Scouting America Youth Protection Mission Statement
True youth protection can be achieved only through the focused commitment of everyone in Scouting. It is the mission of Youth Protection volunteers and professionals to work within Scouting America to maintain a culture of Youth Protection awareness and safety at the national, territory, council, district, and unit levels.
Leadership Selection
Scouting America takes great pride in the quality of our adult leadership. Being a leader in Scouting America is a privilege, not a right. The quality of the program and the safety of our youth members call for high-quality adult leaders.
The adult application requests background information that should be checked by the unit committee or the chartered organization before accepting an applicant for unit leadership. While no current screening techniques exist that can identify every potential child abuser, we can reduce the risk of accepting a child abuser by learning all we can about an applicant for a leadership position—his or her experience with children, why he or she wants to be a Scout leader, and what discipline techniques he or she would use.
Scouting America has a multilayered adult leader selection process that includes criminal background checks administered by a nationally recognized third party and other screening efforts. Click here for information on the selection process.
Required Training
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- Safeguarding Youth training is required for all Scouting America registered volunteers and is a joining requirement.
- Safeguarding Youth training must be taken every year. If a volunteer’s Safeguarding Youth training is not current at the time of annual registration renewal, the volunteer will not be re-registered.
- Click below to take the training in English or Spanish
Facilitated training materials are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese for council designated youth protection champions – see your Council Executive for access to these materials.
You do not have to be a registered member of Scouting America to take Youth Protection training.
To take the training, go to My.Scouting.org and create an account. You’ll receive an email notification with your account information, including a member ID/reference number.
From the My.Scouting.org portal, you can launch the Safeguarding Training from the home page. Upon completion, you may print a training certificate to submit with a volunteer application, or wait for an email with your certificate to be sent to your email address. Your training will automatically be updated in our system and associated with the member ID/reference number issued when you created the account.
When your volunteer application is approved, you will receive a Scouting America membership card that includes your member ID number.
Scouting America places the greatest importance on creating the most secure environment possible for our youth members. To maintain such an environment, Scouting America developed numerous procedural and leadership selection policies and provides parents and leaders with resources for the Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, and Venturing programs.
Youth Protection Reporting Procedures for Volunteers
There are two types of Youth Protection–related reporting procedures all volunteers must follow:
- When you witness or suspect any child has been abused or neglected—See “Mandatory Report of Child Abuse” below.
- When you witness a violation of Scouting America’s Youth Protection policies—See “Reporting Violations of Scouting America Youth Protection Policies” below.
Mandatory Report of Child Abuse
All persons involved in Scouting shall report to local authorities any good-faith suspicion or belief that any child is or has been physically or sexually abused, physically or emotionally neglected, exposed to any form of violence or threat, exposed to any form of sexual exploitation, including the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child pornography, online solicitation, enticement, or showing of obscene material. You may not abdicate this reporting responsibility to any other person.
Reporting Violations of Scouting America Youth Protection Policies
If you think any of Scouting America’s Youth Protection policies have been violated, including those described within Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse, you must notify your local council Scout executive or his/her designee so appropriate action can be taken for the safety of our Scouts.
Steps to Reporting Child Abuse
- Ensure the child is in a safe environment.
- In cases of child abuse injury or medical emergencies, call 911 immediately.
- In addition, if the suspected abuse occurred in the Scout’s home or family, you are required by state law to immediately report/contact the local child abuse hotline.
- Notify the Scout executive or his/her designee, if he/she cannot be reached call the 24/7 Scouts First Helpline at 1-844-726-8871 or email, scoutsfirst@scouting.org
Find your local council Scout executive:
Scouts First Helpline
- As part of its “Scouts First” approach to the protection and safety of youth, Scouting America has established a dedicated 24-hour helpline to receive reports of known or suspected abuse or behavior that might put a youth at risk.
1-844-SCOUTS1 (1-844-726-8871) - If immediate assistance is needed in the handling of a sexual abuse allegation, contact Scouts First Helpline (1-844-SCOUTS1).
If someone is at immediate risk of harm, always call 911.
State Statutes on Child Welfare
Reporting requirements for child abuse differ from state to state. The Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources on a variety of topics, including state statutes on child abuse. This site is not operated by Scouting America.
Click here to download the Youth Protection/Membership Infraction Incident Information Form.
Click here to directly enter the Youth Protection/Membership Infraction Incident online.
Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse
Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse are published in the Guide to Safe Scouting and the online version is maintained as the most current. Frequently-asked questions are also addressed in this FAQ.
Digital Privacy
A key ingredient for a safe and healthy Scouting experience is the respect for privacy. Advances in technology are enabling new forms of social interaction that extend beyond the appropriate use of cameras or recording devices (see “Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse”). Sending sexually explicit photographs or videos electronically or “sexting” by cell phones is a form of texting being practiced primarily by young adults and children as young as middle-school age. Sexting is neither safe, nor private, nor an approved form of communication and can lead to severe legal consequences for the sender and the receiver. Although most campers and leaders use digital devices responsibly, educating them about the appropriate use of cell phones and cameras would be a good safety and privacy measure.
Scouting America Social Media Guidelines
Although using social media is not a Scouting activity, their use to connect with others interested in Scouting can be a very positive experience. But the creation and maintenance of these channels requires forethought, care, and responsibility. Read more about Scouting America Social Media Guidelines here.
Youth Protection During COVID: Digital safety and On-Line Scouting Activities:
https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/safety-moments/digital-safety-and-online-scouting-activities/
Key Resources
Guide to Safe Scouting
Single source of information for safe scouting. The guide is designed for adult leaders; topics include Youth Protection, Health and Safety and Reporting information. Frequently-asked questions are also addressed in the Youth Protection and Barriers to Abuse FAQs.
How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide
These booklets are a basic resource to help parents understand how child abuse happens and keep their children safe. Exercises for parents and children are included. Several versions of the booklets are available:
- For Cub Scouts and their parents
- For Cub Scouts and their parents (in Spanish)
- For Scouts BSA members and their parents
Bullying Awareness
These fact sheets will help with bullying awareness and direct you to resources provided by Scouting America and other entities we work with to protect children.
Download the Bullying Prevention Guide
Camp Leadership … A Guide for Camp Staff and Unit Leaders
Brochure for unit leaders and camp staff who are responsible for providing a safe and healthy camp setting where Scouts are free from the worries of child abuse.
Peer On Peer Abuse
We are excited to announce the launch of our new online training course, “Peer-On-Peer Abuse” which supersedes the previous facilitated course “Understanding and Preventing Youth-on-Youth Abuse”. This essential training is specifically tailored for camp and NYLT staff and focuses on the prevention of youth-on-youth incidents that may arise during camp activities that fulfills the specific NCAP requirement outlined in SQ-402.B.2. Completion will award the training code CS95 with a one-year expiration. CS95 will no longer be available for manual entry.
Here are some of the key highlights of the course:
- Abuse and Problematic Behavior Module: Understand the types of abuse that can happen between youth participants and how to proactively build safeguards into Scout meetings, outings, and camp activities.
- Peer-On-Peer Behavior Module: Recognize different kinds of behavior using the traffic light analogy (green, yellow, red) and understand the importance of supervision and monitoring.
- Barriers to Abuse Module: Explore the highly effective safeguards designed for prevention and ensure the protection of youth members and adult leaders in Scouting.
- Reporting Peer-On-Peer Abuse Module: Learn the steps that must be taken to report peer-on-peer abuse and understand the NCAP standards that require timely incident reporting.
Together, through awareness and preparation, we can foster a safe and supportive environment where every Scout can thrive. We look forward to your participation in this important training.
