The Latin Scot

Gah! My heart! LOL 

So, any opinions on this matter would be helpful.

I currently have a boy in my Webelos den who has a number of challenges. The primary challenge is that he is about midway up the autism spectrum; he functions well, but there are enough triggers and whatnot to set him off somewhat easily unless he gets special attention. The other problem is that his family speaks very little English; they came up from Mexico only a few years ago, and communication is a challenge for the family. There are other socioeconomic challenges they face on top of all this. 

Now, none of these are problems at the present - I have long years working with autistic school children, and I am Latino myself, so right now my den is the best place the boy can be - he is understood and cared for and working with his challenges is not an issue for my leadership team. My question is: what happens when he ages out of my den and moves on to the Boy Scout troop?

His new leader is experienced, but not very skilled, with Scouting. Even normal-functioning boys can be too much for his limited leadership skills at time. With this boy coming in later this year, I want to help him be prepared so that he will know how to work with the boy and his family, and I want the boy to feel like he is moving on to a safe environment where he will be understood and loved just as he was with me. He will be 11 by the, but developmentally he will be much younger than the other boys in some ways. This new leader does speak Spanish, which will help. But where do I start in helping the coming transition be successful without meddling where I ought not? 

The boy's mother spoke to me for some time after our den meeting last night, and she was both grateful for all we have done over the past few months to help her son, and fearful over what will happen when he has to cross over. I managed to assuage her concerns for the time being, but I want to have more concrete ideas for how to move forward. Again, all suggestion and thoughts will be tremendously appreciated at this time.

Wait ... they made a BLUE ONE?!?!?!? As a Cub Scout leader, I would ABSOLUTELY have bought one! Augh, now I am going to live out my days ruing the fact that there were blue ones produced a decade before I was born ... oh cruel twists of fate!

2 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

... When they polled about changing the youth membership policy, they excluded results from LDS Scouters. They didn't even poll on changing adult membership policy, they just did it. Instapalms had something like 75+ % Strongly against and 10+% against, totaling 94% , doing away with 3 month tenure requirements ...

Wait ... what?!? But, we constitute a MASSIVE portion of the Scouting world! How can they just exclude our position like that? Where did you hear this? 

I am shocked and appalled, lol. 

What's frustrating to me is that the GSUSA is touting their "single-gender model" as being so superior, while either ignoring or remaining ignorant of the fact that the BSA is not going co-ed, but rather creating a new, separate program for girls that will be distinct from their boy's program, despite the ranks and requirements being the same. One of the basic premises of their argument, that the single-gender model is better for development, is actually still being followed by the BSA, but they continue to put us down for straying from it, which isn't true.

I have read many articles lately from both the BSA and GSUSA sides, but I notice the trend is that the BSA seems to appear weak for capitulating to public opinion (certainly true if you ask me), while the GSUSA seems unduly vindictive in attacking their potential numbers loss to the BSA (their articles can be downright venomous in my area). 

The fact is, the BSA is going to have a new program for girls, while Cubs and Venturing will include girls in their programs as they are. So we might as well just try to get along with the GSUSA, because for the time being no amount of whining, criticizing or arguing is going to change anything. Both organizations will benefit from working together; neither will accomplish much spending its energy tearing the other down.

Mine too, I just barely got it - looks like they will be adding a $12 "insurance fee" to the $33 registration fee. I think that's much smarter - still regrettable that we have to charge more, but sports groups and SAT prep classes charge FAR more than Scouting does, and we deliver just as much content to the kids in our programs. It's much better than punishing our top achievers with a pointless fee, that's for sure.

26 minutes ago, hikeoholic said:

I am in OCC ....

By the way hikeoholic, what district are you in? Saddleback District here, nice to have a neighbor on the forum! 

OFFICIAL NEWS FLASH!

My District Advancement Chair just called me to let me know that this motion has been officially DROPPED. Most districts never even heard about it, which is good seeing how short-lived the proposal was. Some people just jumped the gun though. In any case, the matter has been resolved, and they are exploring different alternatives. It seems our Friends of Scouting numbers kind of plummeted this year, which caused the need to look at new revenues - but luckily this idea was killed before it ever took off. 

So there we go! There are no Eagle application fees happening in the Orange County Council as of a few hours ago. 

Ah, gotcha. Thanks! 

Wow ... Scouting sure did affect my generation's outlook. All of those things sound either completely irresponsible or recklessly dangerous to me, but I still had fun doing Scouting - even with all the safety and conservation practices in effect. 

What's cubtrails?

Thanks for the link @TAHAWK! I just wish I could try one on in my size before buying it ... Scouting apparel always run appallingly large on me, so who knows if even the small would be too large. I love shopping for clothes, but NEVER online if I can help it - you gotta' try things on before you buy them! For example, I finally got a new Scout shirt last month - and ended up having to get a youth-sized shirt since they were the only ones that fit me. 

@RememberSchiff Well, I acted at any rate. I must have sent out a dozen e-mails, and I sent a very strongly-worded warning to council asking them to consider the ramifications of such a move. But I try not to worry while I am acting - it keeps me from thinking clearly, and affects my larger perspective. For now, I will wait until there is more definitely information. Undue concern avails me nothing while I wait.

Our Scout Store has tons of them. But none in my size (I wear an adult small/slim). 

:-(

@Hawkwin that certainly would have helped!

In any case, I just now had a long conversation just with my District Advancement Chair. While discretion prohibits me from divulging all the information this early on, I will share what I can to allay any concerns you all may have.

At an Orange County Council meeting on Saturday to which select board members from the various districts were invited, it was proposed by the Council Executive Board (not Scouters for the most part, but professionals hired to increase profit in the council) to charge a $120 fee to Eagle Scout applicants upon the submission of their papers, to be effective immediately.

