Leaderboard

If the claimants want the Summit I think most Scouters would be happy to give it up to settle this. How about: claimants get: the Summit and Northern Tier scouts keep: Philmont and Sea Base.

"Two West Virginia entities account for more than half of the Boy Scouts’ restricted assets." Well written article https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/summit-bechtel-state-chartered-nonprofit-play-roles-in-boy-scouts-bankruptcy-case/article_7e36f599-ac41-51dc-9f36-badfbe4cc094.html

Is this not the entire purpose of requirement 6 of the Scout Rank?

Don't worry, there's always room at The Summit (do we capitalize The??). It's on the books for $345 million...and a bargain at that no doubt 😀

I can see where that would have some basis in fact, at least as far as how that data could be a reality. In the BSA YPT system, there is no oversight. COs are supposed to be the overseers on paper, but in reality that often does not happen and there are multiple reasons why Districts, Councils, and the BSA turn a blind eye to that and don't enforce it. There is a lack of clarity in many BSA YPT policies. There is great variation in how different scouters and units interpret YPT. In those ways I think it is less effective than the YPT programs administered by some of the churches, sports leagu

I think it would have to start with a shift at the council/district level. The Commissioner corp can be the right group to lead the charge, but we need to stop ignoring and abusing the commissioners. I would start with a few things: 1. Make the Council Commissioner the top volunteer in a council. Same for a district. Today we place a business person in the role of Council President/District Chair. That means the top volunteer is going to focus on what they know - membership, money, and growth. If you made the top volunteer a tenured, uniformed volunteer who had primary respons

I coach cross-country and track for grades 4-8. BSA's YPT is better in terms of material covered and instruction on protection from abuse than the USATF's 'Safe Sports' program (which includes instruction on sports injuries and motivation issues). There's very little occasion, at least at this level, for abuse to occur. I don't think lack of clarity is as much an issue as lack of oversight or method of insuring each unit actually puts into practice the YPT. As to how you do that....

This is the mirror image of an Asset Protection Trust, with the same result. I contend they are, in fact, asset shielding creatures of the state to protect them from creditors masked as maintenance and funding shells. The lease-back and closely held board control, by essentially the same principals of the related lessee entity, are identical. "Arrow WV Inc., in fact, owns the Summit Bechtel Reserve and leases it to the Boy Scouts, according to bankruptcy filings. It was incorporated in Fayette County in June 2009, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office. Texas equity in

In a way this illustrates my point. I don't doubt that your troop is well run. Yet your ability to go your own way implies units that don't have your stringency, that have sloppy YP, can fly under the radar because they also believe they should go their own way. Kids get hurt. On a lessor level units just have a poor program and that creates negative PR that we all have to deal with. Changing the culture to be more focused on quality rather than membership numbers, whether for YP or program, is going to be a hard push. Units want their autonomy, councils want their salaries and national i

Well, statistics might not relate to active youth. Everyone is hurting in that respect.

We as a culture have relied on benchmarks to the point that subjectivity is a scary thing. Meanwhile there are some forms of service that require specific commitments of time. There are others where it’s one small thing done every day. Say a scout living near a cemetery wants to play taps for a veterans’ family. An SM might think, “Fine, that’s an hour during internment.” But, behind that one hour, there could be practicing that one song 10 minutes every day for months, listening to recordings of ceremonies, attending a ceremony or two, etc ... Maybe even practicing as an honor guard at a C

Seems like an easy ask and a fairly simple app build and rollout. How is it monitored, by whom and with what impact? Just wondering, again, if it's a good exemplar with proven results. I can research, as well. Update: From the App Store reviews, it falls down in the implementation. Kids are frequently told they need to report in person. Also, lots of false reports to get alleged abusers/bullies in trouble. Seems to have the potential to be a nightmare for the abused, accused and administrators.

Isn't the real truth here that regardless of whether it's the BSA or any other activity, no activity can ever ensure 100% safety. 1. YPT is a has best practices an individual should follow. But, it cannot make the individual follow them. 2. YPT has built in checks and balances - but it relies on volunteers to follow them and report concerns. Yet, no parent should ever assume that their child is 100% safe from risk. Don't drop your kid off and assume nothing can happen. Don't place blind trust in the leaders of the unit. Don't neglect to ask probing questions of your child.

Here are a few ideas: - Don't recharter COs that aren't actively involved in overseeing units and verifying that YPT is being followed. - Clarify certain vague YPT BSA policies so they are less open to creative interpretation. - Encourage integration of units to break down insular unit "cultures". - Streamline volunteer roles/provide better support so units are not so desperate for volunteers that they accept questionable people or are reluctant to confront issues.

I'd bet that, in most current cases of abuse, there are provisions of YPT that were not followed. That is, BSA relies on the goodwill of us volunteers to enforce YPT. And, when one of those volunteers does not have good will, and intends to prey on youth, they find the opportunity to ignore YPT policies and wreak their misdeeds. So the question is, is there any way, realistically, to enforce YPT provisions other than through volunteers?

A few random points: 1) Rumor is, compelling data illustrating the YPT has not been as effective as claimed will be released soon, countering the narrative that the existing program is sufficient and there is no need to address enhanced measures in the Plan. I'm told the data is dispositive. I make no assertion about the effectiveness one way or the other, since I don't know the facts. I do know this is a major issue for many claimants, some of them with positions of influence in the case. If the BSA is unwilling to adopt and implement additional measures, whatever that means, those playe

It absolutely is: 1) If BSA is forced to pay and big it will be more on an incentive to allow for such lookback windows to compensate victims. 2) If BSA is forced into liquidation and killed, it may mean slowing these effort down. Unlike the Catholic Church/dioceses (which at the end of the day aren't going anywhere) if BSA is liquidated it would be used as the "see, you'll just kill these programs!" warning. Either way BSA's the test case for the next 10 years

A lot of this has to be Covid impact, correct? Are the 2020 numbers late 2020 or January 2020. If they are January 2020 we are in SERIOUS trouble. If late 2020, I think it will bounce back. My other question is strategy going forward. We have a lot of small units in my area. All of us struggle to get enough volunteers. Is it time for BSA councils to look through their unit lists and work with unit leaders on a consolidation plan? I am Scoutmaster for a Troop, CC and Den leader for a Pack. I cannot and do not do all 3 of these well and my primary focus is as SM. However, I ca

Well, it should be easier to get our desired Treks at Philmont going forward.... assuming we still own it.

So I have been given a lot of awards in scouting. More knots than allowed on a uniform, never thought much about them and kinda blew them off. Well tonight at our Bridge of Honor, I was awarded the Unit Leader Award of Merit. The thing that makes this stand out to me is that I was nominated and recommended for the award by my scouts. That makes it special to me.