Youth Protection Training & PA ACT 15 Clearances

To assist unit leadership in maintaining the required standards for BSA youth protection training, the Washington Crossing Council is making a few helpful changes. These changes will go into effect on April 15, 2024.

PA Act 15 Reminders: For units meeting in Pennsylvania, the council digitized PA Act 15 clearance records and will be able to proactively remind individuals of a pending expiration.

Unit Key 3 Notification: Approximately 45 days before an individual’s YPT or PA Act 15 clearance expires, the council will send a reminder message to the individual volunteer and copy the unit key three. This is in addition to the 30/60/90 reminders about YPT that an individual volunteer receives from the BSA national office. 

Suspension: Recognizing the importance of being fully compliant with BSA policy and PA state law, individuals with expired YPT or PA Act 15 clearance will be suspended from their BSA roles. This will happen immediately after expiration, and unit leadership will be notified. The suspended individual should refrain from being involved in the BSA until the suspension is lifted by completing the necessary training or clearance.

Record Clean Up:  Through some instructions in the notification messages, unit leadership will be able to alert the council that that someone has left the unit and remove them from the unit’s rolls mid-year.

Online Registration: The council will begin accepting online registration for adult volunteers on April 15. At the same time as applying to be an adult leader, new adults must take YPT and submit Act 15 clearances. All can be done online. Someone who does not complete these items will be treated in the same way as a person with an expired training/certification.

Reminder - Criminal Background Checks: As announced last month, new adult applicants and unit leadership will receive a message that an applicant has received a clean (or “green”) background check or if it is flagged (or “red”). New applicants should not function in a leadership role until a “green” CBC message has been received.