Safeguarding Youth Training (SYT) for Parents

Safeguarding Youth Training — SYT — is Scouting America's training on keeping young people safe. It is required of every registered adult volunteer, and Scouting America recommends it highly for every parent who takes part in Scouting activities. It is taken online, and you do not have to be a registered member to take it.

SYT is the new name and a new version of what used to be Youth Protection Training (YPT); the change came in May 2025. If your certificate still says Youth Protection, it is renewed as SYT.

Who Needs It at Troop 23

At Troop 23, every adult on the campsite or at a troop activity holds current SYT — including a parent who comes for the day. That is our troop's rule, set by our committee, and it goes further than Scouting America's own: if you are going to set foot on the campsite, you have taken the training. It covers parents who come to cook at the Thanksgiving cooking trip, adults who drive Scouts to an activity, and every adult who camps with us.

Adults who stay overnight need more than SYT: they must also be registered members of Scouting America. What adult registration involves is on its own page.

How to Take It

1. Go to my.scouting.org and create an account, or sign in to the one you have. A new account comes with a member ID by email.
2. Launch Safeguarding Youth Training from the home page of the portal. The course is also offered in Spanish; both versions are linked from Scouting America's Safeguarding Youth training page.
3. Set aside about ninety minutes. You can pause and come back; it does not have to be done in one sitting.
4. Print or save the certificate at the end, or wait for it to arrive by email.
5. Send a copy to the Troop 23 Committee Chair.

Keeping It Current

SYT has to be renewed every year. After the full course, the yearly renewal is a twenty-minute refresher that ends with a test. Three things about it are worth knowing before the date comes round:

• The refresher is open to anyone whose training is current, and to anyone less than seven days overdue.
• Seven days or more past the date, the refresher is closed and the full ninety-minute course has to be taken again.
• The refresher's test has to be passed on the first attempt; a failed refresher cannot be relaunched, and the full course is taken instead.

A registered volunteer whose SYT is not current at renewal time is not re-registered. Check the date on your certificate before a trip.

Questions about SYT, or about whether your training is current, go to the Committee Chair — the Parent Guide explains how the troop runs and who to ask.