To ensure the safety of all of WGBC’s kids, all-volunteer staff (ages 18+) who serve in Nursery, Kid’s Church, Youth are required to complete three levels of background checks; two from the state of Pennsylvania (child abuse and PA state police criminal check) and one from the FBI (fingerprinting). If you have lived in Pennsylvania for 10 years or more, you can fill out an affidavit that clears you from getting fingerprinted. Volunteer screening is a Pennsylvania state requirement that WGBC abides by.

Child Abuse Clearance (Free)
Online Submission:
The Pennsylvania Child Abuse History clearance can be submitted online through the Child Welfare Information Solution (CWIS) self-service portal. Submitting an application online allows individual applicants to receive their results through an automated system that will notify them once their results have been processed.

Please note, you must make a login before you can apply for your Child Abuse Background.
Applicants will be able to view and print their results online.

Paper Submission:
Download form here: Child Abuse Certification

Submit paper applications to:

ChildLine and Abuse Registry
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
PO Box 8170
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8170

This process takes 8-12 weeks.

Criminal Background Check (Free)

Online Request
The Pennsylvania State Police have established a web-based computer application called “Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History,” (PATCH). Results are received immediately when applied online.

Paper Submission
Download the Criminal History Request Form: Volunteer Only — SP4-164A (Updated 12/2017)

Affidavit or FBI Criminal Clearance (Affidavit – Free | FBI Clearance – $22.60)

An affidavit can be completed by downloading, printing, and signing. You may download it here: Volunteer Affidavit in Lieu of FBI Clearances.

If you have not lived in the state of PA for the past 10 years, you can register for an appointment to be fingerprinted two ways:

Online: Go to www.Identogo.com
Telephone: Call 1-844-321-2101 and listen to the options menu.

Appointments are not required. When you, your volunteer register, please be ready to provide service code “1KG6ZJ”. All applicants will also need to refer to the list of acceptable identification documents. Applicants must present one of the identification documents at the Idemia fingerprinting location.

Once registered, you may walk in during a location’s posted hours of operation, but scheduling an appointment may lead to lesser/no wait times. In order to preregister for an FBI background check and/or find a fingerprinting location, applicants should access the IDEMIA website. It is strongly encouraged that the employee or volunteer contact the site prior to going there as the information on the IDEMIA website may differ from actual hours of operation.

Ensuring Child Safety: Background Checks