Volunteer Clearances
PBGC relies heavily on our volunteers. These are our behind-the-scenes parents who assist with wardrobe, ushering, concert production, chaperoning, committee volunteering, and much more! To ensure the safety of all children enrolled with PBGC, any volunteer must have the following three clearances completed before they can begin working directly with our singers. This is a Pennsylvania state law for any person wishing to work or volunteer with children.
- Criminal Record Check
- Child Abuse Clearance
- FBI Background Clearance
If you already have these, and they have been obtained within the last 5 years, please bring them into the choir office, and we will make copies. We are required to keep copies of every employee and volunteer.
If you do not have any or all of these, please see below for how to obtain each clearance.
Criminal Record Check
Child Abuse Clearance
FBI Background Check
Visit the PATCH website HERE (Pennsylvania Access to Criminal Record History) and complete the registration for “New Volunteer Record Check.” For Volunteer Organization phone number, our number is 215-222-3500.
Click HERE to visit PA’s Compass website, and click on “CREATE INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT”. On the next page, click “NEXT” and finish creating an account. Follow the registration process, and then click HERE for additional information on this background check. Read the info, click “Continue” and then you will be directed to log-in with your newly created ID and password. Login and then “Create Clearance Application” and complete the process. When you login and begin filling it out, it will ask for “Application Purpose”. Select the top option – “Volunteer Having Contact With Children”. For category, select “Other”.
The FBI background check costs $27.50 and you will need to make an appointment to be fingerprinted.
If you live in PA, first read this Disclosure Statement. If you’ve lived in PA for the past ten years, this statement might apply to you and you can forego the FBI check. If it applies to you, please sign the statement and submit it to the administrative staff. This completes the third step for you.
If it does not apply to you, go through the FBI registration process online, and you will schedule an appointment at a fingerprinting site. First, click HERE and enter the six-digit Service Code for DHS Volunteer, 1kg6zj. Then select the option to ‘Schedule or Manage Appointment’. Please read the instructions carefully throughout the process before entering your information. Fill in the choir’s information for “Employer Name and Address” (Philadelphia Boys and Girls Choirs, 1336 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123). When it asks if you have an Authorization Code, select “no”. After you are done selecting a document to bring to enrollment, make a note of it; you will need that document for the appointment. Make sure you schedule an appointment before leaving the website. Enter your zip code then click on the Search button to find IdentoGO locations, and schedule an appointment.
If you live in NJ or DE, you need to register online (above) and get fingerprinted at a location in Philadelphia.