Cburkhardt

Evaluating Girls Joining Scouts BSA – Part One Question One: How effectively was the roll-out of all-girl Scouts BSA Troops handled? Be very specific about how thing might have been done differently. Notes: In preparation for the fourth anniversary of all-girl Scouts BSA troops this February, I will be posting a different question each of the next five weeks regarding how the addition of all-girl troops transacted and what the impact has been on the BSA and the youth we serve. I will focus on Scouts BSA and not Cub Scouts. This first question deals with the initial roll-out.

MattR: These situations are always fact-intensive and it is impossible to understand the detail of Mr. P's accusations or the fullness of how such accusations might impact the future of the person unfairly accused. My view is very simple. If a Scouter believes she or he has been subjected to unfounded accusations of the horrible crime of child abuse, that person should involve the CO in any investigation the BSA will perform. It is the only way a person can potentially obtain a written exoneration (from the CO) of this terribly damaging accusation (short of filing a defamation law suit

Eagle94: You are correct, but the practical use of this approach has resulted in the BSA and CO working together and recognizing the validity of each other’s efforts. The key point is that the unfairly accused volunteer has an exonerating document from to CO to use with employers or others who might otherwise suspect the person as a child abuser. This is valuable even if the BSA removes the person’s membership. This entire discussion proves the point made by others that having a regular and meaningful working relationship with your CO is necessary.

My CO investigation process suggestion is the result of my having been involved in successfully resolving alleged YPT infractions. It respects the role and regulations of the BSA while simultaneously protecting the reputations of innocent adult volunteers. I suggest it as a universal approach for those who value fair treatment of line-level Scouters -- while continuing vigorous YPT enforcement. Rainshine should do whatever is in his best interests, but should understand that a tiny subset of ill-intended parents are not amenable to talk or reason. They must be dealt with firmly or be

If falsely accused of YPT abuse, have the CO investigate and exonerate. Thanks for bringing your story forward. So many of us are focused on preventing YPT incidents that we sometimes fail to recognize that good adult reputations are brought into question when a person makes unsubstantiated accusations that seem impossible to unwind or dispute. However, this is not the case. There is a great way to handle unfounded accusations. When an allegation is made -- directly or impliedly -- that a volunteer has violated YPT during an incident involving a youth, the matter should always be

Displeased with Former COs who are "Iffy" about our Units Carter: I formed two new units over the last four years -- a new Scouts BSA Troop for Girls and a new Sea Scout Ship. We interviewed many potential chartered organizations and chose two outstanding entities that we knew to be examples of strong organizations that believed strongly in our Scouting missions. Our chartered organizations are deeply involved in what we do and provide oversight and other assistance. We are the principal youth program for both COs and they receive significant benefit through their association wit

I am with SouixRanger on this. 1,000-Scout councils just can’t work anymore. This council needs to be a large district within a well-run council. Maybe a DE and an assistant.

I have been on different sides of this unnecessary divide at different times. First a board-serving district chair and council president, and later a double unit leader (as well as other program and council leadership roles). While serving in council roles I often heard others express a preference to avoid interacting with unit and program people if they had opinions and behaviors that were so absolute as to be obstructionist. When such a person presented himself, 80% of the time the obstructing behavior concerned camp property or program closely-related to the camp. The remainder of

Watch what happens with it over the next 2 or 3 years. The Coast Guard has made it their official youth program and will likly be the driver of significant growth these coming years. That said, it will never be a big program. The upper end would be in the 6,000 - 8,000 range.

I did the math. Believe it or not, we are 1.14%!

Had a splendid raft trip with 28 of our 40 Sea Scouts this weekend on the Lehigh River in PA, near Weatherly. Gorgeous river scenery and the leaves were in peak color. Was a great way to end our warm weather season as we store the boats and hunker-down for our indoor training season. Thanks to all of you Pennsylvanians for maintaining such beautiful state park properties.

The original purpose of this posting was an inquiry about how to interact effectively with and influence a council executive board, and the example of camp property and management has been used as an illustration. There is reality and there is what people would like. The reality I have experienced with regard to executive boards for BSA, fine arts and educational entities is that the “stockholders” are always listened to. They are the donor/investors (large or small) and workers on the tough, not-so-fun things that must be done to maintain the organizational structure to offer thi

Ever been something like a district finance chair, popcorn sales chair for a district, district solicitor for FOS or someone who spent significant time finding the least expensive insurance for your council’s service center?

