Anyone who is a blue, orange, red, or green hat with a PA Kids Safe Compliance certificate please contact StevenK on the forum to form a squad(s) for children's events in the coming year. All instructors at these events have to be PA Kids Safe certified. All interested and certified persons please call.
Out of curiosity, does this have to do with background checks?
Quote from: Mercedes on November 22, 2018, 08:28:02 PM
Out of curiosity, does this have to do with background checks?
Yes.
PA law has made it very difficult for the program to instruction children there.
I would call and ask the UP extension office in your county.
I am also an instructor with 4-H Shooting sports in WI and all of our volunteers are required to take a 2 hour training and have a background check our training to instruct shooters is 12 hours additional.
we had an exchange program where Penn youth visited WIS this last summer . every person in the household that was 18 or older had to go through the training . these are the changes after the child abuse scandals in the Penn state youth sports program.
Penn 4-H accepted our youth protection training for WI for the exchange program.
not sure about Penn but WI 4-H shooting sports is the largest youth shooting sports organization in the state with about 5K youth.
not sure how Penn 4-H is but WI tells us No Humanoid targets and considers the red coats and AQT humanoid. we are working in project Appleseed instruction while using animal or round targets that are acceptable to the state. a few of my 4-H instructors have not come to Appleseed to better learn the techniques and lessons and one of my 4-H youth leaders is also an orange hat now. as well as encouraging the youth to attend other shoots clinics and events outside of 4-H like Project Appleseed by recognizing participation with a write up and photos about the event as a fair project .
but your county extinction office should be able to help, they have to get every one of their volunteers through the training they should be able to train Appleseed volunteers also.
Quote from: TrapperPete on November 24, 2018, 10:29:04 PM
but your county extinction office should be able to help
So... which branch of the government does that fall under?
;)
it is a co-operative program between the coroners office and the University to find and test the best methods.
you got me , bad spelling and spell check missed it.
Quote from: Mercedes on November 22, 2018, 08:28:02 PM
Out of curiosity, does this have to do with background checks?
Under the new law, volunteers must obtain the clearances if they have direct volunteer contact, meaning that they have care, supervision, guidance or control and routine interaction with children. Also, all employees and adult volunteers subject to the background check clearances will be required to recertify all of those clearances every five years, instead of every three years.
In addition, they've added an FBI fingerprint & back ground check; in 2016/2017, sometime around then.
Not only have they added a redundancy , a tertiary redundancy was added. Because you know; the cry for more government "someone has to do something".
Off the top of my head I forget how often the FBI check is; I'm thinking every 3 years.
I'll have to check my paperwork for HTE.
What about border raiders from Ohio? Or any other state? Are we able to obtain this certification that would suffice in PA?
Yes.
Hey Steve,
I have PA child abuse clearances and DPW-approved training in child abuse, I would be willing to help out.
I hope this issue gets resolved. Both of my kids learned to shoot at PA Appleseeds (Elverson & Manheim). We are from NY. I'd like to get them back out to you folks.
Not even an exception if a parent is right there on the line next to them? That makes as much sense as the whole recent ITAR flap.
Quote from: azmule on January 23, 2019, 03:35:15 PM
Not even an exception if a parent is right there on the line next to them? That makes as much sense as the whole recent ITAR flap.
Goobermint is what you get in place of common sense. I called it the "Youth Volunteer Program Desimination Act." It has had its desired effect of crippling volunteer organizations with paperwork and driving away volunteers that refuse to be guilty until proven innocent.
So what does this mean for PA Appleseeds? Are minors now allowed only at "special" childrens events staffed by instructors with this certification? What if a walk-on brings kids to an event with uncertified instructors - they get sent home? What is involved in getting this special permission slip?
This is what it means for PA Appleseeds:
Due to PA State Law minors are not allowed at an Appleseed.
https://goappleseednow.org/?event=slippery-rock-pa-appleseed-june-1-2-2019 (https://goappleseednow.org/?event=slippery-rock-pa-appleseed-june-1-2-2019)
Attendance, host venues and instructors have all been declining over the last two years since this went into effect.
The click through to the law is here:
https://law.justia.com/codes/pennsylvania/2014/title-23/chapter-63/section-6344.2
I have read through it 3 times, and I still don't understand why the 10 year period mentioned in the law is there, among a lot of other details in the law. (My wife is originally from Pennsylvania, and moved to Florida when she was 10 years old. The laws there sure have changed since she left Pennsylvania!)
Quote from: Guntuckian on May 29, 2019, 03:13:26 AM
The click through to the law is here:
https://law.justia.com/codes/pennsylvania/2014/title-23/chapter-63/section-6344.2
I have read through it 3 times, and I still don't understand why the 10 year period mentioned in the law is there, among a lot of other details in the law. (My wife is originally from Pennsylvania, and moved to Florida when she was 10 years old. The laws there sure have changed since she left Pennsylvania!)
Knee-jerk reaction by the legislature to the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State. Obviously not well thought out or focused.
I am a Scout leader and the way Scots get around this is by making events "Parent Child" so a parent is there to supervise and have responsibility. I don't see Appleseed being any different. If Appleseed does do programs where kids are left with instructors without parents then I absolutely agree policies need to be in place including a minimum of two instructors, background checks and a buddy system for kids.
I certainly hope this doesnt cause Appleseed issues in PA as I've had three of my four kids do the program and two of them did it more than once. My youngest is 10 and he is about ready to do a class too.