Pennsylvania Background checks

As of January 1, 2016 all adults, paid or volunteer, working with youth in the state of Pennsylvania are required to submit for 3 criminal background checks. It would be ideal if our troop could track the submission of these background checks through trooptrack, rather than ANOTHER spreadsheet. It would be nice to be able to keep all this in one place. The method is already in place, the training book. We just need it listed. Thanks!

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@whiterivr2002 there is a Date field for Background check on the Member details tab. We update these when clearances have been submitted.

Thank you for your response! What I’m looking for though is a way that I could enter the date issued for all three clearances, as they are only good for 5 years. This is why it would be nice if they were in the training section, as leadership and scouters would be able to see when their clearances need updated at a glance.

Trooptrack also has a problem that any time you want to update information on a group of scouts or scouters, you have to go individual by individual. VERY time consuming. It would also be nice if you could change permissions a little easier.

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HI there! I would be happy to organize these into our training. You say there are three. Are they three different ones? What should I call them? Do they all expire in 5 years?

Thank you! That would be great!

Yes, all three expire every 5 years. The clearances are:

  1. Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance
  2. Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check; and
  3. Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Background Check.

I’m sure you could abbreviate those. Thank you.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Background Check is only needed if you have lived in PA for less than 10 years, otherwise there is an Exemption Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers. Maybe have a 4th item called Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Background Check Exemption?

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I have added these 3 to training. Let me know if you think the exemption from the FBI one is necessary. :slight_smile:

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I personally don’t believe it’s necessary. It counts toward the same clearance. I would just enter the date the exemption is signed. The exemption has to be redone every 5 years as well.

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My thinking is that these are different from a record keeping perspective, and would help a training chair of scoutmaster follow up appropriately when required.

Melissa - I am looking at the Training selections and do not currently see the 3 background checks listed in there.

Also, could you add “Mandatory Reporter” to the list since Pennsylvania (or at least our council) requires all leaders to take the Mandatory Child Abuse Reporter training and certification.

Hi @GSEP2888
I made these available for Girl Scouts, I used abbreviations for Pennsylvania and FBI, see if you can view them now. I also added Mandatory Child Abuse Reporter.

Thanks for using TroopTrack!

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