InquisitiveScouter

Reviving this old post, if you don't mind 😜 Can anyone out there tell me what BSA General Liability Insurance provides for you that a personal umbrella policy does not? And vice versa? https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss10/ https://content.naic.org/article/whats-umbrella-policy -------------------------------------------------------- Comprehensive General Liability Insurance This coverage provides primary general liability coverage for registered adults of the Boy Scouts of America who serve in a volunteer or professional capacity concerning claims arising out of an official Scouting activity, which is defined in the insurance policy as consistent with the values, Charter and Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, operations manuals, and applicable literature of the Boy Scouts of America. This coverage responds to allegations of negligent actions by third parties that result in personal injury or property damage claims that are made and protects Scouting units and chartered organizations on a primary basis. The BSA general liability insurance program provides volunteers and chartered organizations additional excess coverage for motor vehicles above a local council’s automobile liability policy or a volunteer’s or chartered organization’s automobile or watercraft liability policy. The owner’s motor vehicle (automobile) or watercraft liability insurance is primary. The excess insurance, whether the local council auto or BSA general liability, is available only while the motor vehicle or watercraft is in the actual use of a Scouting unit and being used during an official Scouting activity. The insurance provided to unregistered Scouting volunteers participating in an official Scouting activity through the general liability insurance program is excess over any other insurance the volunteer might have to their benefit, usually a homeowner, personal liability, motor vehicle (automobile), or watercraft policy. The general liability policy does not provide indemnification or defense coverage to those individuals who commit intentional and criminal acts. The Boy Scouts of America does not have an insurance policy that provides defense for situations involving allegations of intentional and criminal acts. Scouting youth are not insured under the general liability policy. --------------------------------------------------------- And, does anyone know the limits of this BSA coverage? If I am an insured party, do I have a right to know? 😜

It's not that they are not approved... It's that those positions are not part of the "adult fee required position(s)" That is, you must be registered in some other position before you can be a Chapter or Lodge Adviser, insofar as I understand this... As @HashTagScouts alludes, they must first be in a District (or unit or council) fee paid position, before they can wear the additional hat of Adviser.

Fr. John, Agreed, but BSA is literally keeping their volunteers in the dark as to their own risk. Could this be on purpose? Instead of "If you ignore our recommendation from the Guide to Safe Scouting, you open yourself to financial ruin through lawsuits!" ... I'd turn it to the positive side: Hey volunteers, we carry liability insurance to protect your Scouting activities! That, along with the federal law puts a strong team in your corner should an accident occur. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter139&edition=prelim You can help keep your Scouts and yourself safe by strictly adhering to all of our direction in the Guide to Safe Scouting 😛

"... BSA has liability insurance to protect its volunteers, but compliance with BSA safety guidelines is required for that insurance to be available." (2:30 in the video) I really think BSA should clearly elaborate on what this means for volunteers who are not in compliance with BSA safety guidelines. And the video ought to be redone for a myriad of reasons, but one of the biggest is at the end... Way to go shooting a safety video, and then putting that final scene in... "Appropriate personal protective equipment is required for all activities. This includes the recommended use of helmets for all participants engaged in winter sports, such as sledding and riding other sliding devices." LOL

The question was directed at @swilliams LOL, yes, DVOA is the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association. (context? no orangutans mentioned... orienteering was the subject answered... Google DVOA and orienteering and voila...) https://www.dvoa.org/ They create orienteering maps for many state parks and public areas around the Delaware Valley. They also sponsor orienteering events in the area. Although I have never met anyone from DVOA, we have used their products extensively. So, @swilliams, if you are a DVOA member, THANK YOU! Here is a sampling of some of their publicly available maps: http://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=3559452&DocName=HICK_Orienteering.pdf https://www.dvoa.org/learn/perm/French-Creek-Hopewell-OPC_2015.pdf https://www.dvoa.org/learn/perm/Fort-Washington-OPC_2020.pdf Enjoy!

