Adult Volunteer Enrollment & Training

Updated 20Aug2023

New 4-H volunteers have separate requirements from returning 4-H adult volunteers, so please be sure to scroll down to the correct section. You can also find all of this on Alameda County 4-H’s page on training.


New Adult Volunteer Enrollment

  1. Complete the 4-H Interest Survey (click and fill out). This is only done once and has the usual questions about why you want to be a volunteer and what skills you bring to the table.
  2. Complete the Campus Extension Training (online video training):
    • Make a new account at the online eXtension Campus (have to agree to their cookie policy first).
    • Self-enroll in the the 2023-24 California New Volunteer Course with the enrollment key Alameda.
    • The course consists of the following topics:
      • 4-H Orientation – 40 minutes
      • Foundations of Positive Youth Development – 20 minutes
      • Abuse Risk Management for Volunteers – 15 minutes
      • Level 1 Reporting Child & Abuse Neglect for UC Volunteers – 45 minutes
      • Deep Policy Short – 5 minutes
    • Once you have taken the quizzes and finished the course, you should see a certificate on the bottom of your course or homepage. Download it and save, just in case – the county should get notified that you completed the course, but very occasionally, you’ll need to send it to the county.
  3. Register at https://4h.zsuite.org/ after August 15th, 2023. See instructions for enrolling new youth members to get a short walk through of the process.
  4. Pay your club fees for volunteers (30$) at the Alameda County 4-H Online Payment page (instructions are on page).
  5. Complete an in-person New Volunteer training session – note, this hasn’t been confirmed yet. I’m wondering if the longer New Volunteer online training is taking the place of the previous in-person trainings? Will share information as soon as I know.
  6. Complete Fingerprinting and Background check
    • Fingerprinting and background check (also called Livescan) are both required for new 4-H volunteers. You can do this in two ways:
      • Get fingerprinted at a county 4-H event – dates and times coming soon.
      • If you cannot make a fingerprint event, please contact your community club leader for the live scan form needed and find a local live scan facility.
        • Then submit a Check Request to the county office for reimbursement.
        • For example, there’s an office in Castro Valley where you would go to get fingerprinted (check to see which documents you need), and pay 30-35$ for the Livescan. Keep the receipt so the county can reimburse you.
  7. Fill out a Member Agreement for you and your kids on one form: Online Member Agreement

Returning 4-H Adult Volunteer enrollment and training

Note: This process is only for volunteers that were “Active” in 4HOnline during the 2022-2023 4-H year. If the volunteer was not active during 2021-2022, they will need to complete the process for NEW Volunteers.

  1. Complete the Campus Extension Training (online video training):
    • Log in at the Extension Campus
    • Self-enroll in the the 2023-24 California Returning Volunteer Course with the enrollment key Alameda.
    • The course consists of the following topics:
      • Level 2 Reporting Child Abuse & Neglect for UC Volunteers – 15 minutes
      • Abuse Risk Management for Volunteers – 15 minutes
      • 4-H Orientation – 40 minutes
      • Deep Supervision Policy – 5 minutes
    • Once you have taken the quizzes and finished the course, you should see a certificate on the bottom of your course or homepage. Download it and save, just in case – the county should get notified that you completed the course, but very occasionally, you’ll need to send it to the county.
  2. Register at https://4h.zsuite.org/ after August 15th, 2023. See instructions for enrolling youth members to get a short walk through of the process.
  3. Pay your club fees for volunteers (30$) at the Alameda County 4-H Online Payment page (instructions are on page).
  4. Fill out a Member Agreement for you and your kids on one form: Online Member Agreement
  5. Agreement

Reminder for all Adult Volunteers leading projects

Sending in your project details and descriptions will be a two-pronged process now because the county 4-H office is requiring all project leaders to fill out an Annual Project Plan for each project. I’ve tried to make the process as easy as possible, see this page for all the links and information: Annual Project Survey