Online Review of Applicant Federal Criminal History Records (CHRI)

November 2008

Beginning December 1, 2008 the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) will begin providing Applicant Federal Criminal History Records (CHRI) online to approved entities that are required to review applicant criminal histories. This process will be totally electronic and will reduce the amount of time it takes for PDE to turnaround an applicant background check to approximately two days.

The Process

There will be no change in the way an applicant will conduct their fingerprint-based background check. Applicants will still register online or by phone and then proceed to be fingerprinted at a Cogent Systems fingerprint site. Applicants must be registered with Cogent Systems prior to arriving at a fingerprint location.

All that will change will be the manner in which the results will be retrieved. Currently, Criminal History Record Information reports (CHRIs) are mailed to the applicant by PDE. All individuals who are fingerprinted prior to December 1, 2008 will receive their results by mail from PDE. The new online system will NOT contain records of those fingerprinted prior to December 1, 2008.

When applicants register to be fingerprinted on or after December 1, 2008, they will be instructed as to how they may request an unofficial paper copy of their CHRI. Applicants will not have online access to their CHRIs.

Beginning December 1, 2008, applicant CHRIs will be made available online to approved entities, via a secure web site. Only PDE approved entities that are required to review applicant criminal histories will be given access to this web site. These PDE approved entities will require unique applicant information in order to retrieve a specific applicant’s criminal history and review that report in order to make a determination as to the fitness of the applicant to perform work that places the individual in contact with children.

Approved entities include public schools, private schools and Teacher Training Institutions (higher education), further detail on approved entities may be obtained from PDE.