Volunteer Training
If you plan on volunteering with a Philadelphia SWE event, please review the following resources on STEM volunteering!
- Youth Protection Training: The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all participants in SWE-sponsored youth focused programs throughout the world. Ensuring the safety of participants in SWE events is the most critical responsibility of SWE staff and event volunteers. All volunteers working with youth under age 18 at SWE events must complete SWE’s Youth Protection training prior to the event. Please visit swe.org/youthprotection to access the required training. This training must be completed every three years.
Volunteer Clearances: Background Checks Required for all Outreach Activities
The Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law requires clearance checks for all individuals who volunteer to work with children. To comply with this law, we require all SWE volunteers for our continuous contact outreach events to provide this clearance information prior to supporting any outreach volunteer activity. In the event of partnering with another organization, SWE will default to the stricter volunteer rules.
All Philadelphia SWE Outreach volunteers are required to obtain the following clearances:
For PA residents of 10 years or more:
- Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance;
- Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check
For new (less than 10 years) PA and Non-PA residents:
- Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance;
- Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check;
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Fingerprint check
These clearances are good for 60 months and are free for PA residents who have lived in the commonwealth for at least the past 10 years. For the FBI Fingerprint check, there is a $22.60 fee when you use the PA Department of Education (PDE) Volunteer Service code. For more information, please visit the PA Department of Education website at https://www.education.pa.gov/Educators/Clearances/CHRI/Pages/default.aspx
To obtain the aforementioned clearance documentation, visit the following websites:
- Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance: www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis
- Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check: https://epatch.state.pa.us/
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint check: https://www.education.pa.gov/Educators/Clearances/CHRI/Pages/default.aspx
Any questions regarding background checks can be emailed to phila_outreach@swe.org
Thank you for helping us to comply. We hope to see you at an outreach event soon!
