Merit Badge Counselor Renewal

 

In order to renew as a Merit Badge Counselor, you must be current on your Youth Protection Training and complete the Merit Badge Counselor Information Sheet by clicking on the form below. The top part must be completed. The table in the middle ONLY needs to be filled in if you are ADDING or DROPPING merit badges. If you are remaining the same, it can be blank. On the bottom select “This is an update” even if you are not changing your badges, they don’t have a renewing checkbox option. Do not worry about selecting what scouts you will work with, that no longer applies see below for more info on how to select this yourself in scoutbook.

As long as you maintain your counselor status you do not need to submit an application after the first time, just the information sheet each year. You can also submit an information sheet anytime that you wish to add or drop merit badges you are a counselor for. To look up what badges you are currently a counselor for go in to your Scoutbook account, after logging in select My Dashboard, then My Account, then My Positions. You should see Merit Badge Counselor and your badges listed.

Further Info:

• Merit Badges that require additional training or certification by outside agencies: archery, canoeing, climbing, kayaking, lifesaving, motor boating, rifle shooting, rowing, SCUBA diving, shotgun shooting, small boat sailing. Snow sports, swimming, water sports, whitewater.
• Citizenship in Society merit badge

You are required to take two trainings in order to be approved as a merit badge counselor for the CIS merit badge. They are the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Scouting training course which can be found here and the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge Counselor Orientation, linked here.

The DEI volunteer training is 30 minutes and the MBC orientation is 5 minutes. When adding to your badge list, attach the DEI course completion certificate and state on the form that you have watched the orientation video.

Access the Merit Badge Counselor Guidebook here

• HOW TO SET YOUR ACCESS LEVEL AS A MERIT BADGE COUNSELOR. Partway down the above linked guide it tells you how to set your visibility. Regardless of what you checked on the Merit Badge Counselor Information form you will be available to all scouts in the council unless YOU go in and change it. The options that you can select are:

Availability
Available – Available to counsel Scouts
Busy – To busy right now to counsel any more Scouts

Listing Preference
Any Council (Worldwide) – My name shows up in lists accessible throughout the BSA
Council List – Restrict my listing to my local council (this is usually the default)
District List – Restrict my listing to my local district
Unit List – Restrict my listing to my unit (you can list multiple units here)
Not Listed – Don’t list me at all on any lists. (this does not remove your merit badge counselor registration. If you wish to be removed from the position, contact your council service center.)

Click here to access a list of current merit badges and their requirements

To be position trained for Merit Badge Counselor, the following classes are required.

• SCO_472     Aims & Methods of Scouts BSA
• SCO_474     Introduction to Merit Badges
• SCO_486     What is a Merit Badge Counselor
• SCO_471     Advancement

These classes are available on My.Scouting.org. On the home screen click on “Menu” in the upper left. Then click on “My Training”. In the center of the screen click on “Training Center”. Select “Scouts BSA”. Select “Merit Badge Counselor”. Then click on “Enroll” to start the courses.