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Girls Walking Down a Trail and Pointing at Something in The Distance

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Join Girl Scouts

When you unleash your inner G.I.R.L., you can accomplish anything!

At Girl Scouts, the next opportunity to stand up, speak up, and take the lead is never far away. With us, you’ll discover the G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-Taker, Leader)™ in you.

Become a Girl Scout

When you become a Girl Scout, you are part of a national movement and are placed within your local council (Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys). National member dues are $25 annually and run from October 1, or the day you sign up, until September 30 each year.

Financial assistance is available for membership, uniforms, and activities.

Register Your Girl

Girls can join from kindergarten through high school. Need to know more so you can decide what’s right for you? Visit BeYourSelf.GirlScoutsRV.org, our website for prospective members.

*For girls entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2018, fill out our Pre-K interest form so that we can make sure you’re all set for the fall.

Register as an Adult or Volunteer

All adults who join Girl Scouts will have the option to volunteer with us. Your gift of time, as a core volunteer or an occasional helper, helps girls grow into leaders. Learn more about volunteering and the roles available.

Spanish-Language Registration Forms

Background Checks

Parents, guardians, and girls trust that Girl Scouts is a safe place for them, and we take that trust seriously. We are committed to maintaining policies and procedures that create a safe environment for girls to discover, connect, and take action. Criminal background checks are one of the ways we can help ensure that girls are safe with us. Girl Scouts River Valleys’ policy is to conduct criminal background checks on all new volunteers, and to repeat them on all volunteers every three years.

When you begin registering as an adult Girl Scout member, you will be guided through a background check process. If you are already a Girl Scout member and would like to volunteer, contact us for assistance setting up and completing your check. Girl Scouts River Valleys covers the cost of background checks, so there is no cost to our volunteers.

Background Check FAQ's

How long does a background check take?

You’ll spend a few minutes completing an online form to get your check started. We often hear back from our background check agency within twenty-four hours so you can get started volunteering right away.

Will you check my credit? Will it impact my credit rating?

No. We do not check financial information or credit for any of our volunteer positions. We are only doing a criminal background check.

As you review the information on our vendor’s website you will see reference to the Fair Credit Reporting Act because that governs criminal background checks as well as credit checks. Despite this reference, we are not checking your credit.

Do I need to provide my social security number?

Providing your social security number helps our vendor find the correct person’s records as they perform your check. Respecting our member’s personal information is very important to Girl Scouts. Our vendor, Verified Volunteers, provides a secure online process for submitting your information. Girl Scouts River Valleys does not see or store your social security number and Verified Volunteers only stores the last four digits. We are confident that there is little to no risk to you in our online background check process.

If you do not have a social security number, please call us at 800-845-0787.

What excludes me from volunteering with Girl Scouts?

River Valleys reserves the right to define the criteria for volunteer eligibility, which include but are not limited to:

  • All volunteers must be currently registered members with Girl Scouts of the USA.
  • Prospective volunteers must meet all requirements of their intended or appointed position, which varies by role.
  • Volunteers who have been previously removed are not eligible for reappointment to any role.
  • Volunteers must provide accurate personal and contact information.
  • Volunteers must meet position expectations to be reappointed or promoted.
  • Girl Scouts River Valleys will not approve a background check, nor appoint an adult to a volunteer role who has been charged and/or convicted of, pled guilty to, received adjudication for, or pleaded no contest to the following:
    • Sex crimes (charged and/or convicted, at the council's discretion)
    • Driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, or equivalent
    • Crimes against children (charged and/or convicted, at the council's discretion)
    • Felony offenses against persons
    • Felony offenses against a family member
    • Crimes defined as public indecency
    • Crimes involving the use of weapons
    • Any violent crime
    • Any felony drug-related offense
    • Any other felony conviction
  • For all other criminal offenses, or situations described above that occurred more than five years ago, Girl Scouts River Valleys will review the applicant’s situation and may decide to allow appointment to a volunteer role. This is at the sole discretion of River Valleys and may change without notice. Considerations include, but are not limited to:
    • The nature and severity of the criminal conduct
    • The position for which the person seeks to volunteer
    • The length of time since the criminal conduct occurred
    • The circumstances under which the crime was committed
    • The degree of rehabilitation
    • The likelihood that the person will commit a crime again
    • The number of crimes committed
  • Registered sex offenders will not be allowed to participate in any capacity with Girl Scouts River Valleys. Any adult listed on a sex offender registry (past or present) will not be appointed to serve as a Girl Scouts River Valleys volunteer nor may they participate as a parent.
  • Members of a household that include a registered sex offender or someone charged and/or convicted of criminal sexual conduct (past or present) are not eligible for a volunteer role, but they may be eligible to participate as a parent. This is at the sole discretion of River Valleys and may change without notice.

River Valleys will regularly audit volunteer eligibility to ensure compliance.

May I provide a previous background check or one from another organization/school?

Girl Scouts River Valleys uses Verified Volunteers, a very widely-used vendor for background checks. If your other organization also uses this vendor, you may be able to share the check they ran with us. Log into Verified Volunteers to learn more about sharing your check.

Due to security, legal, and technical limitations, we are unable to accept checks run by other background check vendors.