New laws requiring Pennsylvania volunteers working with kids to submit to a background check have nearly doubled the time it takes to perform a state background check, Fox reports.
State background checks take 22 days instead 14 now, and the Secretary for the Department of Human Services, Ted Dallas, says they are adding about 30 additional employees to help cut down on the backlog. At the beginning of the year, a check took 26 days, so the process is improving, the article says.
Dallas also noted that the department will be upgrading its computer system to process background checks faster. The law also designates volunteers as mandatory reporters, so they have to report child abuse or run the risk of felony charges.