Take the check to the bank it is drawn off of and cash it there. That way there won't be a question of whether or not it cleared. I believe the checks FTP cuts are drawn off of Wells Fargo. Just look at the front of the check and look at the name of the bank on there, then take it to that bank and they can cash it out with zero waiting. Plus that check will never show up in your deposit history at your institution and the government will never know.
Not true, FT cuts checks from a number of payment processors. My last two checks came a week apart, one from FL the other from CA, one a large well-known bank (not Wells Fargo) the other from what appeared to be a local mom & pop. Not sure if that's new as a result of the funds freeze a couple months back or business as usual, since I had never cashed out from FT before, but they are definitely "diversifed" now.
Whether you deposit in an ATM, a night drop, or the teller window, the check "clears" the same way and takes the same amount of time. The only difference is that it may be some hours before it's actually collected and processed by your bank versus handing it to a teller. Unless you're a well established customer with a regular, reliable balance history, they're typically not going to immediately post all the funds to your account until it's had time to clear FT's bank. This can take anywhere from a day to several days. You'll know that it's cleared when the funds post to your available balance.
In certain cases, where the check takes an unusual amount of time to clear, by law the bank must make the funds available to you. However if the check winds up bouncing due to NSF, stop-payment, account seizure, etc., then you will be responsible for replacing those funds. That said, I've never heard of a problem with FT checks outside of the seizure situation, and they made good on those funds quickly.
