Skip to agency navigation
Skip to main content

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. 
    Educators

    ​​​Clearances/Background Checks

    Pennsylvania School Law requires that all applicants for employment in public and private schools, employees of independent contractors seeking business with public and private schools, and student teacher candidates undergo background checks if they will have direct contact with students.

    The following three background checks are required:

      Find information about obtaining clearances, associated laws and regulations, answers to frequently asked questions, and additional resources below. In addition, consider reviewing 24 P.S. §1-111, as amended, and the Child Pro​tective Services Law concerning background checks, for more information.

      The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services offers​ these answers to frequently asked questions about clearances for school employees.

      ​​​​Contact Information

      For additional information, contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education School Services Office.

      School Volunteer Background Checks

      Under Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law, school volunteers who are responsible for the child's welfare or who have "direct volunteer contact" with children at a school (i.e., the care, supervision, guidance, or control of children and routine interaction with children) are required to have background checks.

      Pennsylvania State Police - Non-Criminal Justive Agency Audits

      ​The Pennsylvania State Police manages and audits all agencies, both Criminal Justice and Non-Criminal Justice, that submit fingerprints for background checks and/or receive the responses from those submissions. To have access to the fingerprinting system, each agency is required to provide a current point of contact. Each agency is also required to participate in an audit at least triennially. Each agency is required to communicate with the Pennsylvania State Police for information exchange and auditing purposes. This is required to ensure safekeeping of records, and protected personal information disclosed by the state and federal repositories. Agencies will receive audit notification by email from the Non-Criminal Justice Auditor, Trooper Garrett Padasak. Due to the volume of agencies statewide, it is important each agency responds promptly to these communications.

      If you should need additional support, you can contact the CLEAN Administrative Section at ra-clean@pa.gov

      Trooper Garrett R. PADASAK
      Pennsylvania State Police
      Bureau of Communications & Information Services
      CLEAN Administrative Section | Audit Investigation Unit
      35 Fenton Road | Indiana PA, 15701
      Direct: 717-461-5974
      gpadasak@pa.gov

      Sergeant Adam L. Thomas
      Administrative/Audit Sections Supervisor
      PA State Police
      CLEAN Administrative Section
      Phone: 724-858-2010
      adthomas@pa.gov