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Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    FBI Criminal History Clearance

    IDEMIA is Pennsylvania's vendor for digital fingerprinting. You can register and be fingerprinted at an IdentoGO location. You do not need an appointment to be fingerprinted, but you must pre-register. Once you are registered, you may visit any location during operating hours. Please note, scheduling an appointment may lead to less or no wait times. In order to pre-register for an FBI background check and/or find a fingerprinting location, applicants should visit the IdentoGO website. 

    • Questions? Contact the FBI Background Check Unit at 717-783-6211 or 1-877-371-5422. For questions about IDEMIA registration, processing or billing, please contact IDEMIA/IdentoGo at 1-844-321-2101.

     

    PA State Police Criminal History Clearance (PATCH)

    Please visit the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal History Clearance (PATCH) website. The department will request the results of the PATCH from the provider and any person with a 5 percent or greater ownership interest in the provider. Please retain and submit these results directly to the department.

     

    DHS Program Office Requirements

    Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF)  

    The Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) requires certain individuals to obtain clearances in order to be employed, be a resource parent (foster or adoptive), or be a volunteer with children. The purpose for requiring clearances is to provide employers and those selecting volunteers with information to use as part of a larger decision-making process whether to hire someone as an employee or select them as a volunteer. Agencies and organizations must ensure that clearances are obtained in accordance with the CPSL.

    Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL)

    The code for a worker in an OLTL program depends on whether the FBI clearance is being obtained because the worker has lived out of state in the last two years or if it is part of a child abuse clearance.

    • Employee >=14 Years Contact w/ Children
      An employee age 14 or older who would not fall under the child care services/program employee or contractor definition and who has care, supervision, guidance or control of children or routine interaction with children.

    • OLTL worker who lived out of state for more than two years
      A worker who has lived out of state in the last two years must use the Department of Aging code.

    Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP)

    Please call OMAP Provider Enrollment at 1-800-537-8862 to obtain the OMAP IdentoGo Service Code. If you are either an individual provider or an owner of a provider that has been placed in the "high" categorical risk level, please visit IdentoGo and follow the instructions provided for obtaining a fingerprint-based criminal background check. Once registered, you will be assigned a registration code. Please enter that code and the date of your screening into the Electronic Provider Portal application.

    ** Please do not register unless you have been notified by the department that you, or the provider you own, are classified as a high-risk provider and must be fingerprinted. Applicants seeking Child Abuse Clearances for purposes of employment due to working with children, for example, should NOT use the above link. 

    The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), which is in part comprised of the Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.