2023 Clearance Requirements for Volunteers

Act 15 of 2015 is a Pennsylvania law that became effective on July 1, 2015 and amends Act 153 of 2014. The new law requires comprehensive criminal and child abuse background checks for employees and volunteers who have “direct contact with children”. Of special important is Section 6344.2 of the Act which amends the Child Protective Services Law to expand the definition of persons who must submit to a detailed state background check to include any adult applying for an unpaid position responsible for the welfare of a child or having direct contact or routine interaction with children.

Who Does The Act Apply To?

• Volunteers - Section 6344.2 applies to any “adult applying for or holding an unpaid position as a volunteer “with a school or program, activity or service or a person responsible for a child’s welfare or having direct volunteer contact with children”. This includes all coaches, managers, locker room monitors and volunteers who work with children on our sports teams (“Volunteers”). Act 15 has added definitions of “Program, activity or service” which includes “any sports or athletic program” and “Direct volunteer contact” which means “the care, supervision, guidance or control of children and routine interaction with children” and “Routine interaction” which means “Regular, repeated and continual contact that is integral to a person’s employment or volunteer responsibilities.” The Act also applies to “Non-resident volunteers” who are out-of-state persons who can serve for up to 30 days per calendar before providing certifications.

Volunteers:

• Who Needs Clearances: An individual who is responsible for the child’s welfare or has direct volunteer contact with children.
• Direct Volunteer Contact – The care, supervision, guidance, or control of children and routine interaction with children.
• Routine Interaction – Regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person’s employment or volunteer responsibilities.
• Person Responsible for Child’s Welfare – Person who provides permanent or temporary care, supervision, mental health diagnosis or treatment, training or control of a child in lieu of parental care, supervision and control. Includes any such person who has direct or regular contact with a child through any program, activity, or service sponsored by a school, for-profit organization or religious or other not for profit organization.

Additional Information:

• Effective August 25, 2015 volunteers having contact with children shall be required to obtain certifications every 60 months (5 years).
• Students who volunteer are not required to obtain certifications as long as they meet all ofthe following requirements:
  • the individual is currently enrolled in a school;
  • the individual is not a person responsible for the child's welfare;
  • the individual is volunteering for an event that occurs on school grounds;
  • event is sponsored by the school in which the individual is enrolled as a student; and
  • the event is not for children who are in the care of a child care service.

Applying for the Criminal Background Checks and Child Abuse Certifications can be done online, and are FREE when you enter Lenape Valley Girls Softball (LVGS) into the organization field.

NECESSARY DOCUMENTS:

1. PA State Police Criminal Background Check
2. PA Child Abuse Certification
3. Background Check Signature Form or FBI Fingerprinting Clearance

(The Background Check Signature Form/Affidavit no longer needs to be notarized.)

For PA ACT-15 FAQs, please CLICK HERE.

Clearances may be submitted to LVGS Clearance Coordinator, wildcats@lvsoftball.org.