Every five (5) years or 60 months.
Employees: Clearances must be obtained every 60 months. Any employee with current clearances issued prior to July 1, 2015, must renew their clearances within 60 months from the date of their oldest clearance or if their current clearance is older than 60 months, by December 31, 2015. If an individual or agency, however, elects to renew all clearances at the same time, the date of the oldest clearance, rather than the most recent, is the date to be used for the renewal date.
Volunteers: All volunteers will be required to obtain clearances every 60 months. Time frames for renewed clearances are based upon the date of each individual clearance. If an individual or agency elected to renew all clearances at the same time, the date of the oldest clearance rather than the most recent would be used.
Pennsylvania Child Abuse Clearance: Volunteer applicants are eligible to receive one Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Certification free of charge every 57 months. To be eligible for free-of-charge certification, an applicant must meet the following criteria:
- The applicant must not have received a background certification free of charge within the previous 57 months;
- The background certification is necessary to satisfy the requirements under Chapter 63, subsection 6344(b); and,
- The certification shall not be valid or used for any other purpose, including employment.
If a volunteer applicant has received a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Certification free of charge within the previous 57 months, the applicant is required to provide either an $13.00 credit/debit card payment or an authorization code from the organization that is requesting the applicant obtain a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Certification. (https://www.compass.state.pa.us/CWIS/Public/FAQ)
Pennsylvania State Police Clearance: there is no charge for requests made for the purpose of volunteering. This type of record check can be made via the PATCH website (https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp) or by mail using form SP4-164A, “REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK, VOLUNTEER ONLY”. The SP4-164Aform may be downloaded from the home page of this website under the “HELP” drop down menu. The name of the agency ororganization for which you will be volunteering must be listed. You must also read and accept the legal disclaimeraffirming that the purpose of this record check is for volunteer purposes only and is not authorized for any other useand is in connection with the status of “unpaid volunteer”. (https://epatch.state.pa.us/TandC.jsp?action=read)