PA Act 15 of 2015

Enacted into law in 2015, PA Act 15 is designed to ensure the safety of our children through more complete and thorough background checks and clearances.

What does this mean for me?
Effective immediately, Pack 198 will require all parents and volunteers to complete the three (3) PA clearances listed below, as required by the New Birth of Freedom Council.  If you have lived in PA for at least the last 10 years, there is no cost for any of these clearances.

Why is this required by Pack 198?
Three simple reasons:

1. To continue to and better assure that Pack 198 is a safe environment for our children to learn and grow through scouting
2. To easily allow every parent and scout the opportunity to choose to attend a BSA-sponsored camp or pack outing going forward
3. To make leadership succession significantly easier, as all volunteers will require these clearances

What do I need to do?
Simply follow the step-by-step instructions below:

1. Report of Criminal History from the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp
2. Child Abuse History Clearance from the Department of Human Services, www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home
3. Depends on your residency in PA
   1. Volunteers who have resided in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the past 10 years can submit a Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers in lieu of the Fingerprint based FBI Clearance.
   2. Fingerprint based FBI criminal history clearance submitted through the Department of Human Services, www.pa.cogentid.com/index_dpwNew.htm
4. Upon completion, upload ALL documents to http://tinyurl.com/qc6fhfm
5. After processing at NBOF, you will receive a certification of clearances.  Please email your PDF certification of completion to Jeff Parr.

More information about the PA law and how New Birth of Freedom is implementing this can be found at http://newbirthoffreedom.org/palaw/.