Forms

Expense Claim Form

We have created an expense claim form to make the Treasurer's job easier and ensure that expenses are allocated to the appropriate accounts. The form can be downloaded in excel form by clicking here.

For expenses, fill out page 1 of the expense form, and code each item appropriately. Submit the form complete with all receipts, to the Treasurer at a Group Committee meeting. As of 2019, the Treasurer will accept the expense reports submitted by email to treasurer@newwestscouts.ca with all the receipts scanned and attached. The Treasurer will mail a cheque or have it available at the next Group Committee meeting.

For income like camp fees, apple day revenue, or the year-end reconciliation of a Section's petty cash, fill out page 2 of the expense form and submit it, complete with all cash and cheques, to the Treasurer at a Group Committee meeting or contact the Treasurer to arrange for an alternative way to submit. Rather than retyping all the names of the kids/etc. into the spreadsheet, simply attach the ScoutsTracker event list to show where the fees are coming from.

Adventure Application Form

The Adventure Application Form replaces the Camping and Outdoor Activity Application form (COAA). An AAF needs to be completed for any activity that takes the Section away from their regular meeting place. The adjacent park to a meeting place is considered part of the regular meeting place.

The AAF is intended to assist the Scouters to consider important things associated with the Adventure including an Emergency Plan (first aid, allergies, route to nearest hospital, etc.), Planning (age appropriate, meals, equipment, transportation, etc.), Communication (parents briefed, etc.) and Training (Scouter skill, etc.) to ensure that the Scouters are fully prepared to do the activity.

The AAF is required for:

• all camps,
• hikes,
• bike trips,
• canoe trips,
• Jamboree on the Trail,
• Coho Night Hike,
• Beaveree,
• Cuboree,
• a sleepover at the Planetarium,
• outings like laser tag, rock climbing,
• The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup,
• parades like Hyack Parade, Remembrance Day parade, Santa Claus Parade,
• the Beaver sleepover at the Science World,
• etc.

An AAF is not required for non-camping and outdoor activities such as:

• a tour of a building,
• fundraisers like Apple Day, popcorn sales, or bottle drives,
• going swimming at a pool where there is a lifeguard,
• the Kub Kar Rally at a mall, the New Westminster Quay or the Area Rally.

Even though an AAF is not required for some activities, Scouters should definitely have an Emergency Response Plan in place. This is especially important if attending events where a youth could get lost. The AAF is certainly a tool that can be used for this purpose if desired.

The AAF is filled out using ScoutsTracker by the Scouter-in-Charge of the Adventure. The completed form must be approved by the Group Commissioner and a copy retained by the Scouter-in-Charge, along with all other paperwork for the course of the activity. For all-Section or multi-Section camps or Adventures, we typically have one Scouter-in-Charge of the whole Adventure, but individual Sections will each need to complete an AAF with the Section Scouter signing the Section AAF listed as the Scouter-in-Charge of that Section.

When using ScoutsTracker to submit an AAF, it MUST be submitted at least the day before the event. ScoutsTracker will not allow it to be submitted on the day of the event.

When an AAF is submitted for approval, it is that version that gets approved. If an event is changed after it is submitted, this information is not part of the approved AAF unless the AAF itself is re-submitted.

To complete an AAF, first completely set up the Event in ScoutsTracker including:

• "Plan – General Details" includes details about the Event including dates, location, description, Scouters notes, transportation plan, and any attachments like packing lists, etc.
  • Fill out the section for Transportation Plan (e.g. "Parents will be dropping off at 6:45p.m. on Friday and picking up on Sunday at 11:00a.m. Scouters will not be transporting youth other than their own unless they are 2 deep.")
• "Plan – Program" includes information on the program area, what badges will be worked on, etc.
• "Plan – Participants" includes information regarding sign-ups, defining the cost for attendees, allowing “Other Participants”, etc.
  • Enable sign-up so parents can indicate if their kids (and themselves) are going.
  • If parents are attending the Event, they should be listed as “Other Participants”. Note that only the Parents who are “Active” will appear on the list of Other Participants who are allowed to attend the Event. If the Parent is not shown (i.e. they have not completed their screening), contact the Registrar to confirm their training. There is no functionality in ScoutsTracker to differentiate the Other Participants with a “Parent Overnight” or “Parent Helper” role so we are restricting it to only show Other Participants who are active in a “Parent Overnight” role.
  • Check “Allow Guests” so a camp fee can be assigned for "Other Participants" attending.
• "Plan – Risk Management" includes information on the Risk Category, the required safety qualifications, an Emergency Response Plan, names the Scouter-in-Charge, etc.
  • Set the Risk Category of the Event (1/2/3).
  • Set the safety qualifications for the Event (e.g. two Scouters with SFA).
  • Develop an “Emergency Response Plan” and add it to the Event as an attachment. The size and complexity of the Emergency Response Plan is related to the complexity of the Adventure. At a minimum, include a Google map showing the route to the nearest hospital, how to contact emergency services, how to contact parents in case of emergency, etc. We are in the process of developing examples.
  • Assign a Scouter-in-Charge.

