Policies and Safety
Safety of the girls and our adult volunteers is of primary concern to Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Leaders are expected to follow all the required safety guidelines and girl/adult ratios while taking part in any Girl Scout activity. Leaders must review Volunteer Essentials and continue to refer to it as new opportunities or issues arise. Basic safety guidelines can be found on pages 42-43 of Volunteer Essentials. Below are just a few things you should know about Girl Scout practices but is not meant to replace the information available in the full Volunteer Essentials and at the Council web site. You will also find Safety Active Checkpoints and Council Emergency Procedures/Insurance in this section.
Registration and Background Checks
Leaders/Co-Leaders/Advisors, volunteers handling troop funds or are signers on your troop bank account, volunteers serving as your Fall Product Sales Chair or Cookie Chair, and volunteers serving as your Outdoor Trained Adult must be currently registered with Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. In addition, adults who will be involved in troop activities—helping at troop meetings, driving on field trips, etc. - should also be registered with Girl Scout of the U.S.A. For more information on registering, click here.
Leaders/Co-Leaders/Advisors, volunteers handling troop funds or are signers on your troop bank account, volunteers serving as your Fall Product Sales Chair or Cookie Chair, and volunteers serving as your Outdoor Trained Adult must be currently background checked with Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast. In addition, any adult in contact with the girls in any way—at troop meetings, as a field trip driver, on a campout, etc.—must also be currently background checked. To obtain a background check, an adult volunteer must complete the required fields of the Volunteer Application and submit it. That will prompt the background check form which also must be completed and submitted. The applicant should receive an e-mailed approval within a short period of time and that e-mail should be forwarded to their troop leaders.
What Every Leader Should Know
Leadership. In our Council, all leaders are equal. Co-leaders are not assistants to the leader. For our Service Unit, the 01 designation is given to the primary troop contact. They are the first one called with a troop question, usually handle the troop paperwork, and will receive any mail sent to the troop via post. The 02 designation is used for co-leaders. All leaders (whether the primary or co-leader) have an equal voice in the running of the troop and in the decisions that are made. For Council, your troop can have more than one 01 so they can have access to on-line Troop Management. Troop 01 status is used by those volunteers who need access to your troop roster and will be registering your troop for events and membership renewals.
Conflict Resolution. Leadership is like a marriage: it can be a good marriage, or it can be a bad marriage—just don’t take it out in front of the kids. This means, if you are having any issues with your other leader(s), take the time to meet with them away from the troop, express what you are feeling and why, and come up with a solution. Don’t hold it in until it pops out unexpectedly and inappropriately in front of the girls. The Service Unit and Council can help you with matters of conflict resolution. Contact our Mediation volunteer.
Inclusion. Girl Scouts does not discriminate against any girl. If she cannot afford the membership dues and troop expenses, Council can provide a scholarship or other Financial Assistance. If she has a disability or social issues, you can ask the parent to assist you in making the troop activities accessible to her but she cannot be rejected for these reasons.
Troop Safety. There are adult-girl ratios for each grade level but there is always a minimum of two adults at any Girl Scout activity and at least one of those adults must be a troop leader.
Troop Operation. Once you form a troop, you and your girls act as a unit. You make troop decisions by vote and, if old enough, you ask the girls what they want for their troop. When funds enter your troop bank account, they become the property of Girl Scouts. All girls have an equal vote in how that money should be spent (no matter how many boxes of cookies they each sold :). If the troop votes to participate in an activity and all the girls in your troop are offered the same opportunity to attend, your troop participates even if all the girls cannot be present because it is a troop activity. Many troops earn insignia at troop meetings. If a girl is absent during that meeting, she must make up the missed activity in order to earn the insignia.
Troop Money Earning versus Fundraising. Service Units and Councils fund-raise, troops participate in money earning activities. This means your troop cannot hold a Pizza night where your families buy food and your troop gets a percentage. You cannot support other organizations, such as Pampered Chef and Tupperware. Money earning is done by the efforts of the girls themselves. First, your troop must participate in both Council product sales—nuts/magazines and cookies. Next, you need to complete a Money Earning Application and submit it to Money Earning Approval for approval. Then plan your activity—a car wash, rummage sale, bake sale, collect donated books and hold a book sale, make items to sell at a boutique, etc. Cash donations made to troops is not recommended as this is contrary to the money-earning format. You can accept in-kind donations, such as glue sticks, markers, etc.
Male Girl Scouts. Yes, that’s what I said, male Girl Scouts. Men can volunteer to help with your troop. There are just a few special rules you all need to follow. At troop meetings and other events, an adult woman not related to him must be present. He can never be alone with the girls. As a field trip driver, there must be an adult woman also in the car and she cannot be related to him by blood or marriage. A male volunteer can take Outdoor Camping training and serve as your troop’s Outdoor Trained Adult; but, when camping, he must have his own tent or be in a males-only tent, or there can be a family tent with only his own daughter with him. He should also have his own bathroom facilities. Anything you can think of to keep him above any suspicion at all, do it. It is for his protection as well as the girls. As with all other adults who are in contact with the girls, he would have to have passed the Council background check.
Drinking and Smoking—just say No. There is no drinking of alcohol at a girl event. That means when you and your troop families are sitting around a campfire after the girls have gone to sleep in their tents, you cannot bring out the beer. The entire event is a girl event, even if they are sleeping. If you host troop meetings or parties at family homes, there is no drinking alcohol at the meal. There is no smoking allowed in front of the girls. If smoking is necessary, it must be done away from and out of sight of the troop activity.
These practices are meant to keep you and your girls in good standing, safe during troop activities, and help you to “build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.”
