Act 114 of 2006, Section 111 of the Public School Code was
amended effective April 1, 2007. All student teachers
(participating in classroom teaching, internships, clinical or
field experience) and prospective employees (including but not
limited to administrators, teachers, substitutes, janitors,
cafeteria workers, office employees) of public and private schools,
Intermediate Units and area vocational-technical schools, including
independent contractors and their employees and bus drivers, who
have direct contact with children, must provide to their employer a
copy of their Federal Criminal History Record that cannot be more
than one (1) year old. This only applies to employees hired
on or after April 1, 2007. Employees hired prior to April 1,
2007, are only required to provide the Federal Criminal History
record if they have lived outside of the state for at least two
years immediately preceding their application for employment.
Implementation Timeline
PDE contracted with Cogent Systems to manage this program for
the Commonwealth. The management process includes
establishing a website, manning a help desk, and establishing fixed
site locations for the taking of and transmitting of applicants’
fingerprints. These services will be operational on Friday,
March 30, 2007.
The Process
The fingerprint-based background check is a multiple-step
process:
- The applicant must register prior to going to the fingerprint
site. Walk in service without prior registration will not
be provided at any fingerprinting location. Registration
is completed online or over the phone. Registration is
available online 24 hours/day, seven days per week at
www.pa.cogentid.com. Telephonic
registration is available at 1-888-439-2486 Monday
through Friday, 8am to 6pm EST. During the
registration process, all demographic data for the applicant
is collected (name, address, SSN, etc.) so there is no data entry
required at the fingerprint collection site.
- The applicant will pay a fee of $40.00 for the fingerprint
service and to secure the Criminal History Record.
Applicants may make their payment online at www.pa.cogentid.com using
a credit card or debit card. Money orders or cashiers
checks payable to Cogent Systems will be accepted on site for
those applicants who do not have the means to pay
electronically. No cash transactions or personal
checks are allowed.
-
- Cogent Systems will also establish a billing procedure
for these services from an appropriate requesting agency
that is willing to pay the applicant’s fee. Billing may
only occur after the requesting agency has completed the
Cogent Systems’ Agency Pay Agreement. To establish
a billing account visit the website www.pa.cogentid.com and
download an application. The billing account must
be established prior to sending applicants to the fingerprint
site.
- The applicant proceeds to the fingerprint site of their
choice for fingerprinting. The location of the
fingerprint sites and days and hours of operation for each
site will be posted on Cogent Systems’ website at
www.pa.cogentid.com. The
location of fingerprint sites may change over time so
applicants are encouraged to confirm the site location
nearest to their location.
- At the fingerprint site the Applicant Livescan Operators
(ALO) manage the fingerprint collection process.
- The fingerprint transaction begins when the ALO reviews the
applicant’s qualified State or Federal photo ID before
processing the applicant’s transaction. A list
of approved ID types may be found on the Cogent Systems’
website at www.pa.cogentid.com.
Applicants will not be processed if they cannot produce an
acceptable photo ID.
- After the identity of the applicant has been established, all
ten fingers are scanned to complete the process.
The entire fingerprint capture process should take no more
than three to five minutes.
- The applicant’s scanned fingerprints will be electronically
transmitted to the Pennsylvania State Police, who in turn
submits the fingerprints and demographic information to
the FBI as required by federal statute.
- PDE will receive the Federal Criminal History Record from the
FBI. PDE’s School Services Unit will return the Federal
Criminal History Record to the applicant. The Record will be
printed on standard 8.5” X 11” paper with the
Commonwealth Seal imbedded on the paper. This
document constitutes an official Record. If
an applicant presents their Federal Criminal History Record and
the Commonwealth Seal is not embedded on the paper, it
should be considered as invalid and not an official
Record. If the applicant does not receive the
Criminal History Record from PDE within eight weeks after
being fingerprinted, they should call (717) 783-3750 or
email PDE at dwolfgang@state.pa.us.
- The applicant will then provide the Federal Criminal History
Record to their prospective employer.
** The Act allows that Administrators may employ any applicants
on a provisional basis for a single period not to exceed ninety
(90) days, except during a lawful strike proceeding under the
provisions of the act of July 23, 1970, known as the “Public
Employee Relations Act”, provided that all of the following
conditions are met:
- The applicant has applied for the information required under
subsection (b) and, where applicable, under subsection (c) or
(c.1) and the applicant provides a copy of the appropriate
completed request forms to the Administrator
- The Administrator has no knowledge of information pertaining
to the applicant which would disqualify them from employment
pursuant to subsection (e)
- The applicant swears or affirms in writing that they are not
disqualified from employment pursuant to subsection (e)
- If the information obtained pursuant to subsection (b), (c),
or (c1) reveals that the applicant is disqualified from
employment pursuant to subsection (e), the applicant shall be
suspended and subject to termination proceedings as provided for
by law
- The Administrator requires that the applicant not be
permitted to work alone with children and that the applicant work
in the vicinity of a permanent employee.
Fingerprint Corrections and
Resubmissions
In circumstances where a classifiable fingerprint record was not
or cannot be obtained and immediately upon indication, Cogent
Systems will take corrective action to re-submit, or re-print the
applicant at no cost to the applicant. This corrective action
will be completed at the earliest possible time, and when
applicable, that is convenient for the applicant. Cogent
Systems will contact the applicant directly should this
occur. NOTE: Reprinting can be applied to each
applicant one time only. If fingerprinting must take place a
third time the applicant must pay the full fee.
Group Fingerprinting Support
If you have a requirement to fingerprint a large group of
applicants (300 college education majors, a contractor’s entire
staff of 120 employees, 50 bus drivers, etc.) Cogent Systems and
the fixed site providers will try to accommodate that
request. Some fingerprint service sites have the ability to
bring portable equipment to your site. If you are in need of
Group Fingerprinting Support, visit www.pa.cogentid.com. Service
sites in your area that have mobile equipment will be listed.
NOTE: This mobile service requires the visited site to provide
broadband internet access and access through any firewall.
The sites that offer mobile services can provide you instructions,
in advance of their visit, that would allow fingerprinting to occur
at your site. You must however, plan ahead.
Requirements for hosting a mobile Livescan operation can be found
at www.pa.cogentid.com
We encourage you to utilize this service but you must
plan ahead. Please do not overwhelm the service by sending
large groups of applicants to the fixed site locations. If
you must send your large group of applicants to a fixed site,
please plan for their arrival to occur over days and weeks, not
over hours.
Confidentiality (Security) of Applicant
Information
On-site access to the Livescan equipment, and the data traveling
from the equipment, is comprehensively secured and regulated by
both Cogent Systems and the regulations governing the use of that
data.
- The Computer System - The system will be housed within a
secured network that is protected by firewall devices configured
explicitly to allow only permissible protocols and traffic.
Cogent Systems will ensure that all devices procured under this
process continue to adhere to the Commonwealth’s Security
requirements. The proposed systems will be configured to
provide a point of defense with controlled access from both
inside and outside the network. The Livescan systems will
be configured to support logging and audit capability.
Furthermore, the Livescan solution will support 128 bit
encryption.
Inquiries or Questions
All information regarding process, policy, and fingerprinting
locations may be found at www.pa.cogentid.com
Fingerprint Services Sites should contact Blake Godard at
bgodard@cogentsystems.com
Fingerprint applicants should contact Denise Wolfgang at (717)
783-3750 or dwolfgang@state.pa.us