Questions & Answers for Fingerprint Services in the State of Pennsylvania

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 all 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.

Do I have to schedule an appointment to be fingerprinted?

The majority of the locations are walk ins, in some occasions, the site may require the applicant to make an appointment with them directly. 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 http://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 $36.00. The applicant may request a paper copy of the report for an additional charge of $2.50 beginning June 15, 2009. This will be the applicant’s only opportunity to request a copy of the report. 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 fingerprint machines established all 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: Mobile service requires the visited site to provide broadband internet access and access through any network firewall. This is the visited sites responsibility to ensure this network functionality exists. Sites that offer mobile services can provide you instructions, in advance of their visit, that would allow fingerprinting to occur at your site. You must however, plan ahead. Requirements and guidelines for hosting a mobile Livescan operation can be found at Mobile Printing.

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.

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 Pennsylvania State Police’s Security requirements. All communication traffic to and from the fingerprint machine is either encrypted or conducted through encrypted ports.

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 the School Services Unit at (717) 783-3750 or RA=-PDE-SchoolService@state.pa.us