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Fingerprinting Guidelines

Welcome! Fingerprinting requirements in New York State can be confusing. The guide below is designed to help. If you are not sure if you have to be fingerprinted, please review this chart for general guidance in New York.

Family or Group Family Program (statewide) OR Center-Based Program (outside NYC)

If you are a Family or Group Family provider anywhere in the state, a School Age Provider anywhere in the state, or Center-Based Provider outside of NYC, you need to be fingerprinted by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). Follow the steps below:

  1. Review the Request for NYS Fingerprinting Services form (OCFS-4930).
  2. Schedule an appointment to be fingerprinted at Identogo by calling 877-472-6915 or online at https://uenroll.identogo.com/ and provide the service code: 15441V

Center-Based Program (within NYC)

If you work in a Child Care Center in New York City, you need to be fingerprinted by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)/ New York City Department of Investigation (DOI). Follow the steps below:

  1. Schedule an appointment to be fingerprinted at IDEMIA Identogo by calling 877-472-6915 or online at https://uenroll.identogo.com and provide the service code: 157XX3.
  2. After being fingerprinted, you must submit a receipt of fingerprint processing, which you will receive from the IdentoGO center, to the DOHMH with the A-Series Packet.

You can find more information about fingerprinting in NYC here.

NYC Department of Education (DOE), Center-Based Program with DOE Funding

All fingerprinting for the NYC Department of Education will now be through IdentoGO using a NYC DOE-specific code found in the applicant gateway under fingerprinting instructions.

Directions for getting fingerprinted (must be followed in this order to avoid unnecessary fees and delays):

  1. Vendor nominates a prospective staff in PETS
  2. Prospective staff receives nomination email within 24-48 hours
  3. Prospective staff confirm their profile, fill out the background questionnaire, and review fingerprint instructions provided in the applicant gateway
  4. AFTER completing the background questionnaire, the prospective staff  should make an appointment at IdentoGO using the NYC DOE-specific code provided in applicant gateway
  5. Prospective staff cannot begin working until they are eligible in PETS

Payment: $101.75 via credit card, debit card, business check or through a vendor specific account called an NCAC. Cash is not accepted. For more information on NCACs, please follow this link. If staff are being printed outside of New York State, there may be an additional $30 fee.

Please note: If prospective staff get fingerprinted before they are nominated in PETS or they use a DOI or NYS Department of Education code they will need to be refingerprinted and pay the fee again. DOE will only be able to receive the results of fingerprinting using the NYC DOE specific code provided in the nomination email. Results using the NYC DOE code will still appear in PETS and the same processes will apply to those who become ineligible in the system. 

Guildline for Certification

If you are seeking to obtain NYS Assistant Teacher or Teacher certification in NYS or NYC, or you are a student in a teacher preparation program leading to New York State Education Department (NYSED) certification, and you have not been fingerprinted:

  1. Before you are fingerprinted, you need to create a New York State Education Department (NYSED) TEACH Account: https://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/teach/. Once the TEACH account is established and you have been fingerprinted, IdentoGO will send your information to NYSED.
  2. Schedule an appointment to be fingerprinted at IdentoGO by calling 877-472-6915 or going to the following website: https://uenroll.identogo.com. You will need to provide the service code: 14ZGQT.
  3. If you want to verify that your fingerprints have arrived, log onto TEACH and click on "Account Information." Select "Fingerprinting" and "Go". Look for the sentence "Your DCJS and FBI results have been received."

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