volunteer clearances: my experience

This school year, SASD is requiring clearances for all volunteers working with children.  The benefits of caution are obvious, but we kind of hate it, anyway:  paperwork!  time! cash!

You can find this information elsewhere

(lab school website version here: http://www.ship.edu/Labschool/PTO/PTO_Information/  ;
SASD website here: http://www.shipk12.org/web/article.php?story=20100803155538853
and here: http://www.shipk12.org/web/filemgmt_data/files/Announcement%20Letter%207-26-10.pdf ),

but I thought I'd repeat it anyway, in case more=helpful.  I always think personal experiences do.  I'm working on mine tonight, and will come back and edit if I make mistakes, so you can learn from them!

So I give you:

Valerie's Clearances.  A Personal Journey of Wanting to Commence Rewarding Volunteerism.  :)

First, to do any work in the school with kids, you need to fill out the district volunteer form and get a TB test.  You can get the test FREE at either of the bigger elementary's nurses' offices or at the high school.  I just walked into James Burd and she gave me a nice little shot.  Then Kathy at our own school can read it in a couple of days.  A volunteer form came home with your child early in the year, so you may have already filled one out.  You can get another in the office or  online here: http://www.ship.edu/uploadedFiles/Ship/Labschool/PTO/Volunteer_Information_Form.pdf.  Easy.  This step I already did.

If you only want to visit the classroom or school with direct teacher supervision, this is enough.  Hooray!  If you want to be alone with kids, aka sleep over with your cutie at camp, you have $43 further to go.  I promise it will be worth it.  Not too bad for lodging, meals, and Mr. Z's campfire stories (and I will not be politically correct and say the nighttime walk is just as cool.  It is not.) .

Next is the FBI background check.  This is the most expensive part of your journey to full volunteerism ($33) and involves a trip to get fingerprinted, but the paperwork is easy.  Our state has contracted the coordination of this to a company called Cogent.  It involves 2 parts:  the paperwork and the fingerprinting.  They recommend you register online here, though you can also do the registration over the phone.  You must register before you go to be fingerprinted.  The nearest fingerprinting locations for us are Chambersburg and Carlisle (at the UPS store!).  Look at this page https://www.pa.cogentid.com/index_pde.htm to find links to "register online" and find "print locations and hours, as well as answers to other questions you may have.  I just registered online (quick form, but you'll need your SSN, DL # & credit card handy), and I'm heading to this location (with now-printed registration form & valid ID) on Monday morning and dragging along a friend to get fingerprinted:

Franklin County - Franklin County Career and Technology Center

2463 Loop Road, Chambersburg, PA  17202 

Mon, Tues and Weds 10:00A – 4:00P 


Next is the state Child Abuse History Clearance.  This is just $10, but its completion is involving major eyerolls at my computer here tonight because (1) I have to physically mail it in; (2) they only accept money orders or business checks, no cash or personal checks or credit cards; (3) will take up to 4 weeks; and (4) the paperwork is a royal pain, requesting all addresses and household member names since 1975 (Do you know how many apartments I lived in during college education of self and spouse?  We're on our 8th address together, not counting that month with my parents, then there was my undergraduate before--all of my roommates names? So many! I think this will be "permanent residence [insert my home town]" and "various apartments and roommates in Provo, UT, while attending Brigham Young University [and yes, they won in the first round tonight.  Go Jimmer!]".  What do you think?--and also there's that LDS mission for a year and a half in Texas in various small towns...it's a "best of your belief" sort of thing, and I hope they accept my best guesses!  I remember someone telling me to write all of my addresses down and keep them in case I have this someday...too bad for that good advice!).  Anyway, print & fill out & mail in two forms and cross your fingers, I guess.  I'll let you know if it works!


Read what the state has to say here:
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/findaform/childabusehistoryclearanceforms/index.htmPrint these forms:
*Child Abuse Clearance
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/ucmprd/groups/webcontent/documents/form/s_001762.pdf

Last is the Pennsylvania State Police Request for Criminal Record Check (you can fill this single page pdf in on your computer, but you still have to print it and mail it in with yet another $10 money order)
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/ucmprd/groups/webcontent/documents/form/s_001769.pdf

Done!
You're off and running!  I mean, of course, NOT running while you're leading nice children in the halls or through the woods to their cabins or next eco lesson, of course.  Because we're very responsible that way.

Updates on how it actually went:
coming!