Scouter Article January 2010
Required Training
Based on the experience of a number of Councils across the United States, including Connecticut Yankee Council, the National Council of the BSA will begin to require that all adult leaders who have direct contact with youth, be fully trained.
Our neighbor to the north, Connecticut Rivers Council, is one of twenty Councils nationwide selected to pilot the required training initiative, one year before the nationwide roll-out. The pilot will begin January 1, 2010, and will require all Top Unit Leaders to be fully trained when their unit recharters in December, 2010. Top Leaders are Scoutmasters, Cubmasters, Venturing Crew Advisors, Varsity Team Coaches, and Sea Scout Skippers.
The pilot will continue through 2011, when all Direct Contact Leaders will be required to complete Basic Leader Training in time for December rechartering.
The nationwide program for Top Leaders will start in 2011, and for Direct Contact Leaders in 2012, and will incorporate lessons learned from the pilot program as well as from Councils that have already adopted Require Training programs.
The National Council recognizes that up-to-date Training records are important factors in the required training program and consequently will be implementing personally maintained training records as part of the Online Learning Center (OLC) portal – MyScouting. Today, each of us can review all of the training we completed online through OLC. These records will eventually include all training that we’ve completed during our Scouting careers, online and otherwise. Under the new system, in addition to viewing our own training records online, we will be able to change, correct, and update our records. The National Council has not yet announced an implementation schedule for personally maintained training records. In the meantime, please look on the Council web site for the online form to update your training records through ScoutNet.
The Scouters in our Council have made great strides in meeting our own Required Training goals. It is very encouraging that the National Council is finally implementing a comparable nationwide program for all Councils.
Thank you for making a difference in the lives of the Scouts we serve.
Jay Lubin
Council Training Chair
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead