PA Child Abuse History and PA State Police Criminal History clearances are required by law for all unpaid volunteers who work with minors at a minimum of every 60 months from the date of the oldest clearance. The 60 months elapsed for most Nazarene volunteers during the 3rd quarter of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are ramping up to become compliant with the Keep Kids Safe laws for our anticipated reopening later this year. Clearances for volunteers are “Free.” Applications for the required clearances for unpaid volunteers may be accessed via the following links.
You are required to obtain these clearances if you work in a supervisory role with children under 18 years of age in any church program(s). This includes but is not limited to: Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Youth Fellowship, Church School Choir, and Young Adult Choir. It also includes one-off single-day events like the Church BBQ, Juneteenth Celebration, Black History Program, Resurrection Sunday Program, Christmas Program, etc. It is not enough that you are the parent or guardian of a child participating in an activity or program!
Once your clearances are issued please retain copies for your records. When regular operations commence please give paper copies to Trustee Kent Cooke for filing in the church business office. If you have similar clearances (e.g. FBI background check) for your employment in childcare, healthcare, law enforcement, etc. you may provide copies of them in lieu of the volunteer level clearances.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Kent J. Cooke
Chairman of Trustees Board