Inquisitive and SSS, Just curious, did either of you make an unrestricted contribution this current year to the council that owns and maintains the camps that you are concerned about? Attending camp, volunteer hours and other “in-kind” contributions are not what I am talking about.

Eagle94: What I said about our process did indeed happen, as I was Council President at the time and made it so. Yes. the structure I describe can be manipulated in many ways to cause favor to particular outcomes. What is necessary is to understand the system and carefully work to influence the outcome months and years in advance. The challenge is that camp-oriented people are not always interested in investing in the fundraising, insurance, HR, district-council volunteer recruiting, event organizing and the many other things that end up qualifying Scouters for council board and di

A few responses to recent posts. As background, I’ve been on two council boards (a small council and one of the largest in the country, on which I served as Council President) and was directly involved in dealing with needed property closures and sales – but we did it the right way. Everything was public and transparent more than a year in advance and all adult and youth members were given multiple rounds of opportunities to give input to the decisions – and changes reflecting that input were made. Not everyone is going to be happy in these and other contested situations, but when Scouters

Council Executive Boards and Council Executive Committees (subcommittees of the Executive Board consisting of the principal officers) meet in private with members only, plus special guests who make presentations on pending topics. CORs belong to the Council, which meets to elect the Executive Board during the annual business meetings. Including numbers of non-members in Executive Board or Executive Committee meetings is disfavored due to confidentiality issues. Non-members attending would not be bound to confidentiality and would further expect to express viewpoints and arguments. Well

I posted many times about our Family Camp for Pathway to Adventure Council (Chicago). This is located at historic Owasippe Scout Reservation at "Camp Reneker". While it is a specifically-developed facility and program apart from the Scouts BSA program areas, it is popular and a great offering for our Scouting families. We are in a new era for the business-side of camp operations and will need the income stream to maintain our camps in the post-bankruptcy era.

Active Scoutmaster here. $1,000 per year is an accurate "all-in" estimate of family spending on a year of very active Scouts BSA scouting. We can all differ on just how the resources come in, but that has been our experience over the last four years.

CM: While at Goshen Scout Reservation, my units stayed at Camp Olmsted, which is a Scouts BSA dining hall operation. The reservation has two other Scouts BSA camps, including Bowman (patrol cooking) and Marriott (hot pack delivery). There are also two Cub camps (Ross and PMI) and a high adventure camp (Lenhoc'sin) that offers week-long overnight backpacking hikes in the mountains on the 5,000-acre property.

The Family Camp at Chicago's Owasippe is splendid. The family camp (Camp Reneker) is a 60-year-old operation that was built to accommodate the families of "on duty" Scouters. The Chicago-area Scouters camp with the Troop and the families have their own special program at the family camp. Owasippe hires about 10 college students, who conduct a summer program targeted to 6 age groupings ranging from 4-year-olds through high school. The 40 cabins have kitchens, living rooms, and two bedroom spaces, with nearby shower houses. The family camp has its own pool, activity shelter, tennis court, b

Which BSA properties have you been to this summer and how did it go? No serious discussion allowed in this posting! No bankruptcy, YPT, membership standards, COVID, fingers-getting-severed, "I don't like the professionals", "they sold my camp" and other potentially distressing discussion allowed under penalty of getting jello thrown in your face! For me, I have had two separate one-week stays at the spectacular 5,000-acre Goshen Scout Reservation in Virginia, just south of Shenandoah National Park. The first week was with our all-girl Troop. My wife (an ASM) and Star Scout daughter

For me it is just six knots. The top row has three favorite service award knots from my years of adult service. The bottom row has my AOL, Eagle and Quartermaster from my youth years. These knots are conversation-starters that help break the ice with new friends. Other than that, just my Scoutmaster or Skipper patches. I find the guide is pretty good on limiting excess quantity. Maybe after the bankruptcy we will all be wearing blank polo shirts!

The BSA policy is clear. When a Scouter becomes aware that actual abuse is taking place, action should be taken to cease the immediate abuse, followed by a report to law enforcement, and then the Scout Executive. Whether a fact is abuse or not would depend on local law.

The policy still says to go first to law enforcement (for actusl reports of abuse) and then to the local Scout Executive. The national 800 number was intended to be a place for BSA employees to report personnel problems with their BSA bosses. Generally, it is still not intended for YPT issues or volunteer/youth matters. I presume the practice of the 800 number contractor referring volunteer/youth matters to the local councils is just a sound administrative referral practice.