Volunteer Clearances

Volunteer Clearances

All prospective leaders and volunteers who work with children must submit clearances prior to the commencement of services.

Brothers and Sisters,

Caring for children and nourishing faith in the young is a precious responsibility and privilege. As part of serving young people, we must hold ourselves to a high standard in keeping with our calling in Christ, and according to the laws set by the governing authorities God has placed us under.

Pennsylvania State Law requires that all volunteers who work with children ages 0-17 undergo background checks for all child-related activities. For Living Hope Church, that means that all of our Elders, Deacons, Staff, Children’s Ministry, and Youth Ministry volunteers must complete and turn in the following three background clearances before a volunteer can be added to the ministry schedule and serve: 

1)  Report of Criminal History from Pennsylvania State Police.

NOTE: All volunteer clearances are FREE.  If you are on a page that shows payment required, you are on an “employee clearance page,” not a volunteer page.

Request a Criminal History.  Make sure you select ‘New Record Check (Volunteers Only).’  When you receive your results, the certificate should show as a PDF File.  **Email a copy of the result in PDF form to the church office at office@findlivinghope.com.

2) Child Abuse History Certification from the Department of Human Services

NOTE: All volunteer clearances are FREE.  If you are on a page that shows payment required, you are on an “employee clearance page,” not a volunteer page.

Request a PA Child Abuse History Certification.  Create an ‘Individual Account’ and save your login info; you may need this for future use.  This report may take up to two weeks to receive; you can go to the website and login to check the progress. **Email a copy of the result in PDF form to the church office at office@findlivinghope.com.

3) Federal Criminal History Record (Requires fingerprinting)

BEFORE PROCEEDING: **Living Hope Church has an agreement with the PA Department of Human Services to pay for these clearances for you; contact the church office for a unique “No Charge Authorization Code” (NCAC).  Once you have received this code from the church office, set it aside; you will not use it until you come to the Payment Page near the end of the process below.   

    1. Go to IdentoGO and enter Service Code: 1KG6ZJ at the top of the page.  This code alerts the system that you are a volunteer.
    2. Select ‘Schedule or Manage Appointment’ and complete the Pennsylvania DHS-Volunteer form.  
    3. PAYMENT: When you come to the Payment Page, enter the unique “No Charge Authorization Code” (NCAC) that you received from the church office (see NOTE above).  This code will allow you to proceed with your application at no cost to you.
    4. SAVE RECEIPT: When you arrive for your appointment at the Enrollment Center, you will be given a receipt showing payment has been made in full.  **Please provide a copy of this receipt to our bookkeeper (Tiffany Collins) for our records: bookkeeper@findlivinghope.com.  You can take a picture with your phone and email it if you prefer.
    5. EMAIL CLEARANCE: **Email a copy of the fingerprinting result in PDF form to the church office at office@findlivinghope.com.

For further questions, please email pastormatt@findlivinghope.com.

Additional information on all clearances can be found  HERE.