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Questions & Answers for Fingerprint Services in the State of Why conduct FBI
background checks Act 114 of 2006, Section 111 of
the Public School Code was amended effective April 1, 2007. All
student teachers (participating in classroom teaching, internships, clinical
or field experience) and prospective employees (including but not limited to
administrators, teachers, substitutes, janitors, cafeteria workers, office
employees) of public and private schools, Intermediate Units and area
vocational-technical schools, including independent contractors and their
employees and bus drivers, who have direct contact with children, must
provide to their employer a copy of their Pennsylvania State Criminal History
Background Check and their Federal Criminal History Record that cannot be
more than one (1) year old. This only
applies to employees hired on or after April 1, 2007. Employees hired prior to April 1, 2007,
are only required to provide the Federal Criminal History record if they have
lived outside of the state for at least two years immediately preceding their
application for employment. When does the new law begin? April 1, 2007.
You have 90 days after April 1, 2007 to complete your fingerprint
based background check. Who is
affected by this new law? see above Do I have to schedule an appointment
to be fingerprinted? There are no scheduled appointments (time or
location) for fingerprinting. You do
however need to register with Cogent Systems before being fingerprinted. All fingerprint collection locations work on a first
come, first serve basis. Be advised
that during the initial few weeks of the program, fingerprint traffic may be
heavy. Plan your visit to fingerprint
locations accordingly. Do not send
large groups of employees at one time.
Plan to send employees to print locations over weeks, not hours. Contact the fingerprint site nearest you
if you require a large group of employees to be printed. Ask the fingerprint site how they want to
handle the processing of prints. Some
sites may be able to provide mobile printing.
Where do I register for
fingerprinting? Registration involves collecting pertinent
demographic information that is required by law from each applicant. During registration you will also be given
the chance to pay electronically for your background check. Registration is best conducted online at https://www.pa.cogentid.com. This way you can insure the correctness of
all demographic information you submit.
Online registration alleviates many data collection problems and
effectively speeds processing at the fingerprint site.
You may also register by phone at 1-888-439-2486 How can I pay for my fingerprinting? Applicant background checks are $40.00. Payment may be made online at the time of
registration using a debit or credit card.
Payment may also be made with a Money Order or Cashiers Check at the
fingerprint location. Money Orders
and Cashiers Checks must be made out to COGENT SYSTEMS. NO CASH, PERSONAL CHECKS and NO ELECTRONIC
PAYMENTS for background checks will be accepted at the fingerprint sites.
Can I bill my background check to my
employer? Provisions have been made that would allow billing
of an employer to occur. The employer
must download an AGENCY BILLING AGREEMENT and
submit a completed copy to Cogent Systems.
Once the employer has been approved for billing, an Agency Billing ID
(ABID) will be issued to the employer.
An ABID entered during applicant registration will allow the
transaction to be billed to the employer.
In most cases an employer will want to keep their
ABID private. In that circumstance,
employers may be required to register the applicants themselves. Speak with your employer to determine if
they intend to make the billing of your background check possible. Billing accounts must be established prior
to sending applicants to a fingerprint site. Where are the fingerprint locations in
my area? There are fifty-four (54) fingerprint machines
established across the State.
Fingerprint sites hours of operations and procedures may differ from
site to site. Please review the
Cogent Systems web site often to learn more about the
site nearest you.
Can I have my employees
fingerprinted at my company or facility? If you have a
requirement to fingerprint a large group of applicants (example… 300 college
education majors, a contractor’s entire staff of 120 employees, 50 bus
drivers, etc.) mobile fingerprint units may be available. Some fingerprint service sites have the
ability to bring portable equipment to your site. Services sites in your area that have
mobile equipment will be listed. NOTE:
We encourage you to utilize mobile printing service if it is available but you must plan ahead. Please do not overwhelm the service by sending large groups of applicants to the fixed site locations. If you must send your large group of applicants to a fixed site, please plan for their arrival to occur over days and weeks, not hours. What am I required to bring to the
fingerprint site? You must be registered first
before proceeding to a fingerprint site.
At the fingerprint site you will be asked to produce a qualified State
or Federal photo ID before processing may begin. See What to bring for a list of approved ID types. Applicants will not be processed if they
cannot produce acceptable identification.
What happens to my fingerprints once
they are submitted? The
applicant’s scanned fingerprints will be electronically transmitted to the
Pennsylvania State Police, who in turn submits the fingerprints and
demographic information to the FBI as required by federal statute. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)
will receive the Federal Criminal History Record from the FBI. PDE’s School Services Unit will return the
Federal Criminal History Record to the applicant. The Record will be printed on standard 8.5” X 11” paper with
the Commonwealth Seal imbedded on the paper.
This document constitutes an
official Record. If an applicant
presents their Federal Criminal History Record and the Commonwealth Seal is
not embedded on the paper, it should be considered as invalid and not an
official Record. What happens if I do not receive my
official Federal Criminal History Record? After your fingerprints
have been submitted, do not contact the fingerprint site. Do not contact Cogent Systems. Cogent Systems does not have the means to
give the applicant the status of their background check nor are they involved
in the summary execution of your background check. If the applicant does not receive the Criminal History Record
from PDE within eight weeks after being fingerprinted, they should call (717)
783-3750 or email PDE at dwolfgang@state.pa.us. Will I still have to complete my other
required background checks? The fingerprint based background check is conducted
in addition to your other State required checks. How
do I know if my personal information is secure? Your personal data traveling from the fingerprint
equipment is comprehensively secured and regulated by both Cogent Systems and
State and Federal regulations governing the use of that data. The Cogent statewide fingerprint
service is housed within a secured network that is protected by firewall
devices configured explicitly to allow only permissible protocols and
traffic. Cogent ensures that all of
the fingerprint machine’s background check submissions adhere to both the
FBI’s and I still have additional questions, who do I call? The fingerprint sites cannot answer questions
except those involving times and locations of their fingerprint machines. All information regarding
process, policy and print locations may be found at the Cogent website
Fingerprint applicants should contact Denise
Wolfgang at (717) 783-3750 or dwolfgang@state.pa.us |