California’s youth service organizations have new mandated reporter training requirements under AB 506, a bill that seeks to better protect children against physical and sexual abuse.
Find out what AB 506 means for youth services organization administrators, employees, and volunteers.
AB 506: CA Requires Mandated Reporter Training for Youth Service Organizations
AB 506 is specifically written to prevent child abuse and sexual abuse in youth service organizations and businesses that provide services to minors.
Under AB 506, a “business that provides services to minors” means a non-profit or for-profit business that meets the following requirements:
- Primary purpose is providing extracurricular services or instructions to youth under 18 years of age (does not include daycare or childcare providers)
- Has adult employees with supervisory or disciplinary power over a child/ children
Youth services organizations may be independent entities, such as the Girl Scouts, or part of a larger organization, such as a church-sponsored summer camp or a city’s recreational youth basketball league.
Under AB 506, administrators, employees, and regular volunteers of youth service organizations are required to complete child abuse and neglect reporting training, also known as mandated reporter training.
Mandated Reporter Training Requirements for Volunteers
Mandated reporter training is a familiar requirement for many professionals who regularly come into contact with youth. California has legislation requiring childcare and daycare professionals, school personnel, as well as HR employees, and supervisors of teen workers.
Many other professionals have mandated reporting requirements under California Penal Code § 11165.7, including social workers, clergy, police officers, health care professionals, and more.
California’s AB 506 now requires “regular volunteers” to take mandated reporter training.
How Does AB 506 Define a ‘Regular Volunteer'?
Under AB 506, a regular volunteer is defined as a volunteer with a youth service organization who is 18 years or older and has direct contact with or supervises children for more than
- 16 hours per month, or
- 32 hours per year
Previously, volunteer-specific mandated reporter training courses were available but not required.
However, AB 506 now makes it mandatory for volunteers to take mandated reporter training if they meet the above requirements as a “regular volunteer.”
Proof of Mandated Reporter Training Tied to Insurance Coverage
AB 506 ties an organization’s insurance to proof that all administrators, employees, and regular volunteers have completed their mandated reporter training requirements. Under the law, insurance carriers can request information demonstrating compliance before writing a liability policy.
Additional Requirements Under AB 506
In addition to mandated reporter training requirements, AB 506 includes the following requirements for youth service organizations:
- Background checks with fingerprints to exclude persons with a history of sexual abuse or child abuse
- Policies and procedures to ensure the prevention and reporting of suspected child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
- The “two-adult-rule”: policies requiring the presence of at least two mandated reporters whenever adults at the organization are in contact with or supervising children.
Meet AB 506 Requirements with Volunteer-Specific Training
Mandated Reporter Training provides profession-specific training courses for mandated reporters.
Our mandated reporter training course for volunteers has been designed specifically for youth service volunteers.
The Mandated Reporter Training platform makes training easy for volunteers, organization leaders, and administrators.
For Volunteers: Easy, Convenient Online Training
The volunteer course at Mandated Reporter Training is an easily accessible online training that can be accessed from any digital device, including a mobile phone. The training platform allows you to pause and return to the training so it can be completed at your convenience. When you’ve completed your training, you will receive a certificate of completion that you can share with your organization as proof that you’ve successfully completed the required course.
For Organization Administrators
The Mandated Reporter Training platform allows organization administrators to assign, manage, and verify training across your organization. Organization functionality includes the ability to invite multiple people to your account, organize courses by group, and assign individuals to the training courses they need to complete. You can keep track of course completion and know when your trainees have certificates that need to be renewed.
This can be extremely helpful for larger organizations or those who have to manage mandated reporter training requirements for multiple groups of people, such as church organizations that may have youth service volunteers, daycare providers, school teachers, and clergy members who all need to take separate, profession-specific mandated reporter training courses.
The Mandated Reporter Training platform includes certificates of completion so you can easily track which of your volunteers, employees, and administrators have completed their training requirements and provide proof of completion for insurance purposes.
To start training the volunteers at your organization, create a free organization account today. The easy-to-use platform is designed to be quick and efficient, allowing you to invite your volunteers to start training within minutes.
