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Lawmaker pushing to waive background check fees for volunteers
May 26, 2015 posted by Steve Brownstein
The state's new background checks law that was part of the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal has caused so much angst that a rush is on to change it before it is fully in effect.
Rep. Dan Moul, R-Gettysburg, said on Thursday he is pushing hard for the Legislature to act in the first or second week of June to amend the law to address complaints that have been raised about it.
In particular, Moul, who sponsored the original law, said people complain about the cost associated with obtaining the criminal background checks and child abuse clearance. They also fear that its application to volunteers will diminish the supply of this unpaid help.
Alterations he has in mind for the law, often referred to as Act 153, could shrink the pool of people who must obtain criminal history and child abuse clearances; waive the fee for volunteers to obtain those credentials; and could lessen the frequency of the need to obtain federal criminal history checks.
Moul insists the changes he has in mind wouldn't erode the law's intent of shielding children from potential predators.
Rather, he said it's to clear up some misunderstanding about who the law is meant to apply to while alleviating some of the burden associated with complying with it.
This talk of changes to a law that has helped put Pennsylvania on the forefront of child protection, however, strikes one child-protection advocate as premature.
Cathleen Palm, founder of the Center for Children's Justice, said she thinks more education about this new law is needed before any significant changes are made.
"People are still trying to sort through who this applies to and now the Legislature wants to change it. Let the dust settle," she said. "We have to very careful if people say let's change something and that means change something for convenience versus what's the best protection for kids."
She worries that perhaps people are forgetting the lessons about what makes children vulnerable and the people who can potentially harm them that were learned from the Sandusky scandal as well as the Philadelphia Archdiocese clergy abuse case.
"Are we forgetting or desensitizing ourselves to when and how kids are victimized and how we should protect them?" Palm said.
The Department of Human Services, which processes the child abuse clearances, and the Pennsylvania State Police, which processes the state criminal background checks, had no immediate comment about the proposed changes.
A little backgrounder on the law
The new law requires anyone who is paid to care, supervise or have routine interaction with children under the age of 18 as part of their job to obtain federal and state background checks and a child abuse clearance every three years. Combined, those clearances cost $47.50.
The law also mandates adults who volunteer in a setting where they supervise or have interaction with minors obtain a state criminal history check and a child abuse clearance, each of which costs $10. If they have lived outside of Pennsylvania within the past 10 years, they must obtain a federal criminal history check as well and that costs $27.50.
This new law took effect Dec. 31, 2014, for new hires while allowing current employees until Dec. 31, 2015, to obtain their background clearances.
As for volunteers, it's a different timeline.
As of July 1, new volunteers must obtain clearances before starting their volunteer work. Current volunteers have until July 1, 2016, to do that.
