Child advocates are concerned about proposed fee increases to obtain background checks needed for jobs involving working around kids.
Budget-related legislation that could see action in the House as early as this weekend would allow the state police to increase the cost of their criminal history checks and authorizes the state Department of Human Services to raise the fee for a child abuse clearance.
Based on information provided by those departments, the proposal would result in hiking the cost of a state police criminal background check to $22 from the current $8 charge. The child abuse clearance would rise to $13 from the current $8 fee.
The proposed $38 charge would not include the fee for a federal criminal history check if one of those is necessary. They cost between $20 and $30, according to state department websites.
It should be noted that the fee waiver for individuals obtaining the background checks for volunteer activities would remain in effect, according to the state police and state Department of Human Services.
Still, it is concerning to Angela Liddle, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, that any consideration is being given to something that would tinker with what she calls "one piece of good solid child protection."
Making the background checks for employees or potential employees $19 more expensive could create a barrier to people getting them, she said.
"I understand that we have a shortage in our revenue in our budget. It is unfortunate that we would look at increasing the cost of clearances, something that helps protect kids," Liddle said.
Cathleen Palm, founder of the Center for Children's Justice, calls the proposed fee hikes on comprehensive background checks short-sighted.
"It is hard to understand the justification for asking the low-wage worker providing child care or caseworkers investigating child abuse to pay more in fees to get or keep jobs so few would ever consider doing, yet we all know matter to child safety," Palm said. The background "checks were seen as a key tool to protecting children so it seems important to avoid imposing any hurdles to obtaining them."
She also would like to be certain any new language put into statute doesn't undo the existing fee waiver for all volunteers caring for children not just those who give their time freely to Big Brothers/Sisters, domestic violence and rape crisis programs. She called this broader fee waiver a "bipartisan promise" made by the governor and lawmakers in 2015 that doesn't exist in law.
Asked for the reasoning behind the proposed $5 increase for child abuse clearances, a human services department spokeswoman said Gov. Tom Wolf included it in his budget proposal. It is based on a survey of the rates that 18 other states charge, which revealed that Pennsylvania's $8 charge was below average.
"The average of the other 18 states and Pennsylvania's rate was found to be $13," said Department of Human Services spokeswoman Rachel Kostelac.
Wolf's budget also included the state police background check price hike for a similar reason, said state police spokesman Ryan Tarkowski.
"The commonwealth compared Pennsylvania's criminal background check fee against other states and found that Pennsylvania charged a below-average rate at $8. The 50-state average is $25," he said.
Liddle strongly urges lawmakers to explore other options for generating revenue and leave the idea of increasing the costs of clearances and criminal background checks as she put it "an absolute last resort."