This message is from the San Diego-Imperial Council: 

The state of California has adopted additional youth safety requirements in the form of California Law AB 506 (“AB 506”), and it takes effect January 1, 2022. AB506 requirements apply to ALL youth service organizations throughout the state – not just Scouting. It is separate from and in addition to BSA Youth Protection Training and thus further supports our mission to protect youth in our program.

The law requires employees, administrators, and volunteers of youth service organizations to complete the state of CA training and undergo Live Scans (which will come later). All registered BSA volunteer positions, administrators and employees, including camp staff must comply with AB 506. In addition, regular volunteers, as defined by AB 506 (see FAQ page) must comply.

Scout Councils in California worked together to create the California Scouting web portal. This is your point of reference to help answer AB 506 questions and to connect you with the resources needed to comply with the law. As additional information becomes available the website will be updated.

Below is the 3-step process required to be in compliance with AB 506.

All adult leaders must complete steps 1 and 2 ASAP.

1. REQUIRED STATE MANDATED REPORTER TRAINING

All Registered Adult Volunteers and Regular Volunteer positions identified as requiring training shall complete the California Mandated Reporter Training: Volunteers. The training is available online and takes about two hours to complete. (Council Board Members and Camping Staff/Council Employees will need to complete the 4-hour general training course.)

NOTE: This training is in addition to BSA Youth Protection Training. This training satisfies requirements you may have because of your involvement in other activities/employment, and if you do take it for another situation, you do not have to complete it again.

The training is good for two years.

2. UPLOAD COMPLETED TRAINING

Once you have finished the training, upload your state Mandated Reporter Training Certificate to the San Diego-Imperial Council page on the California Scouting portal. Alternatively, you can send me your certificate and I'll upload it. In either case, kindly let me know when you have completed it so I can keep a record. 

3. LIVE SCAN FINGERPRINTING BACKGROUND CHECK (coming soon)

San Diego-Imperial Council has submitted its request for authorization to the California Department of Justice to receive state and federal criminal offender record information (CORI). Once we have received authorization, we will update the website and share our Live Scan Request Form that will allow you to proceed with the required fingerprinting. NOTE: Each organization you may be involved with requires their own live scan, so you will need to complete this step even if you have been fingerprinted for another youth organization.

IMPORTANT: Do not schedule your Live Scan until it is announced that we are ready to receive them, as any scans completed before we have authorization will need to be repeated. We are working with local vendors to schedule fingerprinting at our office to make the process quick and convenient.