A recently-enacted Pennsylvania law mandates that all public sector employees who have regular contact with children undergo background checks, which means some full-time borough staff as well as seasonal employees at the Hellertown Pool will need to get clearances this year, council was told at its meeting Tuesday night.
Borough manager Cathy Hartranft explained that each employee over the age of 14 will need the clearances every three years.
The three clearances are an FBI criminal history background check (fingerprinting), a Pennsylvania child abuse history clearance and a state police criminal record check. They are mandated by Act 151, which took effect on Dec. 31.
The combined cost of the three clearances is $47.50. Hartranft told council she didn’t think the cost could be passed on to employees, and recommended that the borough pay to have the paperwork processed, although money for the clearances wasn’t budgeted this year.
Council members discussed the possibility of raising pool admission fees by 25 to 50 cents to cover the cost, but ultimately made no decision about where the money to cover the clearances’ price tag will come from.
“Something’s going to have to offset the cost (of the clearances),” councilman John Bate commented.
Hartranft said the borough has until the end of 2015 to get its full-time employees’ background checks completed.
About 40 seasonal and pool employees will need to complete the forms by early May, since it typically takes four to six weeks for them to be processed.
Council unanimously approved a motion to have the borough subsidize the cost for both seasonal and full-time employees.
The pendulum is swinging a bit too far, it seems. Protecting kids is great, but requiring fingerprinting for a fourteen-year-old’s summer job? That’s insane.