those who have never volunteered before) to obtain the required clearances is August 25, 2015, pushed back from July 1, 2015. All other compliance deadlines remain the same: December 31, 2015 for existing employees and July 1, 2016 for existing volunteers.
  • All employees and adult volunteers who are subject to the background check clearances will now be required to recertify all of those clearances every 5 years, instead of every three years as previously required.
  • A clearer standard has been established for those adult volunteers who are subject to the background check clearance requirements. Volunteers are required to obtain the clearances if they provide “care, supervision, guidance or control” AND have “routine interaction” with children. “Routine interaction” is defined in the statute asregular and repeated contact that is integral to a person’s employment or volunteer responsibilities.
  • For employees who are subject to the background clearance requirements, the original standard remains: those employees who provide “care, supervision, guidance or control” OR have “routine interaction” with children. This is the standard that also remains for mandated reporters (those legally liable to report suspected child abuse).
  • Language is added to the statute to specify that the requirements do not apply to “administrative or other support personnel unless the administrative or other support personnel’s duties involve direct contact with children.”
  • Employers and organizations are required to maintain a record of all required background clearances on file, but Act 15 allows those entities to accept copies of the clearances obtained.
  • Background clearances obtained for volunteer purposes cannot be used for employment purposes. However, background clearances obtained for employment purposes can be used for multiple employment positions and for multiple volunteer services. And background clearances obtained for volunteer purposes can be used for multiple volunteer services.

Act 15 also provides some limited exemptions from the background check clearance requirements:

  • Minor employees (ages 14-17) are exempt from having to obtain the FBI background check, if the minor has been a resident of the Commonwealth for the previous 10-year period, and the minor and the minor’s legal guardian affirm that the minor is not disqualified from serving in the position under the list of prohibited offenses in existing law.
  • Employees at institutions of higher education (colleges, universities) are exempt from the background checks, unless they come into direct contact with students who are currently enrolled in a secondary school, i.e. those students who have yet to graduate from high school and are “dual enrolled.” The exemption applies only to cases in which the minor in question is either a prospective student visiting a campus operated by that institution or a matriculated student enrolled at the institution.
  • For co-op/work-study/internship programs, the requirements are limited to one adult supervisor of the program who is designated to obtain the required clearances and must be in the student’s immediate vicinity at regular intervals during the program. “Immediate vicinity’’ is defined to mean an area in which an individual is physically present with a child and can see, hear, direct and assess the activities of the child.
  • International seasonal workers (“Exchange Visitors”) are exempted, provided they have obtained their J-1 Visa, will work in the U.S. for no longer than 90 days, and have not previously been employed in the United States.
  • Adult students who are volunteering for an event that occurs at the school where they are enrolled and is sponsored by that same school are exempt from the background check clearance requirements. The exemption does not apply if the event is for children who are in the care of a child-care service.

With the enactment of Act 15 of 2015, I believe the Commonwealth has refined a significant law designed to better protect the children of Pennsylvania. We have struck a better balance between establishing needed measures of protection for children and yet not making the requirements so onerous as to risk losing dedicated individuals who make the commitment to teach, coach and mentor children.

To learn more about the background check clearance process, or to get answers to other questions related to the sweeping changes to the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law, I encourage you to visit This DHS web site is an excellent online resource for information on clearances, training, reporting requirements and other aspects of child protection.