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Youth Protection . . . and YOU

The Boy Scouts of America places the greatest importance on creating the most secure environment possible for our youth members. To maintain such an environment, the BSA developed numerous procedural and leadership selection policies and provides parents and leaders with resources for the Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Venturing, Sea Scout, and Exploring programs.

The Golden Gate Area Council (GGAC) places the greatest importance on maintaining a safe, secure environment for our youth members. The GGAC Executive Board has adopted two resolutions regarding local Youth Protection Training certification periods and for compliance with California AB 506 (see below links). AB 506 requires an additional background check via Live Scan, including fingerprinting, and requires mandated reporter training for ALL youth service organization volunteers. This law adds additional layers of protection to our already robust BSA Youth Protection and Barriers to Abuse policies.

  • GGAC requires that all registered adults 18 and over maintain YPT compliance for the entire registration period. As it is possible for certification to expire during the year, this can require the adult to refresh their YPT training on an annual basis.
  • AB 506 requires training in child abuse and neglect identification training and reporting, a background check to identify/exclude persons with a history of child abuse, mandatory reporting of suspected abuse incidents to persons or entities outside of the organization, and reinforces the BSA two deep leadership policy.

The GGAC Executive Board has made the commitment to our youth and families that all adults 18 and over will meet these requirements to be a registered BSA member. It is up to each registered adult to complete these necessary trainings and checks in order to keep our Scouts safe. Requiring ALL adults to comply with continuous YPT certification and AB 506 requirements allows a council of our size to more effectively administer the policies.

True youth protection can be achieved only through the focused commitment of EVERYONE in Scouting. Help us to maintain a culture of Youth Protection awareness and safety at the council, district, and unit levels. Although compliance with YPT and AB 506 may be onerous to some, this is in the best interest of our youth. 

Board Resolution - YPT
Board Resolution - AB506

Click here for information about YPT training

Click here to check your YPT status via My.Scouting 

AB 506 Update - Mandated Reporter Training

January 26.2022

GGAC Scouting Family:

Youth protection is a core value of the Golden Gate Area Council. We are continuing to update you with the latest news on California law AB 506, which adds layers of protection to our already robust BSA Youth Protection and Barriers to Abuse policies.

As noted in previous communications, all youth service organizations (e.g. Scout units, church groups, and sports teams) are required to meet AB 506 standards as of January, 2022. Two of the AB 506 standards affect all adult volunteers, all employees, and many of our families. 

  • Mandated Reporter Training from the State of California 
  • Live Scan background check 

Mandated Reporter Training is required in addition to our BSA Youth Protection Training. Volunteer leaders must complete the 2 hour training and upload their certificate at California Scouting

A Live Scan background check (the digital version of inked fingerprinting) will also be required for all volunteers and staff. 

All California BSA councils are working together to implement these requirements consistently and in a timely fashion. Our youth members require the commitment of all adults involved in the Scouting program to keep them safe. Thank you for your dedication to this core value and for protecting our youth.

Please refer to the California Scouting site, developed by all California councils, to follow the steps necessary for your training and background check. 

We will continue to update you on these requirements through special and regular GGAC eNews updates. Local information will continue to be available at GGAC Youth Protection. We appreciate your patience and assistance as we join all California Youth Service Organizations in improving youth protection.

Yours in Scouting

Dan Walters

Council President

Mike Hale

Scout Executive

Michael Allison

Council Commissioner

FAQs

Missing Live Scan 

  1. Live Scan companies use your name exactly as it appears on an official government document (typically a driver’s license) to request your Live Scan processing.  The resulting reports given to the council’s AB 506 administrator show this legal name.  If your BSA Registration uses the same legal name, there will be a match.  However, if you used an abbreviation or nickname for BSA registration, we may not be able to make a verifiable match.  If you know this is the case, provide both names to your Unit &/or District leadership so a proper match can be made.
  2. If you completed your Live Scan at a neighboring Council event (e.g. Wilderness First Aid class in SVMBC); your results were likely sent to them instead of GGAC.  If you know this is the case, provide the date and location of your LiveScan to your Unit &/or District leadership so a proper match can be made.
  3. If you completed the LiveScan late in the month, the results likely were not available when the reports were created.  Please wait one more month for the next report to come out.  Manual reports are typically generated each month around the first week of the month.

