SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Girl Scouts of San Diego were awarded $500 thousand Tuesday to fund background checks.
One Girl Scout tells ABC 10News it means more than just a safer place for her and her friends.
"Better opportunities like going camping to different places - visiting the world like Europe and New York- and getting to do different fun activities," said Kayla Terell.
Terell has been a Girl Scout for seven years and was excited when she heard about the funding.
"Youth safety is paramount to our mission and what we do," Carol Dedrich, Girl Scouts San Diego CEO, said.
Diedrich explains while it's a good-intentioned law, funding for background checks became a challenge for the non-profit when a-b five oh six began in 2022.
It requires volunteers and staff of youth organizations like Girls Scouts of San Diego to undergo-free training in child abuse and neglect reporting and requires live scan background checks.
"We have done background checks in the past and continue to do them. The background checks that we were doing cost six dollars per person. The background checks that this bill put forward are live scan background checks which are anywhere from thirty-five up to fifty-five dollars," said Dedrich.
Assemblymember Randy Voepel caught wind of the challenge after the non-profit wrote to him and gathered funds from the state and city to help.
"Remember now, this check that I am presenting is not my money it's your tax money," he said.
He left San Diego Girl Scouts with a challenge. He encouraged them to run for office someday.
"We need talent. We need intelligence. We need people who were girl scouts," said Voepel.
It's something Terell, who strives to be a lawyer, is thinking about.
"I might," she said.