Aren't those old geezers handsome! https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2023/02/15/scouters-in-action-they-saved-the-drowning-man-from-the-rip-current/

Go to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search page at https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ Enter the criteria you want for a search. If you know the EIN, that is easiest, as all councils do not use the same naming convention, so the search may not return good results by name. (Tidewater's EIN is 54-0505875 ) Charity Navigator has a better search engine, IMO https://www.charitynavigator.org/ P.S. Tidewater also has a separate Trust Fund, EIN 54-1707488 Fair warning, the more you know and share, the greater you become PNG to your council

You a member of DVOA??

Agreed, but having the job be more competitive, by allowing an "outsider" to be considered for the job could only expand our pool of talent.

I know a wonderful woman in our area who absolutely loves Scouting. She has four kids in the program right now. She is from the area and is well connected in many circles in our community. She knows what Scouting has done for our community, and knows many of the volunteers who live here (and who also have been involved with Scouting for a billion years). She has been on the board of three other local 501C3's in our community who have had a significant impact in environmental and heritage preservation, wild animal rehabilitation and community education (about the animals), and a women's shelter. She has run successful capital campaigns for all three organizations. She has many other qualities which would make her an excellent CEO. Would she ever be considered? I do not believe so. Not part of "the club."

My word... look at slide 9, "If a Scout separates from Scouting and wants to return later, does he or she have to pay the Joining Fee again?" YES????!!! Their Joining Fee is simply a flat fee combining the BSA Joining Fee and the BSA Annual Registration Costs. National has no such rule in place (that I know of), so why would the council do it? If Jimmy takes a year off from Scouting and comes back, our local registrar does not hit them with National's Joining Fee again... His old record is still in the system.

This is why many hang on tightly until they get the golden ticket SE position. Also, why the professional corps created a system where there is no hiring of "outsiders." Is an experienced executive or CEO of say, another youth organization, or a Y, even allowed to put in a resume for an opening in a BSA Council SE position? No way... National gives the council board a slate of candidates from which to pick their next CEO. IMO, that is bad for business... So, who is really choosing your next SE?

Ours has not announced anything like that yet. There is a "mandate" out there that annual council service fees cannot exceed National membership fee. See page three. https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Rules_Regulations_Sept20.pdf Note that is the 2020 version. If there was a subsequent revision that removed the fee stipulation, councils may be moving in a direction where they charge more than National. Is there a more connected guru out there who can find an updated Rules, or confirm the one linked above is current? And, perhaps the councils are justifying this by saying the "service fee" and the "activity fee" are combined to make the "subscription fee".

For Tidewater Council, my guess is, Parnell was named in 2019, but did not start until sometime later in 2020. Expect salary to be above $192K, which is what the previous guy got. You really want to find out? Call your council office and ask to see their IRS Form 990 for 2021, and 2022 (if filed). They are required, by law, to allow you access to this information. They do not have to provide you a copy, but they must allow you to see this in their office during normal business hours. If they refuse, please report them to your local Congressional Representative, and the IRS. Please!!

You, my friend, are a kindred soul!

See page 17. they reported $0 for 2019 I find that very odd... https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/540505875_201912_990_2020112017429593.pdf In 2018, a different guy got paid $192K. See page 18 at https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/540505875_201812_990_2019091616653396.pdf And here's their Trust Fund report in 2019 https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/541707488_201912_990_2020091417296410.pdf Enjoy! (Hey, now you know why I am blacklisted in our council! For sharing public information!)

We call it "Sniffing Spiders!!" Kids love this trick. Put a strong flashlight up next to your eye, pointing out to the ground. Scan slowly until you see a very small green, red, or purple light. Hold the light next to your eye steadily, and slowly move towards where the reflected colored light, keeping the flashlight shining on it so you can see the colored light coming back at you. Follow it all the way to the ground, and you will find a spider! Don't let on anything about the light at first... play it up that you have a special talent... you can smell spiders! Show them the first one or two, and then reveal the secret. If it is warm enough where you live, this is easy. Of, course, tell Scouts not to catch or handle the spiders Fair warning! Teach with discretion 😜 If you don't like spiders, you will get creeped out because they are EVERYWHERE! When there is a heavy dew, this becomes much more difficult, as dew drops can reflect colors back as well. https://thehappyscientist.com/content/spider-spotting# When they learn this, even the adults have fun with it! Enjoy!

