MEMORANDUM FOR CTS STAFF APPLICANTS AGE 17 YEARS AND OLDER

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FROM:  CTS/CC

 

SUBJECT:  Notification of PA Child Clearance Laws

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1.  The purpose of this memorandum is to notify CTS staff applicants of the proper procedures for obtaining Pennsylvania State Child Clearances in order to be eligible to participate in our programs.  Prospective staff members who will be age 18 or older DURING ANY POINT OF A CTS TRAINING must read and comply with the following instructions carefully.

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2.  Background.  Pennsylvania Act 153 was signed into law in 2014 and requires persons having contact with children in the state of Pennsylvania to be properly vetted.  PA Wing Civil Air Patrol has implemented “State Child Clearances” which must be obtained before any member may act in an official Civil Air Patrol capacity within the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania.  This requirement went into effect on 1 January 2016.

 

3.  All members who wish to be assigned to the Pennsylvania Wing Cadet Training Schools are required to be in compliance with the Pennsylvania State Child Clearances.  PA Wing members who are not in compliance will be ineligible to staff in any capacity and will immediately be removed from CAP as per National Headquarters.  Out of state members who apply to staff are required to complete instructions in Section 5 of this memorandum before attending any CTS event.

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4.  Pennsylvania Residents.  The following instructions apply to prospective staff applicants who reside within Pennsylvania.  Full details are available from the PA Wing website:  https://www.pawg.cap.gov/members/clearances

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a.  Obtain a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History clearance report from the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Information Solution (CWIS) online system.  This process takes 10-15 minutes to complete although the results may take up to 1-2 weeks to receive.

 

b.    Obtain a Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check through the State Police’s online system.  This process takes 5-10 minutes, and results are typically available the same day.  The receipt page stating that a request was submitted is NOT acceptable.  The final report stating the outcome of the search is what must be submitted.

 

c.  For Pennsylvania Residents who have less than 10 years of continuous residence in PA, an FBI criminal background check is required.  This process can take several hours to find, schedule and physically obtain fingerprints. Processing time varies and can take 1-2 weeks. Cost ranges from $25-50 depending on method. The full results of the background check must be submitted.

 

d.  For Pennsylvania Residents who have more than 10 years of continuous residence in PA, a disclosure statement for volunteers may be completed in lieu of the FBI criminal background check.

 

5.  Non-Pennsylvania Residents.  The following instructions apply to prospective staff applicants who do not reside within Pennsylvania.

 

a.  If you intend to have more than 30 days of volunteer work within Pennsylvania for the calendar year, you must complete the full Pennsylvania State Child Clearance process as described in Section 4 above to include an FBI background check.  This would apply to out of state members who participate in multiple CAP or non-CAP related work having contact with children.  If you fall into this category, please contact the CTS Admin team (schoolapps@pawgcts.org).

 

b.  If you do not intend to have more than 30 days of volunteer work within Pennsylvania for the calendar year, you must submit equivalent child protective clearance paperwork that is required for your state for volunteers or, if there is no requirement for volunteers, then the paperwork that is required for employees who have contact with children. For members living in states that do not have any child protective clearance paperwork, the member is responsible for obtaining a letter from a Governmental Official (such as a nearby Chief of Police, School Principal, a Township Supervisor, etc.) stating that there are no child protective services clearances or background checks required for employees or volunteers in the state in which the member lives.

 

6.  Submission.  All three documents contain your personally identifiable information (PII) to include full name, address, date of birth, and last four of your social security number.  In order to protect this information, do not submit this to any CAP individual.  You must upload these three documents as a single PDF document into your eServices profile. The direct link for members to upload their file containing all information is:  https://www.capnhq.gov/CAP.eServices.Web/MyAccount/ClearanceCertificates.aspx

 

a.  Out-of-State applicants must obtain and upload their Child Clearance paperwork in eServices prior to submitting their school registration.  When uploaded, contact the CTS Admin team so that we can verify with NHQ that your clearances are complete.

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7.    If you have any questions at all, please contact the CTS Admin team (schoolapps@pawgcts.org).

 

     // SIGNED //

GARY FLEMING, Col, CAP

PA Wing CTS Commander