How to Become a Leader


Thank you for your interest in volunteering to support the Scouts!  The requirements for adult leaders are fairly straightforward:
  • You must be 21 years of age or older (18 years or older for assistant leader positions).
  • You must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident
  • You must agree to abide by the Scout Oath, Scout Law and Scouter Code of Conduct (found here) 
  • You must be a person of good moral character and satisfactorily pass the criminal background check.
  • In some cases, being active in the pack or chartered organization and having experience working with youth can be beneficial, but are not strictly required.

What do I need to do?
Below are steps to begin the journey to a leadership or committee member position:
  1. Complete a BSA Adult Leader Application.  
  2. Complete the BSA Youth Protection Training.
  3. Provide a complete copy of the Adult Leader Application and BSA Youth Protection Training course completion certification to the Cubmaster, Chris Brixus at [email protected] and Committee Chairperson, Lyndsay Wilderson at [email protected]
  4. Complete the instructions for the PA  Act 15 clearances, listed below.
  5. Complete the Role Specific Leader or Committee Member training required for the position.  
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PA Act 15
Enacted into law in 2015, PA Act 15 is designed to ensure the safety of our children through more complete and thorough background checks and clearances.

What does this mean for me?
Effective immediately, Pack 198 requires all parents and volunteers to complete the three (3) PA clearances listed below, as required by the New Birth of Freedom Council.  If you have lived in PA for at least the last 10 years, there is no cost for any of these clearances.

Why is this required by Pack 198?
Three simple reasons:
  1. To continue and better assure that Pack 198 is a safe environment for our children to learn and grow through scouting;
  2. To easily allow every parent and scout the opportunity to choose to attend a BSA-sponsored camp or pack outing going forward;
  3. To make leadership succession significantly easier, as all volunteers will require these clearances.

What do I need to do?
Simply follow the step-by-step instructions below:
  1. Complete the Report of Criminal History from the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp
  2. Complete the Child Abuse History Clearance from the Department of Human Services, www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home
  3. This step depends on your residency status in PA.  Complete one of the below based on your PA residency status:
    1. Volunteers who have resided in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the past 10 years can submit a Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers in lieu of the Fingerprint based FBI Clearance.
    2. Otherwise, complete the fingerprint based FBI criminal history clearance through the Department of Human Services, www.pa.cogentid.com/index_dpwNew.htm
  4. Upon completion of the above 3 requirements, upload ALL documents to the New Birth of Freedom (NBOF) Council website at: http://tinyurl.com/qc6fhfm
  5. After processing at NBOF, you will receive a certification of clearances.  Once received, email a PDF copy of the NBOF certification of completion to Chris Brixius and Lyndsay Wilderson.

More information about the PA law and how New Birth of Freedom is implementing this can be found at http://newbirthoffreedom.org/palaw/.