Are you a sports parent? When your kids spend all of their time on the field, there’s a good chance you’ll end up volunteering to support their team. Whether as a coach, assistant coach, or just a parent helper willing to pitch in wherever you’re needed, kids' sports teams couldn’t operate without volunteers like you.
However, before you can get out on the field, you may have a few requirements to meet to start volunteering with your child’s sports team.
Especially in California, where volunteers are required by law to do the following:
- Complete mandated reporter training
- Undergo a background check
Understanding California’s Training Requirements for Sports Volunteers
California law (AB506) created training requirements for volunteers at youth-serving organizations, which include sports leagues and other youth recreational activities.
What is mandated reporter training?
Mandated reporter training of child abuse training helps people who come into contact with children learn how to identify and report suspected instances of child maltreatment. Mandated reporters are people who are required by law to make a report if they suspect a child is being abused or neglected. If a mandated reporter fails to make a report, it’s a crime; in CA, they can be subject to fines and/or jail time for failing to protect a child.
Mandated reporter training helps reporters better understand their legal responsibilities to protect children. It also teaches them what constitutes abuse (and what doesn’t) and provides the specific steps needed to make a report to the proper agencies.
Are volunteers mandated reporters?
The law states that California volunteers are required to take mandated reporter training, but they are not necessarily legally designated mandated reporters. This can create some confusion for volunteers.
Many youth service organizations are clearing this confusion up by creating internal policies that designate ALL volunteers as mandated reporters within their organization. Your specific volunteer organization may expect you to take on the full responsibility of a mandated reporter, which means taking the required training and making a report if you suspect child maltreatment.
Where can you find mandated reporter training for volunteers?
Mandated Reporter Training has developed a volunteer training course for sports and rec volunteers. Mandated Reporter Training for California Sports & Recreation Volunteers is an online course developed to satisfy the requirements of AB506.
Why do volunteers need to take mandated reporter training?
What is the reasoning behind volunteers needing to take mandated reporter training? The intent of AB506, which went into effect in January 2022, is to protect children.
When involved in youth activities, children are typically supervised by adult volunteers, employees, or program administrators.
Horrifying stories of abusive coaching behaviors and sexual grooming of young athletes have emerged over the years. While the Penn State child sexual abuse case made national headlines when an assistant coach was found guilty of 45 cases of sexual abuse of children, there are countless more incidents of young athletes and children being exploited by the adults who were supposed to coach and otherwise protect them that never make the news.
The AB506 training requirement ensures more responsible adults are trained to recognize the signs of potential child abuse and stop potential child abuse in its tracks.
AB506 also established other safeguards, such as requiring that all youth-serving organizations have official internal policies that ensure child abuse reports are made to the proper third-party investigative entities and a “two-adult” rule that says, whenever possible, two mandated reporters should be present whenever volunteers are supervising children.
What if You Volunteer with Multiple Sports Teams?
What happens when you volunteer for the soccer and swim team in the summer, help out the baseball team come spring, and spend winter coaching flag football?
When you take the mandated reporter training for volunteers at Mandated Reporter Training, you’ll get a certificate of completion with a unique and verifiable identifier. That means your certificate number can be verified as belonging to you, and you can easily share it between different sports and recreation leagues and other volunteer organizations.
What Other Requirements Do Volunteers Have in California?
Mandated reporter training is just one requirement for volunteers in California. Volunteers must also undergo background checks before getting out to the sports field.
AB506 requires any administrator, employee, or regular volunteer of a youth service organization to undergo a background check to identify and exclude any persons with a history of child abuse.
Prior to AB506, many youth organizations asked for background checks from volunteers. However, not all of them did, as it was an encouraged practice but not a legal requirement. Now, a background check is a legal requirement for all “regular” volunteers over the age of 18 who supervise minors.
More Requirements Means Better Safeguards for Children
As a busy parent rushing from work to the soccer field, adding volunteer training and background requirements to your already busy to-do list can feel frustrating. Remembering that the intent of these requirements is to provide more safeguards for the children under your supervision can help ease the frustration. Keeping kids safe from harm should be everyone’s #1 priority, on the sports fields and off.
Find more mandated reporter training for volunteers at Mandated Reporter Training.
