Act 34 Criminal History Clearance — What Pennsylvania Foster Parents Need to Know

Pennsylvania requires three separate background clearances before it will license a foster parent. Of the three, Act 34 is the fastest and cheapest — and for most applicants, the least stressful. But understanding exactly what it checks, what disqualifies you, and how it fits with the other two clearances is essential before you start the process. A disqualifying record on Act 34 means you can't proceed, and finding out early is far better than finding out after months of paperwork.

What Act 34 Is

Act 34 refers to the Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA), which authorizes the Pennsylvania State Police to maintain criminal history records and makes those records accessible for child welfare purposes. For foster parents, the Act 34 clearance is a check of the Pennsylvania State Police criminal history database — specifically, the state's record of arrests and convictions within Pennsylvania.

This is a state-only check. Act 34 only captures criminal history recorded by Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies and courts. If you've lived in another state and have criminal history there, Act 34 won't show it. That's why Pennsylvania also requires the Act 114 FBI fingerprint clearance, which is a national check.

The PATCH System

Pennsylvania's Act 34 clearance is processed through PATCH — the Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History system — operated by the Pennsylvania State Police. The PATCH system is accessible online at epatch.pa.gov.

The process is straightforward:

1. Go to epatch.pa.gov
2. Select "Request a Criminal History Record Check"
3. Choose the appropriate requester category for foster parent applicants
4. Provide your identifying information (name, date of birth, Social Security number)
5. Submit the request and pay any applicable fee

For foster parent applicants, the Act 34 clearance through PATCH is free. This is a statutory provision — Pennsylvania waives the processing fee for individuals seeking clearances to serve as volunteer foster parents. You should not be paying a fee for Act 34.

The result typically comes back within 24 to 72 hours. In many cases, the response is immediate if your name matches no records in the database. A result showing "no record" on file means you're clear for Act 34 purposes.

What It Shows

The PATCH criminal history check returns one of two results for foster parent purposes:

No criminal history on record: Your name, date of birth, and Social Security number don't match any arrest or conviction records in the Pennsylvania State Police database. This is the result most applicants receive, and it clears the Act 34 requirement.

A record exists: The system returns a record showing arrests, charges, and dispositions (convictions, acquittals, nolle prosequi, etc.) for activity within Pennsylvania. Your licensing agency will review what the record shows and determine how it affects your application.

It's important to note that PATCH returns information about arrests as well as convictions. An arrest without a conviction can appear on the record. Your agency will review the full record in context.

Disqualifying Offenses: Absolute Bars

Under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6344(c), certain offenses constitute an absolute bar to foster care licensure. If any adult in the household has been convicted of one of these offenses — or an equivalent offense from another jurisdiction — the agency cannot approve the home. No discretion, no exceptions.

Violent crimes: Criminal homicide (murder, manslaughter), aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, and stalking.

Sexual offenses: Rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI), sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure, and related offenses.

Crimes involving children: Endangering the welfare of children (EWOC), corruption of minors, sexual exploitation of children, and incest.

Other serious offenses: Robbery, arson, terrorism, and trafficking in individuals.

Drug felonies: Felony convictions under the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act are an absolute bar if the conviction occurred within the five years immediately preceding your application. Drug felonies older than five years are not automatically disqualifying but will be reviewed with discretion by the agency.

This list is not exhaustive. The full list of disqualifying offenses is set out in 23 Pa.C.S. § 6344(c), and if you have any question about whether a specific conviction appears on that list, consulting with an attorney who practices in Pennsylvania child welfare law is the right move before you invest significant time and money in the application process.

Conditional Offenses: Agency Discretion

Not all offenses that appear on an Act 34 check are automatic bars. Offenses that are not on the absolute bar list are reviewed by the licensing agency on a case-by-case basis. Factors agencies typically consider:

• The nature and severity of the offense
• Time elapsed since the offense
• Evidence of rehabilitation (treatment completion, subsequent conduct, employment stability)
• Whether the offense was a one-time incident or part of a pattern
• The overall profile of the household and the applicant's suitability as a caregiver

Minor misdemeanor convictions from many years ago — a disorderly conduct charge, a minor traffic offense — are generally not disqualifying and may barely affect the application at all. More serious offenses, even if not on the absolute bar list, require honest disclosure and may require additional documentation to address.

Act 34 in the Context of the Three-Clearance System

Act 34 works alongside Act 33 (Child Abuse Clearance) and Act 114 (FBI Fingerprint Clearance) to form Pennsylvania's three-part background check system for foster parents. The clearances serve different but complementary purposes:

Act 34 (PATCH): Pennsylvania criminal history — arrests and convictions in PA.

Act 33 (ChildLine): Pennsylvania child abuse history — whether you appear as a perpetrator of a founded or indicated child abuse report in the statewide database.

Act 114 (IdentoGO/FBI): Federal fingerprint-based criminal history — arrests and convictions across all states.

All three must be complete before your application can be fully processed. Act 34 is the fastest of the three (days, not weeks), so it rarely causes timeline delays on its own. The bottleneck is almost always Act 114, which takes two to six weeks.

The Sequencing Strategy

Since Act 34 processes in days and Act 114 takes weeks, the correct approach is to initiate all three clearances simultaneously in your first week of the licensing process.

Week one action items:

1. Schedule your Act 114 fingerprint appointment at IdentoGO (identogo.com) — this is time-sensitive because of the processing delay
2. Submit your Act 33 Child Abuse Clearance through the PA Child Welfare Portal
3. Submit your Act 34 PATCH request at epatch.pa.gov

Your Act 34 result will come back first, likely within days. Your Act 33 result will follow within one to two weeks. Your Act 114 result will arrive last, after two to six weeks. When all three are in hand, your agency can proceed with the remaining steps of your application.

Do not wait to complete Act 34 after Act 114 arrives. Initiating them all at once means no clearance waits for another.

What Happens If a Record Appears

If your PATCH check returns a record, don't panic before you understand what's there. The result will show you the offense, charge, and disposition. Compare what you see against the absolute bar list in 23 Pa.C.S. § 6344(c).

If the offense appears on the absolute bar list, you are not eligible to be licensed as a foster parent in Pennsylvania under current law. That is a hard stop.

If the offense does not appear on the absolute bar list, bring the record to your licensing agency and discuss it openly. Transparency matters more than the record itself for many agencies. An applicant who self-disclosed a past offense and addressed it proactively is in a very different position than one who appears to have concealed it.

If you have any doubt about how a specific offense will be treated, consult a Pennsylvania attorney before investing months in the application process. The licensing journey involves significant time and emotional investment — clarity upfront protects that investment.

For a full walkthrough of all three clearances, home study preparation, and the complete Pennsylvania foster care licensing process, the Pennsylvania Foster Care Licensing Guide provides a sequenced, county-aware roadmap: /us/pennsylvania/foster-care/

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