Train for Safety

Leader Training Prepares the Way for BSA Safety

OCBSA Risk Managment advocates leaders prepare for safety.

"The essentials of Pack, Troop and Venture safety are contained in BSA leader training" was the conclusion in the September minutes of the OC BSA Risk Management Team. Summer visits to Cub Day Camps proved it. Camp visitations to Boy Scout and High Adventure camps proved it. The best trained staffs had the resources and the knowledge to prepare safe, healthy environments. They had the best activities where scouts (and leaders) had more fun.

RM Chairman Ray Melberg noted that there are some specifically safety related training courses, and these are important, sometimes mandatory, but the majority of good safety is simply good planning, understanding of youth and their needs, and skilled supervision. These are the outcome of BSA leader training.

Specific Training: Some activities require specific training. No activities can proceed, for example, without leaders training in Essentials and in Youth Protection Training. These types of training are instantly available through Orange County Council's TRAINING portal on the OCBSA Web site: OCBSA.org. As packs, troops and venture units form up and gain new leaders, necessary training is only a few clicks away.

Schedules, times and places for all types of local, "live" BSA training are waiting for your inquiry on that site. Unit leaders should be sure you have enough trained leaders among the new parents and newly registered leaders by taking full advantage of these opportunities.

Youth Protection Training is Online
There has been plenty of news in the press and TV to tell us we need to provide youth protection strategies for the problem of sexual abuse of children. Long before it became a popular notion, BSA has been preparing leaders and scouts with positive methods to control this problem.

Your unit must have an adequate percentage of adult leaders and parents with the youth protection qualification to run a quality program. At the OCBSA.net web site (On the orange strip at the top) you will find the TRAINING portal. Click on that, and select the Leader Training for your unit type and you will find Youth Protection in the list of offerings. A click will provide you the live training opportunities. Live training is best, but if you have needs that cannot be met by the training schedule, consider using the Online resource. Clicking on the "Online" key word in the text will take you to the National Training Site; there click on Youth Protection. You can sign-in immediately and get started. Less than an hour later you will have your qualification.

You will learn four major strategies BSA uses to keep youth safe. You will learn 11 BSA policies and how to apply them so that yours and all youth of your unit have protection they deserve.

Risk Managment Plans Safety Training Day
The RM Team is planning a Saturday Safety Training Extravaganza for the spring, including among other offerings:

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