TIU 11 Requirements for Act 153 of 2014 and Act 15 of 2015

You may be aware that under the referenced act all school employees are required to obtain clearances in order to work with children. Tuscarora Intermediate Unit has been requiring all new hires to obtain the three required clearances for some time, but under this legislation clearances must also be every three years in order to retain employment. This legislation also removed all grandfathered statuses for existing employees. All employees will be required to comply with Act 153 and Act 15 regardless of current job assignment and prior clearance requirements.  Act 15 of 2015 made changes to some of the criteria of Act 153 of 2014, including changing the terminology from clearance to background certificate.  Those terms will be used interchangeable, here.

 

There are three required clearances:

  1. Act 114 FBI Fingerprint Clearance
  2. Act 151 PA Child Abuse History
  3. Act 34   PA State Police Criminal Record Check

 

The TIU will notify each employee of their deadline based on the information in our records. Information will be sent to your home mailing address approximately 60 days before your deadline.

 

How will your deadline be determined?

In general, individuals whose clearances are less than five years old as of January 1, 2015, will need to renew their clearances within five years of the issue date of their oldest clearance. (This criteria reflects a change in legislation under Act 15 of 2015.)

Individuals whose clearances are more than five years old, or who may not have been required to have clearances in the past will be given a due date by the TIU for their clearances to be completed. All employees in this category must have completed their clearances by December 31, 2015

 

How to get your new clearances:

  1. Act 114 – FBI Fingerprint:

About this clearance and how to obtain it:

PDE Act 114 Fingerprint Information

Direct link to registration site:

https://www.pa.cogentid.com/index.htm

Be sure to select the Department of Education icon.

After registering, print two copies of your confirmation, which must include your PAE number. Send one copy to the TIU and retain one. Go get your fingerprints taken at a designated location, your clearance is not complete until your prints have been checked. We recommend that you do this within three days of registering. You can go to any of the locations listed on the website, https://www.pa.cogentid.com/ohio/DPW/DPW_map/DPW_Regions_Clickable.html, to have your prints taken. TIU has a fingerprint center in Juniata County at the Head Start office and at the Community Education and Workforce Services office in Lewistown.

 

  1. Act 151 – PA Child Abuse History

About this clearance (this link is currently showing out of date information for how to obtain:

PDE Act 151 Child Abuse History Information

Direct link to registration site to obtain this clearance:

https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/

Be prepared – you will need to provide this information to complete the on-line application:

PREVIOUS NAMES USED SINCE 1975 (Include Maiden Name, Nicknames, Aliases)

PREVIOUS ADDRESSES SINCE 1975

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS (List everyone who lived with you at any time since 1975 to the present)

You will receive an email confirming your application. Print a copy of that, in case your results are delayed. You may request hard copy and online for your results, which you should receive within two weeks. Keep a copy of your results, and send one to TIU. 

When requesting this clearance: If processed online the result is normally provided within approximately two weeks. If you choose to submit this request on paper your information will take much longer to be processed. If you submit a paper request, you will also receive a hard copy report in the mail. Keep a copy of the certificate and mail a copy to TIU.

 

  1. Act 34 – PA State Police Criminal History

About this clearance and the process for obtaining it:

PDE Act 34 State Police Criminal History Information

Direct link to apply for this clearance:

https://epatch.state.pa.us/

Save your certificate as a pdf.  Print two copies of your certificate, send one to TIU and keep one for your records.

 

Payment for Clearances:

Employees are responsible for the cost of their clearances, unless otherwise notified by their supervisor. Applying online for each of these requires payment at the time of the application with credit card. TIU is not set up for billing or to prepay. Please contact your supervisor if you do not have the ability to pay online.

 

How to Submit Clearance information to TIU:

Send all necessary information (indicated above) directly to Michele Huntsman at the TIU main office.

 

When do you need to get your clearances?

Each employee will be notified of the deadline for his/her new clearances. New clearances should be completed and submitted to the main office prior to the specified deadline.

 

More Questions?

If you need additional information or assistance email TIU-HR@tiu11.org or contact Cindy Felisberto (x102) by phone at the main office. This information will be available on the TIU website, under Human Resources, and will be updated regularly. You may want to check to see if any process changes or clarifications have been added when it is time for you to request your new clearances.

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