Frequently Asked Questions

Orange County Department of Education - Credentials Unit

     3001 Redhill Ave.

     Building 4, Suite 109

     Costa Mesa,  CA 92626

      (714) 966-4306

      We offer fingerprint/livescan services by appointment only between the hours of 8:30am - 4:00pm.

• If you choose to submit your application directly to CTC, it can take up to three months (50 business days) for CTC to process an application during which you are unable work.​

• In the case of a substitute teaching permit, CTC has allowed the County Office of Education (authorized agencies) to recommend online for the Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teacher Permit.  It can take CTC only 5-10 business days​ to review and grant the permit, compared to 50 business days.

• A Certificate of Clearance is meant to clear an educator to be a student teacher while in a Commission approved teacher or service program.  It cannot be used for employment purposes.

• The Department of Justice (DOJ) does not share your information with other agencies. It is against the law for different agencies to share confidential fingerprint results with each other. An applicant's Request for Live Scan Request form acts as a release for a criminal history response to be sent to the specific requesting agency. This means you need to submit a new Request for Live Scan form each time a criminal history report is requested.

• The Orange County Department of Education fingerprint Clearing House clearance is used as a "consortium" for substitute or temporary employees. In the past, substitute or temporary employees who worked for more than one district had to be fingerprinted for each employer causing increased expense. The Clearing House allows substitute, part-time, or temporary employees to be fingerprinted once and then the districts can access an online database to verify the employee's clearance. This allows these employees to seek employment in any of the​ school districts in Orange County without being printed again for each district. Note: It is up to the districts to accept the Clearing House prints for employment. This is an employer decision.

• To update your name with the Commission it is necessary to complete and submit form 41-NC form along with all the requested documentation. The form can be found here: Request to Change Name or Personal Profile.  Send it directly to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing at the address below. 

Commission on Teacher Credentialing
651 Bannon Street, Suite 601
Sacramento, CA 95811

ATTN: Educator Profile Change Request