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Caernarvon Township Memo
Date: April 28, 2015
To:
Supervisors/Township Boards/Volunteers
RE:
Clearances Policy
CAERNARVON TOWNSHIP
CHILD PROTECTIVE CLEARANCES POLICY
Caernarvon Township has hereby established a policy, consistent with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Law, for the protection of children in the care of the Township, for any and all functions/events where the
expectation is that there will be children interacting with Township employees, camp staff, parents, board
members, and/or volunteers, etc.
Any and all of the aforementioned person(s), shall be required to obtain clearances consistent with
current or future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Law(s). Clearances shall be required prior to
employment, or for volunteers, prior to any scheduled event where the expectation is that children will
be present. The Township “may employ” an applicant on a provisional basis “for a single period not to
exceed 90 days” so long as the applicant can document:
i. They have applied for the background checks/clearances;
ii. The employer has “no knowledge of information pertaining to the applicant which would
disqualify” employment;
iii. The applicant “swears or affirms in writing” that they have not been convicted, in another
state, of an offense similar to those that disqualify employment in PA’s CPSL;
iv. The person “shall be immediately dismissed” if the background checks reveal they are
disqualified; and
v. The applicant, pending returned background checks, is “not permitted to work alone with
children” and the applicant must “work in the immediate vicinity of a permanent employee.”
There are three types of background checks: Pennsylvania child abuse, Pennsylvania state police criminal,
and FBI criminal. Employees and independent contractors who are in direct contact with children or who
are responsible for children, or there is an expectation that contact could occur with children, must get
all three. The current combined cost is $48.75.
Parents, Board Members, and Volunteers that have an expectation to be in contact with children are
required to obtain clearances. The Caernarvon Township Supervisors are requiring all three (3) for
clearance, including the FBI criminal.
Additional information can be found at www.keepkidssafe.pa.gov. The Pennsylvania State Police Criminal
Background check for clearances can be found at https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp. The Child Abuse
Clearance can be found at: https://www.compass.state.pa.us/CWIS. The FBI background checks can be
found through this site: https://www.pa.cogentid.com/index_dpw.htm. All information for checks, and
access, is here: http://www.dhs.state.pa.us/findaform/childabusehistoryclearanceforms/S_001087.