Policies Regarding Background Checks

Students registered for courses tied to field experiences that require being placed in a school or in direct contact with a minor (birth to age 21), must undergo a background check and be found to be "clear" with no hit record. The Criminal Background Check (CBC) process will access the State of Illinois, FBI Criminal History Record Information (CHRI), Illinois Sex Offender Registry, Illinois Child Murderer, and National Sex Offender Public Website databases. The College reserves the right to enforce compliance mechanisms (such as drug testing) as required by local, state, or federal agencies or entities as set forth by current laws or policies. Students who do not have documentation on file to support a determination that they are "clear" will be issued a CE Hold, which may prevent registration and access to online records. Please see the background approval process below:

1. Register online with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) at https://hrportal.cps.k12.il.us/STI/index.htm. Please note, per the CPS policy, all CPS employees are required to have a background check through this process.
2. Review CPS Field Experience Fingerprinting Guide found on their website.
3. Complete the Fingerprinting Background Investigation Authorization & Release Form and take it to Accurate Biometrics for processing. The fee for the background check is $55.00. Call 866-361-9944 or go to www.accuratebiometrics.com to obtain a list of locations.
4. You will receive a state and federal background check that will be forwarded to the CPS Field Experience office for processing. If your background check is clear you will receive an "Approval Notice" via email. This process is approximately two (2) weeks.
5. When you receive your approval notice from CPS, attach a copy to your application for admittance to the College of Education. For additional information, please contact the field experience coordinator at (773) 995-2037.

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