Welcome to Pack 162.

Who can join

Any child in kindergarten through fifth grade. You don't need to attend Caraway Elementary, live in any particular neighborhood, or have any prior scouting experience. Boys and girls. Any background, any ability level. Cub Scouting is for all kids and families.

Your child joins a denof three to ten scouts in their own grade, and the dens together make up the pack. If you're not sure what any of that means yet, Scouting 101 is the place to start.

What it costs

There are two annual fees, plus a t-shirt:

• Scouting America national registration: $85. Paid once a year when you submit the youth application, and renewed each year your child is in scouts.
• Pack 162 dues: $100 per scout, per school year. Due in full before October 1. This covers belt loops, rank patches, the parent pin, a Pinewood Derby car, and part of the cost of campouts, overnighters, den materials, and everything else the pack does through the year.
• Class B pack t-shirt: $10. Optional, but scouts wear them constantly. See Uniforms.

The Class A uniform is bought separately at the Scout Shop, and you do not need it on day one. Uniforms has the details and the suggested minimum.

If cost is what's standing in the way, please ask. Write to the Membership Chair before you decide against joining. Packs would far rather solve this than lose a family over it.

How to join, step by step

1. Complete a youth application

Start your Pack 162 youth application. This link goes straight to our pack, so you don't have to find us in a list. You'll create a Scouting America account as part of the process, and pay the $85 national registration fee.

Complete a youth application only.The adult application is just for parents taking on an official volunteer role with the pack, and you don't need one to have your child join or to come along to events.

2. Create your Pack 162 accounts

Separately from national registration, the pack runs its own member site at austinpack162.com. That's where the calendar, rosters, sign-ups, and payments live. Create an account for your scout, and one for each parent or caregiver who'll be involved.

New accounts are approved by hand, usually within 24 hours, so don't worry if you can't log in immediately.

3. Pay pack dues

Once your account is approved, pay the $100 pack dues at austinpack162.com/paypal/pay. Add a Class B t-shirt ($10) to the same order if you want one.

One thing that catches people out:adding items puts them in a cart, and the purchase isn't finished until you click View Cart in the top left of the page and complete checkout.

4. Read Safeguarding Youth for Parents

Every parent should read Safeguarding Youth for Parents (PDF). It sets out Scouting America's youth protection policies and how to report a concern.

We also strongly encourage every parent to complete the full Safeguarding Youth Training, which is free, takes about an hour, and is done online at your own pace through your account at my.scouting.org.

5. Complete medical forms A and B

Fill out Scouting America Medical Forms A and B (PDF) for your scout, for yourself, and for any other parent who will attend events. Parts A and B need no doctor's visit.

Print them, sign them, and hand them to any pack leader. We can only accept paper copies.Save the filled-in file somewhere you'll find it again. A new form is required every year, so next year becomes a two-minute job.

Then you're in

Come to the next pack meeting, held the first Thursday of most months at 6:45 PM in the Caraway Elementary cafeteria. Your den leader will take it from there.

Every new Cub Scout starts by earning the Bobcat rank, whatever their age: the Scout Oath and Scout Law, the Cub Scout sign, salute, handshake and motto, and a short child-safety exercise you work through with your scout at home. Your den leader will start them on it right away, and new scouts are welcomed into Pack 162 with a Bobcat ceremony at the fall campout.

The pack uses WhatsApp for day-to-day reminders and updates at events, and the BANDapp for sharing photos without putting them on social media. Both are invite-only. Your den leader will add you once you're registered, so just ask them at your first meeting.

Advancement is tracked in Scoutbook, using the same login you created for the youth application.

Joining mid-year

You don't have to wait until the start of the school year. Families are welcome to join any time, and we'll loop your child into their den right away so they don't miss out on the rest of the year's activities and advancement.

Have a question first?

We'd love to hear from you before you commit. Write to the Membership Chair from the Contact pageand we'll get back to you within a couple of days. Or come and meet us in person at Join Scouting Night, our open house at the start of the school year, where you can ask all of it face to face and sign up on the spot if you want to.