[sak9645]

Mashimoro:

In the U.S., a police clearance and a child abuse clearance are two different things. A police clearance is issued by the police, and indicates that the applicanat has or does not have a criminal record. The police clearance may involve only a records check based on a person's name and date of birth, or it may involve such things as a fingerprint check. It depends on the purpose for which the clearance is requested.

A child abuse clearance is issued by a state government office involved with child protection; it is usually the office that would get involved in investigating allegations of possible child abuse or neglect -- for example, if a hospital emergency room doctor was concerned about a parent's unrealistic explanation of a child's bruises, broken bones, or burns -- or in making suitable arrangements for a child who has been removed from an abusive or neglectful home. It indicates whether any allegations of child abuse or neglect had been made against the family and, if any such allegations were made, whether they were determined to be appropriate or unfounded. (An example of an unfounded allegation might be a complaint about "bruises" on a child that turned out to be Mongolian spots, well documented in a doctor's records.)

While the police and the child protection folks work closely together, they are two separate agencies, with two separate sets of records and two separate sets of procedures.

Sharon