Once the Event is completely planned, an AAF can be created by following the link to the "Adventure Application Form" in "Plan – Risk Management" section.

• In the Event, select AAF>New to set up a new AAF. This generates an AAF for the event.
• Review the AAF in detail to see that everything is covered.
• Check the appropriate checkboxes.
• Review each item of the AAF in detail.
• Select “Include Emergency List” if you want to have contact phone numbers listed on the AAF (this is a good idea).
• Continue to update the details of the AAF until you are completely satisfied.
• When you are finished, click on “submit” and it will be emailed to the Group Commissioner for review. After it is approved by the Group Commissioner, a copy is emailed to the Scouter-in-Charge and a copy is also automatically sent to the Scout Canada for filing.

Notes:

• You can add a document to the Event and make it only visible to the Scouters and be included in the AAF. Events can have other attachments like packing lists that are visible to everyone and do not appear on the AAF.
• If something is not applicable, don't tick it off.
• The Scouter-in-Charge needs to have the Scouts Canada Participant Enrollment forms for all youth, Scouters and parents attending. This is available from myscouts by going to your Section and clicking on the “Quick Reports” tab and then the “Member Details Report”. Note that the Member Details Report is generated by Section and cannot be created for the whole Group in one shot.
• Signed Hold Harmless forms for any youth attending who are not registered with Scouts Canada (e.g. younger siblings or friends) should be scanned and added to the Event as visible only to Scouters and included with the AAF.
• Any forms specific to the camp/activity (e.g. registration forms for a Jamboree) should be scanned and added to the Event as visible only to Scouters and included with the AAF.
• Parent Consent Forms for Category 3 activities (any camp that is 3 nights or longer, event that involves things like archery or a rifle range, or is out of Country) should be scanned and added to the Event as visible only to Scouters and included with the AAF.
• If required, an AAF can be updated after it has been approved by the Group Commissioner. This requires that a second AAF be generated and approved and the Event will end up with two approved AAFs.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• I haven’t figured out where to have ‘other youth attending”, i.e. younger siblings. The AAF has a section for this, but the Event doesn’t appear to allow it. I assume the Hold Harmless forms should be scanned and attached to the event.

For Camps where our youth go with a different Group, the AAF form is completed by the Scouter-in-Charge of the Adventure. For example, if several of our youth attend a Venturer Camp with another Group because we don’t have the leadership available to go, we should provide the myscouts printout (registration and medical information) to the Scouter-in-Charge in the other Group. Our Section leadership should meet and feel comfortable with the other Group leadership team going to the event. For Skeeter in 2016, we provided a Physical Fitness Certificate for Non Members filled out for each youth attending and the Group that took our youth was happy with this.

Waivers

There are lots of great places to take Sections out for fun events like indoor rock climbing, archery, rafting, lazer tag, etc.

Waivers are a real sticking point with Scouts Canada and Scouters cannot sign a waiver on behalf of Scouts. If a waiver needs to be signed, forward the information to the Group Commissioner who will engage Doug Smith at the Scout Office. If proof of insurance is required, forward the request to the Group Commissioner who will get Michelle Yu at the Scout Office to provide it directly to the facility requesting it.

The problem is that almost every place you go to requires you to sign something and this really limits the places that you can go to as official Scouting events.

Fortunately, a large number of places have signed the Scouts Canada Indemnification Agreement and these places therefore don’t require us to sign the waiver. The list organizations can be found here.

Going to any other place that requires a waiver, it cannot be an official Scouting event, i.e. no Scouts Canada insurance, no uniforms for youth or Scouters, no AAF for the Group Commissioner to sign, and everyone is on their own risk. The problem is that Iqbal Lalany (our contact before Doug Smith) says that if it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck, it is probably a duck. An event involving Scouts, Beaver Scouts and partially financed by Scout funds looks like a Scouting event.

There are some events/places that require a wavier or indemnification agreements like parades, use of the mall space for the Kub Kar rally or Apple Day, etc. The Group Commissioner will forward these agreements to Doug Smith and get him to sign on the Group’s behalf. He typically cannot and will not sign the waiver for things that have any risk beyond picking flowers – like sledding up Mt. Seymour, Parkour, etc.

Driving Youth

Scouters should also read BP&P Transportation Standards regarding driving youth to and from events. In general, volunteers who drive Scouting members do so at their own risk and must, at all times, comply with the 2-deep Scouter rule.