Scouting America, Troop 33, Los Altos CA

Short link: ab506.troop33.org

AB 506

AB 506 is a California requirement for adult volunteers in youth organizations: child abuse and neglect reporting training plus a Live Scan background check (digital fingerprinting). Every adult registered with Scouting America in the Troop must complete it. It is in addition to Safeguarding Youth Training. The Pacific Skyline Council handles AB 506, and its volunteer page has the forms, training links and Live Scan locations.

Finish AB 506 before you submit your adult application. If you have not completed it when you register as an adult volunteer, the council suspends your Scouting America registration until you do, and suspended members may not take part in Scouting activities.

What it involves

There are three requirements.

  1. Two-hour mandated reporter training. This is the state's training. It is different from Scouting America's Safeguarding Youth Training. You can take the Boy Scouts, Volunteer, or General version, at your own pace. Find it on the California Scouting training page. The training provider charges a fee to view or download your certificate, and your certificate is not sent to the council automatically.
  2. Background check consent form. This is different from the Scouting America criminal background check form that is part of the adult application.
  3. Live Scan fingerprinting. Use the Pacific Skyline Council's Live Scan form (ORI # AR856), even if you have been fingerprinted for another organization such as youth sports, a school or an employer. You can do this before the training is finished. Do not wait until the last minute: results can take anywhere from a day to eight weeks.

Getting it recorded

  1. Send your training certificate and consent form to the council. Use the upload tool on the council's volunteer page. Your Live Scan results go to the council directly from the California Department of Justice.
  2. Wait for your completion certificate. When the council has recorded all three requirements, it emails you a Pacific Skyline AB 506 completion certificate. The council makes and sends these by hand every week. Look for an email with the subject line "Thank You for Completing AB506 Requirements for the Pacific Skyline Council", and check your spam folder if you cannot find it.
  3. Upload the certificate to the Troop. Once you can sign in to the Troop apps, upload it in the My Info app.

You only do this once. At this time there is no retraining and no repeat fingerprinting after you receive your certificate.

Questions

I will be the second adult at a meeting or outing. Do I need AB 506? Yes. Adults who serve as part of the two-deep leadership a Troop activity requires must be registered with Scouting America, and AB 506 is part of that registration.

I only want to camp on an overnight trip, such as Yosemite. Do I need it? Yes. Any adult at an overnight event must complete AB 506 and be registered as a volunteer with Scouting America in a Troop position. If you are registered only as a merit badge counselor (a district role) and nothing else, you must also be registered with Scouting America in a Troop position to attend. You do not repeat AB 506.

Questions? Contact the Troop.