Dear Friends –
Perhaps nothing is more important to me than the safety of our youth. Not just the youth in our program, but youth in general.
I recently read that in the year 2016, nearly 700,000 youth were victims of abuse or neglect in our country. That number is crippling!
Here in the Montana Council, you know just how serious we are about protecting youth. We require that all registered Scouters take Youth Protection Training every year while the National organization requires certification every two years.
This, I’m sure, seems like a pain for some of you, especially when time is already so precious. I can tell you that if it took twice as long to complete and that would save just one child the devastating effects of abuse – I’m all in.
My wish is that you too will see the reason behind the push. We cannot afford to put children’s lives at risk.
Below is a note from Gary Ely, your Council Commissioner and our Youth Protection Champion, on how to complete this task.
I encourage you all to get on board, and further, to become youth protection champions yourselves, helping other folks see the value and complete the training. Anything less than 100% compliance is unacceptable.
While I have no doubt that our volunteers are some of the best youth mentors – this training helps us all identify and respond to those who are not. You become silent heroes to the next generation. I can think of no greater good.
In Scouting Spirit,
Jory Dellinger
Interim Scout Executive
Dear Fellow Scouters of the Montana Council:
As we are closing out 2018, a few tasks remain for some of us prior to finishing the charter renewal process.
One of the more important of these is ensuring everyone is compliant to the new Youth Protection Training standard. This training is important as we all want to have the safest possible program for the youth we all serve.
There are many who have yet to complete this training. This is required PRIOR to registration on a unit charter.
As time is becoming short, I encourage you to work the training through the on-line portal from my.scouting.com.
There are four (4) modules that need completion, including a quick exam which must be completed in order to obtain a certification of completion.
Be sure to obtain a copy of your completion certification once you have successfully finished the course as this is the easiest way to demonstrate compliance during charter renewal.
As unit get closer to the 31st of December, it may be useful to submit those certifications of Scouters needed to finish the process.
Thank you for taking this important training and your continued support of our youth.
Yours in Scouting,
Gary Ely
Montana Council Commissioner/YPT Champion
