Important Information from the Bureau of Certification Services Regarding the Effect of Act 12 of 2022 on Provisional Hiring Practices (Updated May 27, 2022)

On Feb. 17, 2022, Governor Tom Wolf signed HB 764 into law as Act 12 of 2022 (Act 12). Act 12 amended the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) to allow most employers to hire an applicant on a provisional basis for up to 45 days.  Based on continued request from child care providers, OCDEL is providing the following updated requirements effective immediately.

In a child day-care center, group day-care home or family child-care home (“facility”), an applicant may be employed on a provisional basis if all the following conditions are met:

• Facility received the results of the applicant’s PA Child Abuse History Clearance prior to employment.
• Facility received the result of the applicant’s Pennsylvania State Police OR the FBI finger-print results prior to employment.
• The applicant has applied for the remaining required checks and the applicant provides a copy of the appropriate completed request forms to the employer, administrator, supervisor or other person responsible for employment decisions. The outstanding checks are:
  • Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check OR the FBI Criminal History Background Check,
  • the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) check, and
  • For an applicant who, in the past five years has resided outside of Pennsylvania, criminal history, child abuse, and sex offender registry checks from every state where the applicant lived within the past five years.
• The employer, administrator, supervisor or other person responsible for employment decisions has no knowledge of information pertaining to the applicant which would disqualify him from employment based on CPSL.
• The applicant swears or affirms in writing, by submitting the Disclosure Statement Application for Employment (PDF) that they are not disqualified from employment pursuant to 23 Pa. C.S. § 6344(c) or any background check required under § 6344(f.1), or has not been convicted of an offense similar in nature to those crimes listed in § 6344(c) under the laws or former laws of the United States or one of its territories or possessions, another state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a foreign nation, or under a former law of this Commonwealth.
• If the results of the applicant’s background checks reveal that the applicant is disqualified from employment under §6344(c) or § 6344(f.1) of the CPSL, the applicant must be immediately dismissed by the employer, administrator, supervisor, or other person responsible for employment decisions.
• The person responsible for employment decisions requires that the applicant not be permitted to work alone with children and that the applicant shall always work in the immediate vicinity of a permanent employee.
• If after 45 days all clearances are not obtained, the facility shall dismiss the applicant from provisional employment.  The applicant may not work at the facility until all clearances are obtained.

Comments and Questions should be directed to the child care provider’s Regional Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

(This post was last updated on May 28, 2022. It was originally posted on February 18, 2022.)