 

Missing AB506 Training

  1. You might have forgotten to upload your training certificate.
  2. You might have uploaded your training certificate to the wrong Council, possibly to Golden Empire and not Golden Gate
  3. During the upload you might have omitted or entered the wrong BSA ID.
  4. The name on your training certificate &/or the one you supplied in the upload process might not match the name you have used for registration with BSA.
  5. If you uploaded your training certificate late in the month, the results likely were not available when the reports were created.  Please wait one more month for the next report to come out.  Manual reports are typically generated each month around the first week of the month.
  6. For issues 1 – 4, upload your certificate (again) correcting the problem this time.  For 5, wait a month.

 

Missing name from the report

  1. You might have a My.Scouting login ID generated during the process of registering your child, but you have never paid and registered yourself as an Adult Leader.  Without being a paid Adult Leader, we do not have a membership record to match up with your AB 506 files.  In addition, without being a paid Adult Leader, you are not currently required to take the training & Live Scan (but thank you for proactively doing so).

 

If you find yourself on an ‘Untrained’ report, it is because of one of two reasons:  You are not currently registered with the Golden Gate Area Council, or you uploaded your training information and certificate to another council by mistake.  The Untrained report only contains names that are not in our database.  All other errors are receiving a separate e-mail that addresses their specific problem.

  • Both the state (DOJ) and federal background checks are required
  • Volunteers only need to pay the fingerprint rolling fee which varies from location to location plus a $17 fee for the federal background check and there is no fee for the state (DOJ)

Ours is a new ORI number. Live Scan Facilities may need to update ther machines.

Source: DOJ, ORI Support Desk

No! You may leave this blank.

We recommend you use your Browser’s built in PDF reader to open the form.

Click the link below to view the council routing information to add to the Live Scan form if it does not contain pre-populated information when opened in your browser or pdf viewer.

 Live Scan form image

Click the link below:

California Scouting

and scroll to the bottom of the page

 

You can find the form at:

California Scouting/GGAC

A youth participant (18-20) in any program is considered to be a youth in terms of AB506, not an adult.

However, they do need to take YPT and their certificate must be valid for their entire registration period. 

 

No! If you exit the test before completing it, you will start at the beginning when you return. You should plan to schedule 2 hours to complete the test.

Previously posted messages

Alameda Scout Shop

1714 Everett Street
Alameda, CA 94501
(925) 674-6130
M-F: 9:00am-5:00pm 

Fairfield Scout Shop

1955 West Texas St. Suite 1
Fairfield, CA 94533
(925) 674-6166
Tu & We 1:00pm-6:00pm | First Sat of mth: 9:00-1:00 

Pleasant Hill Scout Shop

500 Contra Costa Blvd, Suite K2
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
(925) 674-8500
M-F: 10:00-1:30 & 2:30–5:00 | Sa: 10:30-3:00

Pleasanton Scout Shop

6601 Owens Drive, Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 674-6100
M-F: 9:00am – 5:00pm 

GGAC Service Center

6601 Owens Drive, Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 674-6100
M-F: 9:00am – 5:00pm 

Outdoor Program Office

1714 Everett Street
Alameda, CA 94501
(925) 674-6130
M-F: 9:00am-5:00pm

© 2023 All rights reserved, Golden Gate Area Council, BSA

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How to verify an out of Council Merit Badge Counselor.

First, try to connect the Scout and counselor in Scoutbook. If that is successful, the counselor is registered and qualified. If unsuccessful, go to the counselor’s home council and search for their Advancement Administrators. Most will have an email address for either the Council Advancement Committee or Professional Advisor. Send an email asking if the counselor has been registered and qualified for the merit badge(s) in question and the status of their Youth Protection Training. Ask California councils if the counselor has completed AB506 training and LiveScan. The unit leader’s “blue card” signature verifies their counselor credentials verification.

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