California Assembly Bill 506 is a new law effective January 1, 2022.
AB 506 requires administrators, employees, and regular volunteers of youth service organizations to:
- Complete training in child abuse and neglect identification and reporting
- Undergo a background check to identify and exclude any persons with a history of child abuse
- Ensure mandatory reporting of suspected incidents of child abuse to persons or entities outside of the organization
- Require two mandatory reporters whenever in contact or in the supervision of children
The BSA’s Youth Protection Training standards required of all registered adults, our two deep leadership policy, and the criminal background check performed with an adult volunteer’s registration appear to meet most of the requirements of this law. The BSA’s routine criminal background check does not meet this standard, thus a background check with finger print scan will be required soon. Fingerprinting is already required in many schools, sports, and other organizations such as the Oakland Diocese.
For more information:
- Check here for updates and further information (goes to California Legislative Information website). We are working with BSA’s National Service Territory 3 to develop a consistent plan of compliance across all councils in California.
- www.CaliforniaScouting.org
- Letter from Pacific Skyline Council PDF (12/17/21)
