To work in a Pennsylvania school, you need three separate background clearances on file before your first day: a Pennsylvania State Police criminal record check, a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, and an FBI fingerprint-based criminal history check. PA teacher clearances apply to every teacher, student teacher, and school contractor who has direct contact with children, and no one of them substitutes for another. All three must be current when you start, and all three must be renewed on a set schedule to keep you eligible to work.
The Three Clearances You Need
Each clearance answers a different question about your history, which is why Pennsylvania requires all three rather than picking one.
The Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check, required under Act 34, searches the state’s central criminal history repository for arrests and convictions recorded by Pennsylvania law enforcement. It covers Pennsylvania records only.1Pennsylvania Department of Education. Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History PATCH
The Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, required under Act 151, is run by the Department of Human Services and checks whether you have any founded or indicated reports of child abuse in state records. It sits separate from criminal history and is focused on child welfare.2Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Child Abuse History Clearance
The FBI Criminal History Check, required under Act 114, is fingerprint-based and searches federal records across every U.S. jurisdiction. It catches history the state check cannot see if you have lived or worked outside Pennsylvania.3Pennsylvania Department of Education. Federal Criminal History Record Information – Section: Background
The requirement reaches prospective employees of public schools, private schools, and contractors whose employees will work in direct contact with children. Student teachers need all three before their placement begins.1Pennsylvania Department of Education. Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History PATCH
How to Apply for Each One
State Police Criminal Record Check (PATCH)
You apply online through the Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History system, known as PATCH. It asks for basic identifying information, including your Social Security number. Every name and date should match your government-issued ID exactly. Typos cause delays and, in some cases, force you to pay and resubmit.4Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History. Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History
Child Abuse History Clearance
The application runs through the Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare Portal. You will need your Social Security number, a list of every address where you have lived, and the names of the people you have lived with. Pull that information together before you open the application; hunting for old addresses partway through is the usual reason people stall out.2Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Child Abuse History Clearance
FBI Fingerprint Check
The FBI check requires an in-person appointment scheduled through the IdentoGO website, operated by IDEMIA under contract with the Commonwealth. A technician captures your fingerprints digitally at the appointment. The fee is $24.95 for employees and $22.95 for volunteers.5Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. FBI Fingerprinting
You leave with a receipt showing an identification number. Your school’s HR department uses that number to pull your results through a secure system. Keep the receipt until the school confirms it has your results in hand.
Renewal Every Five Years
All three clearances must be renewed at least every 60 months. The five-year cycle applies to employees and volunteers alike, and individual employers or licensing bodies can require renewals more often.6Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Child Abuse Clearances
Starting a new position adds a stricter rule on top of that. Your clearances must be less than one year old on the date you begin. Even if you are technically inside the five-year window, a new employer can reject clearances more than 12 months old. Once you are hired and your clearances are accepted, the standard five-year renewal cycle runs from the date of your oldest clearance.
Set a calendar reminder roughly four months before your clearances expire. Processing times vary, and you do not want an expired clearance to stop you from working while a renewal is in progress.
Reporting Arrests or Convictions Between Renewals
The five-year cycle does not put your record on hold in between. Under Section 111 of the Public School Code, a school employee who is arrested for or convicted of a disqualifying offense must promptly notify the employer. The standard reporting form is PDE-6004, submitted to your school’s administration.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 24 PS Education 1-111
Failing to self-report can lead to discipline or termination separately from whatever happens with the underlying criminal case. If you are uncertain whether a specific incident triggers the reporting duty, disclose it and let administration make the call.
Convictions That Disqualify You
Pennsylvania law permanently bars anyone convicted of certain offenses from working in a public or private school, intermediate unit, or career and technical school. A disqualifying conviction on your criminal history or self-reported form means you cannot be hired or remain employed.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 24 PS Education 1-111
The disqualifying offenses fall into three groups.
- Violent offenses: criminal homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, stalking, and luring a child into a vehicle or structure.
- Sexual offenses: rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, institutional sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure, incest, sexual abuse of children, sexual exploitation of children, and unlawful contact with a minor.
- Offenses involving children or controlled substances: endangering the welfare of children, concealing the death of a child, dealing in infant children, corruption of minors, soliciting minors to traffic drugs, felony prostitution-related offenses, certain obscenity offenses, and any felony under Pennsylvania’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act.
Equivalent convictions under the laws of another state, the federal government, a U.S. territory, or a foreign country also disqualify you. The list is not confined to Pennsylvania statutes.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 24 PS Education 1-111
Getting Your Results to the School
After processing, you need to hand results to your employer. For the PATCH criminal record check and the child abuse history clearance, you can usually download a PDF certificate directly from each portal. Download and save both immediately, because portal access can expire and retrieving a certificate later may require contacting the agency.
For the FBI check, your employer accesses results through a secure system using the identification number on your IdentoGO receipt. Some schools want original paper certificates rather than digital copies, so ask your HR department what format they need before assuming a PDF is enough. Schools keep these records on file as proof of compliance with state law.
Moving to Pennsylvania From Another State
Pennsylvania does not accept clearances issued by other states. If you hold a valid teaching certificate from another jurisdiction under the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, that agreement covers the transfer of your professional license only, not background clearances.8National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Interstate Agreement
Relocating to teach in Pennsylvania means obtaining all three Pennsylvania clearances from scratch. The FBI fingerprint check does search national records, so it will reflect your history in every state, but PATCH and the child abuse clearance are Pennsylvania systems with no out-of-state equivalent. Plan for the process to take several weeks and start well before your intended employment date.