Registered MB counselors

[jhadfield]

Do MB counselors have to be registered with the district/council for the merit badge to be valid?

[wagionvigil]

Do MB counselors have to be registered with the district/council for the merit badge to be valid?

If you mean Paid registration NO!

[smtroop168]

Merit badge counselors register at no fee, using Boy Scouts of America’s standard adult registration form with position code 42. Designated members of the council or district advancement committee should provide the approval signature for each of their badges. There are no exceptions. For example, Scoutmasters must be approved for any badge they wish to counsel or sign off in their troop. Before working with the Scouts, counselors must take Youth Protection Training. They must be men and women of good character, age 18 or older, and recognized as having the skills and education in the subjects they cover. It is important too; they have a good rapport with Scout-age boys and unit leaders.

[smtroop168]

Do MB counselors have to be registered with the district/council for the merit badge to be valid?

After rereading this I had this bad feeling that you have "completed" Blue Cards signed by adults who are not registered MBCs.

[Nuts4Scouts]

YES - Everyone you plan on using as a Merit Badge Counselor for your Troop Merit Badge Fair MUST be registered with BSA.

That means turning in a BSA Adult application, a BSA Merit Badge Counselor Information form, and proof of having taken Youth Protection training, to your local council offices.

There is no National registration fee required for MB Counselors.

The forms needed are -

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/524-501.pdf

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34405.pdf

I suggest getting the MB Counselors registered as soon as possible so the registrations have the time for the approvals to go thru. It would also be a good idea to train any brand new MB Counselors so they have an idea of what the BSA programs, and policies are.

http://www.scouting.org/Training/Adult/ ... Guide.aspx

[razor_strop]

None of that is to say, however, that you can't have other volunteers helping the MBC instruct or even verify the Scout has completed requirements (if the MBC trusts the volunteer's judgement). The MBC is the only one that can actually initial completed requirements and sign the blue card, though.

[Quailman]

An example of the above - I am a registered MBC for Dentistry. I am not a dentist, but I have had plenty of fillings and a few crowns. But seriously, I worked for nine years in a dental practice management company. Rather than get dentists to register and understand the ins and outs of merit badge counseling, I hosted MB classes in different dental centers after hours. There was always a dentist and a dental assistant or two presenting the information and discussing the material with the scouts. All I did was coordinate and sign the blue cards.

When I started doing this, I already had quite a bit of knowledge of the tools and procedures. After a few MB classes I had much more (such as toothpaste will get your teeth clean if you do a through job brushing, but if it makes another claim such as whitening, it really needs to be in contact with the teeth for two minutes).

[smtroop168]

An example of the above - I am a registered MBC for Dentistry. I am not a dentist, but I have had plenty of fillings and a few crowns. But seriously, I worked for nine years in a dental practice management company. Rather than get dentists to register and understand the ins and outs of merit badge counseling, I hosted MB classes in different dental centers after hours. There was always a dentist and a dental assistant or two presenting the information and discussing the material with the scouts. All I did was coordinate and sign the blue cards.

When I started doing this, I already had quite a bit of knowledge of the tools and procedures. After a few MB classes I had much more (such as toothpaste will get your teeth clean if you do a through job brushing, but if it makes another claim such as whitening, it really needs to be in contact with the teeth for two minutes).

Funny...i'm a Dentistry MBC too but I got my quals from Pulling teeth with adults to get their training done.