Employees and appointees who must obtain clearances include, but are not limited to, those who have direct and/or routine contact with children:

• In a traditional child care or elementary/secondary school setting.
• In a clinical practice or while engaged in research involving minors.
• In accelerated programs that open University classes and programs to minors who are also enrolled in a secondary school.
• In connection with any camp, clinic, mentoring program, or similar activity with children, such as a summer camp or laboratory experiences.
• In connection with off-campus recruitment of prospective students.
• In any other manner not referenced above. 

If your position requires Child Protection Clearances, you must coordinate with ProVerify powered by Application Verification, and submit all three results to ProVerify:

• Pennsylvania Criminal History Report (PATCH)
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (ChildLine)
• FBI Criminal History Report

Failure to Submit Clearances

Effective January 1, 2020, all new employees and appointees who have direct and/or routine contact with children under 18 years of age may not begin employment until all of their Child Protection Clearances have been submitted and approved.

Relevant Definitions:

• Direct and/or routine contact and direct volunteer contact with children: the care, supervision, guidance or control of children or routine interaction with children.
• Routine Interaction: regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person's employment or volunteer responsibilities. 
• Exception: an employee of an institution of higher education whose direct contact with children, in the course of employment, is limited to either:

1. 1. Prospective students visiting a campus operated by the institution of higher education or
   2. Matriculated students who are enrolled with the institution and not also enrolled in a secondary institution

• Matriculated Student: a student who is enrolled in an institution of higher education and pursuing a program of study that results in a post-secondary credential, such as a certificate, diploma or degree.

The University of Pittsburgh has selected ProVerify powered by Application Verification to help administer the Child Protection Clearances process. A request initiated by either the RC admin or Talent Center integration starts the process after the new employee has accepted the offer of employment. Learn more about the process for applying to and obtaining Child Protection Clearances.

Clearances for anyone who is required to have them must be renewed every 60 months (five years) from the date of the individual’s oldest certification.

The recertification process will be managed by ProVerify. When recertification dates are coming up, the ProVerify processing team will proactively reach out and coordinate the necessary recertification.

The ProVerify processing team then reaches out to each applicant and coordinates the criminal background screening clearances required to perform each employees responsibilities. The coordination of services includes several communications with the applicant and RC Admin to successfully complete the process. The following is a high-level overview in which communication occurs throughout the recertification process:

• ProVerify's professional staff will coordinate criminal clearance coordination during a screening coordination call. This call takes about 15-20 minutes.
• During the call ProVerify’s professional staff will identify a fingerprinting collection site, provide a FBI fingerprinting code, and issue a ChildLine code.
  • Applicants will be provided instructions and location information for completing the requested screening services.
  • As a follow-up to the call, all required screening documents including fingerprinting registration and both FBI fingerprinting and ChildLine codes will be emailed to the applicant.

Failure to Submit Clearances

Employees and appointees will be contacted by ProVerify to coordinate the required clearance documentation. Employees and appointees who fail to submit the required clearance documents prior to the expiration date of their oldest clearance will face disciplinary actions including, but not limited to, being placed on an unpaid leave of absence. These Child Protection Clearance requirements are mandated by Pennsylvania state law.

Employees and Paid Appointees: New and current employees and paid appointees may use clearances that are less than 60 months old and that were obtained for employment purposes. However, all employees and paid appointees who use clearances less than 60 months old that were originally obtained for another employer must also sign a Portability Statement (facilitated by ProVerify) to swear or affirm that they have not committed a disqualifying offense. Both the Portability Statement and copies of the clearances must be submitted to ProVerify. When filling out the onboarding form for ProVerify, individuals will be given the opportunity to upload their clearances to the ProVerify system. If any of the necessary clearances are out of date or missing, the applicant will be required to coordinate with the ProVerify team to obtain all new clearances.

Unpaid Volunteers and Unpaid Appointees: The law permits unpaid volunteers and unpaid "volunteer" appointees to use clearances that are less than 60 months old regardless of whether the clearance was previously obtained for the purpose of employment or volunteer service. However, prior to the commencement of service, an individual who relies upon a clearance originally obtained for another entity must sign a Portability Statement (which will be facilitated by ProVerify) to swear or affirm that they have not committed a disqualifying offense. Both the Portability Statement and copies of the clearances must be submitted to ProVerify. When filling out the onboarding form for ProVerify, individuals will be given the opportunity to upload their clearances to the ProVerify system. If any of the necessary clearances are out of date or missing, the applicant will be required to coordinate with the ProVerify team to obtain all new clearances.

Employment, appointment, or volunteer service must be denied if the Department of Human Services has verified that the individual is named in the Statewide database as the perpetrator of a founded report of child abuse committed within the past five-years. In addition, an individual is disqualified from employment, appointment, or volunteer service if the State Police or FBI Criminal Record checks indicate that the individual has been convicted of one or more of the following offenses under Pennsylvania law or an offense similar in nature under Federal law, the law of another state or the law of any other foreign or domestic jurisdiction:

(1) An offense under one or more of the following provisions of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes:

A. Chapter 25 (relating to criminal homicide).

B. Section 2702 (relating to aggravated assault).

C. Section 2709.1 (relating to stalking).

D. Section 2901 (relating to kidnapping).

E. Section 2902 (relating to unlawful restraint).

F. Section 3121 (relating to rape).

G. Section 3122.1 (relating to statutory sexual assault).

H. Section 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse).

I. Section 3124.1 (relating to sexual assault).

J. Section 3125 (relating to aggravated indecent assault).

K. Section 3126 (relating to indecent assault).

L. Section 3127 (relating to indecent exposure).

M. Section 4302 (relating to incest).

N. Section 4303 (relating to concealing death of child).

O. Section 4304 (relating to endangering welfare of children).

P. Section 4305 (relating to dealing in infant children).

Q. A felony offense under section 5902(b) (relating to prostitution and related offenses).

R. Section 5903(c) or (d) (relating to obscene and other sexual materials and performances).

S. Section 6301(relating to corruption of minors).

T. Section 6312 (relating to sexual abuse of children).

U. The attempt, solicitation or conspiracy to commit any of the offenses set forth above.

(2) A felony offense under the act of April 14, 1972 (P.L. 233, No. 64), known as “The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act” (35 P.S. 780-101 et seq.) committed within the past five years.

The law requires an employee, appointee, or volunteer who has direct contact with children to provide written notice within 72 hours of any arrest or conviction that would constitute grounds for denying employment or participation in a program, activity or service, or who is named as a perpetrator in a founded or indicated report of child abuse. Any written reports should be submitted to:

Alison Paul, Employee Relations Specialist (all189@pitt.edu)
Employee & Labor Relations, Office of Human Resources
University of Pittsburgh
502 Craig Hall, 200 S. Craig Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15260