PA Act 153 Amendments

Posted on July 17, 2015 by firstcontacthr

Recently, the PA general assembly passed legislation aimed at providing relief to colleges and universities required to comply with the Act 153 background check requirements. The bill (HB 1276) passed the House with a vote of 190-5. It was ratified by the Senate with a unanimous vote.

The new language removes the background check requirement for employees of higher education whose direct contact with children is limited to either (A) prospective students visiting a campus, or (B) matriculated students who are enrolled at the institution. The bill also limits the need for background checks to only those on the administrative staff who have; routine interaction (i.e, “regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person’s employment or volunteer responsibilities”), and direct contact, with children. These changes remove the background check requirement for the majority of the faculty and staff at colleges and universities.

However, background checks are still required for any employee of a college or university if that individual is in direct contact with a student who is enrolled in a secondary school. This measure is intended to protect children who are in dual enrollment programs and concurrently attend high school while taking college courses. Also, background checks are still required for any college employee who has direct contact with children at summer youth camps or other youth oriented programs.

The effective date for volunteers to get certifications has been extended to August 25^th 2015, and the re-certification for background checks has been increased from every three years to every five years.

First Contact HR’s Recommendation:

Because these changes come amidst colleges already going through screening practices that may now be extraneous – we would advise colleges and universities to continue to background check the majority of their employees in order to keep their institutions safe. Parents of children going off to college will feel more at ease knowing that the school they have chosen did more than the bare-minimum with regard to their students’ well-being. Keeping up to date with background checks on all employees is still the best practice, and with the recent fee reductions it is now more affordable to ensure the school’s staff is fully vetted.

PA Waives ACT 153 Background Screening Fees for Volunteers

Posted on June 26, 2015 by firstcontacthr

This year has seen a fair amount of change around background screening laws for schools in Pennsylvania with the introduction of ACT 153. According to the legislation that took effect in January, everyone whose work could involve contact with children has to undergo a background screening clearance. This goes for anyone working in, or for, schools – including volunteers. While on the surface this is legislation is on target with better protecting the children within the state, it adds a huge financial burden on institutions and individuals.

Since the law was passed last October, there have been concerns raised with legislators about cost to volunteers. Many believe the cost is prohibitive, unfair and potentially deter people from volunteering. For these reasons, Governor Tom Wolf announced two weeks ago that changes to the law would be made to ease the burden on people looking to volunteer at schools. According to Wolf, starting on July 25^th 2015, the fees for the child abuse history clearance and the statewide criminal background check will be waived for volunteers who work with children.

Additionally, the Department of Human Services and PA state police will be reducing the cost of child abuse clearances and criminal background checks by 20% for all other applicants (down to $8 from $10). The aim with these changes is to ease the cost burden on those who are now required to have these screens done every 36 months.

Gov. Wolf stated in the news release last Wednesday, “My action today could not have been accomplished without the hard work of the General Assembly, who has participated in an ongoing bipartisan working group with the Administration in an effort to develop needed clarifications to the Child Protective Services Law … Through that process, the General Assembly expressed concerns of many members about the cost of background clearances, particularly for volunteers. I share those concerns, and that is why I am excited to announce these actions today.”

The new policy does not affect the cost of FBI background checks required for people who haven’t lived in the state continuously for 10 years and work with children. The full cost of $27.00 for the federal checks will still apply to volunteers and employees alike.

For more information about clearances required under the Child Protective Service Law, head to www.keepskidssafe.pa.gov. For more information about PA Act 153, you can read about it on our blog.

Discovery of Sex Offenders Employed in Theme Parks Sparks Need for Stronger Background Checks

Posted on July 23, 2014 by firstcontacthr

iStock_000015651642Small Since 2006 at least 40 employees of national theme parks have been arrested for trying to elicit sex from minors, possessing child pornography, and committing other sex crimes involving children. These child predators worked at parks such as Disney World, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld. While none of these cases involved the children visiting these supposedly child friendly parks, these potentially dangerous employees put the safety of visiting children at risk.

This pattern of theme parks hiring employees with a history of committing child sex crimes is shocking and disturbing. Recently, 16 sex predators, some of which being theme park employees, were caught in a Florida sex sting operations. But how do these predators even become employed at children’s parks?

Disney World Spokesperson, Jacquee Wahler maintains that Disney works “closely with law enforcement and organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children” in order to strengthen efforts against hiring sex predators. She also states that they “have extensive measures in place, including pre-employment and ongoing criminal background checks and computer monitoring and firewalls.” Universal Studios and SeaWorld also described having thorough background checks. Still, despite these attempts, some sex offenders manage to get hired.

Ernie Allen, co-founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, speculates that this may be because most child predators don’t have criminal records. However, he points out that there is more that companies can do to prevent hiring sex predators. For instance, in the future, these companies could perform more diligent sex offender registry research and sex offender background checks in addition to their general pre-employment and background checks. By strengthening their pre-employment research and background checks, theme parks can avoid this disastrous scandal in the future.