Know How Much You Are Appreciated
What begins with Girl Scouts speaking up at a troop meeting can go all the way to speaking in front of their city council for a cause they champion—and they’ll have your support to thank for it. Your volunteer role makes a powerful difference: Girl Scouts wouldn’t exist without volunteers like you. And your first step as a troop leader may lead you to other volunteer opportunities once this year is over.
We’ll say it again: without our passionate and dedicated volunteers, there would be no Girl Scouting. That’s why we celebrate National Volunteer Month every April (including National Volunteer Week the third week of that month) and turn up the party as we ring in National Girl Scout Leader’s Day on April 22.
What can we say? We love our volunteers!
Additional Resources and Support
So how are you feeling? Excited? Anxious? Not quite sure yet? That’s ok, it’s normal. We know that volunteering isn’t always easy, especially when you’re new, so we can’t thank you enough for jumping in to be the mentor and role model she needs! Guiding your Girl Scouts—even if you’re still figuring things out—is nothing short of amazing!
The important thing to remember is, you’re not alone. We are in this with you, ready to help and support you at all times! Thanks again! It’s going to be a great Girl Scout year!
Background check policy
Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and Girl Scouts of Alaska (and its predecessors) are organizations with solid reputations and records for youth safety. Our highest priority is the safeguarding of the girls in our charge. Our volunteers make up 99 percent of the Girl Scouting “workforce,” with 80 percent of them providing direct service to girls. They are, without a doubt, on the frontlines of Girl Scouting. Therefore, our first line of defense for girls is to effectively screen our volunteers and place the right adults in volunteer positions. This document provides recommendations on how to conduct and interpret background screening.
In order to ensure the safety and well-being of the girl members of Girl Scouts of Alaska
Council (the "Council"), the Council reserves the right to disqualify or restrict the duties of any person who has been convicted of certain crimes; who has pled guilty or no contest to certain crimes; who has been placed on probation or deferred adjudication for certain crimes and/or who resides on the same premises as a person subject to the Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act.
The criminal background search is one component of the Council's volunteer placement
procedure, the goal of which is to screen prospective volunteers in order to place capable and qualified adults in all operational positions. Prospective Council volunteers must complete and sign a form authorizing the Council or its agents to conduct a criminal background search. Without a completed and signed authorization form, a person cannot serve in or be appointed to a volunteer position with direct contact with girls.
Simply put, volunteer screening is the process of authenticating the information supplied to an organization by a volunteer applicant. Criminal background checking, one type of volunteer screening, is the process of looking into the history of an individual to determine whether she or he has a criminal record.
Girl Scouts of Alaska will conduct criminal background screening, including a check of sex-offender registries, for volunteers working directly with girls. Volunteers fulfilling the adult requirement of the adult/girl ratio by grade level as detailed in Volunteer Essentials and the Safety Activity Checkpoints should be the volunteers screened.
Girl Scouts of Alaska will conduct criminal background screening for administrative volunteers who handle large amounts of money (for example, the Service Unit Cookie Manager).
Girl Scouts of Alaska will repeat the screening process at least every three years.
The Council will conduct a criminal background search on all, but not limited to:
- prospective troop/group leaders, and/or any other adult volunteers who work directly with Girl Scouts
- day camp volunteers
- service unit and troop/group cookie sale managers
- service unit and troop/group fall product managers
- adults working with special interest groups (program)
- day camp volunteer instructors
- volunteers driving Girl Scouts
- service unit team members
- community managers
- all signers on troop and service unit bank accounts
The Council's primary concern is always to safeguard the safety and best interests of its girl members. The criminal offenses that will disqualify a person from volunteer participation in the Council, as well as the process used to determine disqualification of a person from volunteer participation, are set out in greater detail below. As a general matter, the decision whether to exclude altogether or limit a prospective volunteer's participation in the Council is exclusively within the discretion of the Council. Factors to be considered by the Council in making such determinations include, but are not limited to, the nature and severity of the criminal conduct, and the length of time since the criminal conduct occurred.
Criminal Background Check Procedure 
Disqualification From Volunteer Participation or Activities
Confidentiality. The Council will maintain the confidentiality of all criminal background search information, including information regarding disqualification decisions disclosing solely on a need-to-know basis.
Privacy Statement. Upon receipt at Council office, volunteer applications containing privileged information, including social security and driver’s license numbers are kept in locked files in volunteer records. To protect privacy of volunteers, information is not placed in electronic storage with general access nor made available to volunteers or staff outside of GSAK.
Volunteer hours documentation
Girl Scouts of Alaska cannot provide documentation of volunteer service hours or other parental involvement in Girl Scout activities for use in court proceedings.
© Copyright 2009–2026 Girl Scouts of the United States of America. All rights reserved. All information and material contained in Girl Scouts’ Volunteer Essentials guide (“Material”) is provided by Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) and is intended to be educational material solely to be used by Girl Scout volunteers and council staff. Reproduction, distribution, compiling, or creating derivative works of any portion of the Material or any use other than noncommercial uses as permitted by copyright law is prohibited, unless explicit, prior authorization by GSUSA in writing was granted. GSUSA reserves its exclusive right in its sole discretion to alter, limit, or discontinue the Material at any time without notice.