The result was a long and intense discussion which ended in something akin to what I shared a few hours ago – as of now, they are officially only assessing the possibility of charging such a fee which, if it were to be implemented, would not take effect until a later date. HOWEVER, as my wonderful District Advancement Chair put it, "it’s written in pencil, but not in pen" - and it's definitely not set in stone.

It’s possible the push-back will be so tremendous that the move will never take effect, although it has been formally put forward by the executive board - but again, this proposition is so recent that it is unwise to jump to conclusions. So, fellow forum members, here is your official takeaway for the time being:

It hasn’t happened yet; it may not happen at all, so don’t worry about it for now!

I think that's ultimately the key here - educate the Scouts on the traditions, the peoples, the cultures and the controversies - and then let them decide. I don't think National - nor any one Native American nation - should have the right to dictate what they can or cannot do from there. 

So here's what I have found so far (a number of people have not yet responded):

So far, none of the people from my district that have replied to my inquiries have heard about this (and we are by far one of the biggest and most influential districts in our council).

The one person from the Council office who had heard about this pointed out a key part of the message that I feel rather foolish for not noticing myself: 

Quote

Effective March 1st. The Orange County Council will be assessing a filing fee for Eagle Scout applications. The fee will be $120 with applications to defray the costs to the council to file. The logistics are being worked out as to who will be collecting. You will be receiving the Eagle Scout gift set with this fee. Please pass this along to your respective troops.
This information was passed along to us today at the Top Hands Meeting at the council. 
YIS,

What I was told by my friend at the Council office is that they are assessing, as in they are exploring the possibility of, a filing fee, and that such a fee may even be optional if the boys do not want the gift set. But so far nothing is definite, nothing is official. As noted, logistics of such a move are being worked out.

Mind you all, I am still waiting to hear from my contacts that are highest up on the totem pole, as it were, but so far there isn't much off of which to go. Interestingly, there is no name attached to this message either. 

@hikeoholic, are you here in the OCC too? From whom did you get this message? If it would be easier for you to private message me, I would like to follow the source to get more information if possible. I work with a lot of boys from impoverished families working to get their Eagles, and this kind of move would severely handicap their progress, so if you would let me know exactly whence this message came, it would help me in my investigation. Thanks!

I have heard nothing about this, and I am SURE it's something that would be talked about if it were true. 

I have just sent out a few e-mails to various friends at the OC office. I should have a concrete answer by tomorrow; however, I have to go run my den meeting and the a committee meeting, so I will be offline for the rest of the night. I will bring you all official news direct from the source in OC first thing tomorrow morning!

I totally concur!

The very idea of charging a boy to submit his paperwork is suspect - and my thought it, what would they do if a boy refused to pay such a fee? Would they dare deny him his right to submit his papers, despite his having done all the work? I feel like this is the kind of situation where a well-organized boycott may actually do some good. Something at least to get that council to realize the preposterous nature of their demands.

1 hour ago, Sentinel947 said:

I've seen this on the BSA sub reddit. They mentioned Orange County's BSA council. 

I have doubts that this is true, because it's such an idiotic policy. It really doesn't take much manpower or time to review Eagle applications, and $120 is a ridiculous and arbitrary increase over free.

That sub reddit is wrong. I am IN Orange County Council, and if you read my post earlier in this thread, you will see there is no such fee being charged here.

Wow ... I have never heard of an Eagle application fee before. Our council actually sends every new Eagle Scout a packet with his new patch, a few congratulatory letters, and information for an Eagle Scout photo opp - all completely free (including cost of photos). To charge boys for all of that sounds crazy to me.

3 hours ago, ItsBrian said:

As I said before, I have used the book and did not benefit a small troop like mine.

At the same time, our troop of only a few boys had a push to go back to the book and follow it more closely, and it has helped strengthen the unit and the boys tremendously. It's not as much the book itself as how you use it.

Give your son a few options, and ask what he would like to do.

He should talk to his SM about the matter, and see what he recommends.

He could just keep calling and e-mailing the MBC, even if it takes a few calls a day to get him to respond. 

He could ask his SM for the information of an alternative MBC, to whom he could then explain his situation and request the requirements be signed off anew.

He could (if you have the address and the means) even drop by the home of the MBC to request some help expediting the process.

Talk to your son, and see how he wants to proceed. Waiting as long as your MBC has is pretty inconsiderate, but extenuating circumstances may be in play that nobody knows about. In any case, persistence is the most important thing to suggest.

Wow, I WISH we had a bugler in our Troop! We have a boy who is decent enough at the trumpet though, so I just need to find a way to translate that skill to adding bugle calls to our activities. Any ideas welcome!

I had that very issue last year; for about 5 months I only had two boys. But I didn't let that stop me! I put in the same energy and excitement with those two as I would have with a full den (maybe even more so!), and I made sure never to bring up our low numbers - if you don't bring it up, the boys don't stop to think about it. Sure, we had to modify some activities, but I never let the room "feel empty." We also did a few more combined games and activities with the Bear den and the new Scout patrol that meet at the same time in our building, but for the most part, it looked just the same as an AofL program would have looked like with 8 boys - there were just, well, fewer bodies is all. 

After a few months, the boys started bringing a friend to Scout here, or a happy parent would recommend my den to another parent there, and we went from 2 boys to 8 in just two months! If you put your heart into the program, the program will grow. The immediate recognition of awards is one of the things the families in our Pack enjoy most. It definitely encourages boys and families to stay involved! And parents are much more willing to work on adventure requirements at home, because they know they will see the fruits of their labors immediately. It's very encouraging for everybody, so I highly recommend trying it!