A new year means new laws and with the coming of 2015, Pennsylvania has rung in more measures to keep our children safe. Act 153 which took effect January 1st is the newest piece of legislation with the goal of protecting students at school. The law begins by extending the definition of “school” to include all public and private secondary and tertiary institutions and also extends the list of employees to be screened to include unpaid volunteers who have direct contact with children or routine interaction with children (i.e. provide the care, supervision, guidance, or control of).

Additionally, Act 153 requires all prospective employees, current employees, independent contractors and volunteers to get and renew criminal background checks (state and FBI), including child abuse clearances on a three-year cycle.

Any applicable employee or volunteer who has not had the following clearances since December 31st 2011 need to get them renewed – if they have had the clearances sometime after December 31st 2011, then they will expire 3 years after the date issued, and will then need renewal. Clearances include; a Pennsylvania Criminal History Record, a Child Abuse Clearance, and a FBI Criminal History record.

Currently, a person is to be barred from working or volunteering with children under any of the following circumstances:

1. The person is named in the statewide database maintained by the Department of Human Services (formerly Department of Public Welfare) as the perpetrator of a founded child abuse report committed within the five-year period immediately preceding verification.
2. The applicant has been convicted of “one or more of the following offenses under Title 18 (relating to crimes and offenses) or an equivalent crime under Federal law or the law of another state:”
   1. Chapter 25 (relating to criminal homicide).
   2. Section 2702 (relating to aggravated assault).
   3. Section 2709.1 (relating to stalking).
   4. Section 2901 (relating to kidnapping).
   5. Section 2902 (relating to unlawful restraint).
   6. Section 3121 (relating to rape).
   7. Section 3122.1 (relating to statutory sexual assault).
   8. Section 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse).
   9. Section 3124.1 (relating to sexual assault).
   10. Section 3125 (relating to aggravated indecent assault).
   11. Section 3126 (relating to indecent assault).
   12. Section 3127 (relating to indecent exposure).
   13. Section 4302 (relating to incest).
   14. Section 4303 (relating to concealing death of child).
   15. Section 4304 (relating to endangering welfare of children).
   16. Section 4305 (relating to dealing in infant children).
   17. A felony offense under section 5902(b) (relating to prostitution and related offenses).
   18. Section 5903(c) or (d) (relating to obscene and other sexual materials and performances).
   19. Section 6301 (relating to corruption of minors).
   20. Section 6312 (relating to sexual abuse of children).
   21. The attempt, solicitation or conspiracy to commit any of the offenses set forth in this paragraph.
3. The applicant has been convicted of a felony offense under the act of April 14, 1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, committed within the five-year period immediately preceding verification.

If an employee does not provide the proper documents by the deadline, employers must either;

• Remove the individual from any position that has “direct contact with children” until the renewed documents are submitted to the school or,
• Treat the employee as a “provisional employee” for up to 90 days. If all the prerequisites for that are followed, the employee still must not work alone with children and must work in the vicinity of a cleared employee.

For higher education, this means that making sure all of your employees, contractors, and volunteers are up to date on their clearances, and need FBI fingerprinting, every 36 months. For the larger institutions it may appear to be a tall order, but in the name of safety for the students of Pennsylvania the extra effort is well worth it.