@Jameson76, would you be able to do the job? And, if yes (or no), how much would you like to be paid (or think they should be)? (I'm just curious, and not trying to be a joker...) I know I could. And I'd do it for about $150K, in our local area. However, I use a lower number because I also receive a pension from another type of service organization 😜 At that combined income, our family would be in the top 10% of household incomes in the US. (Where those salaries already place our SE's.)

Actually, tell the Scout to download the pdf and make the corrections himself... I have just finished round 5 of working with an Eagle candidate to get his paperwork correct. About round 2, his parent implied I could just make the corrections myself. Yes, I could, but, no, I would not... Scout will be bringing his form to the meeting tonight to get Scoutmaster and Committee Chair signatures, then he will deliver it himself to Scout office tomorrow! @qwazse is right on. You may help and guide them, but do not do it for them. BTW, a handwritten application is fine!!!

Your registrar should have caught that! We had a situation like that when I first came to this Troop. Luckily, based on previous experience with the same issue (caught by the registrar the previous council), I found it and was able to help correct. Here's one way a situation like that happens (it's what happened here...): - Scout joined Troop in June, just as school was getting out. Troop leader had the parent-signed application, but did not submit it to council (sat on it.) Scout went on outings and to Summer Camp with the Troop (where he earned merit badges). Troop leader did not sign and submit application to council until after the summer was over (in September). Registrar entered Date Joined Scouting as in September. Also in September, they submitted an Advancement Report from Summer Camp, with Scout's name and badges. Registrar entered advancement as recorded on the form. I believe there were no internal checks in the software to flag these dates. (The problem to identify was that a Scout had earned advancement before his joining date... that's a no-no.) Troop was using TroopMaster at the time. After that, Troop transitioned to Scoutbook, and began to use system generated-forms with all dates automatically input. (Scoutbook also does not flag these kinds of errors.) We generated this Scout's Eagle Application, and, as I was reviewing it with him, I saw the error. To correct, we had the registrar pull his original application and correct his Joined Date to the date his parent signed the application. Then we generated a new Eagle Application with the corrected dates. Our Registrar told me she could do this because there was "intent to join" at that June date (as per parent signature), and they were not going to hold up the Scout because an adult leader sat on an application. (If parent and leader signature dates had both been September, the Scout would not have been "eligible" to earn the badges at camp.) Those controls could be programmed into Scoutbook, I think. Or into the form itself (but I don't know that much about pdfs and whether internal checks like that can be coded into them.) Much of the Registrar's job has been automated. And I believe much more is in the works to be automated. This will help with council consolidations, as members will not have to travel to the council office to file paperwork. One thing is filing Eagle Applications electronically... I see no reason (other than coding) that we could not do logic checks and electronic signatures on a form in Scoutbook and have it automatically submitted to "National Registrar" after EBoR approval.

I would agree. I think we have reached the time when, as soon as an EBoR is done, that Scout is an Eagle Scout. What, if anything is preventing us from making this so? Or, what would it take to get us there? Only the stroke of a pen (or a few strokes on a keyboard), I think... I would love to see a a statistic on the number of Eagle applications National has returned with questions or errors. They have to have this data.

See page 22 https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/350867962_201912_990_2021021817717804.pdf in 2019, CAC SE received $326K total compensation package. Show that to the parents there, and see how they react to the fee increases. LOL

Nothing new around here... The mindset in most units here is that, after the EBoR, the chances of National turning it down is near zero. And, if they did, there'd be appeals and corrections until the Scout received the award. So they charge forward, because (I think that they think) waiting takes the joy out of the occasion. We recognize the achievement in six ways! 1. When a Scout is Eagle Scout Service Project complete, we make a big deal out of it at a Troop meeting. 2. When a Scout is "Merit Badge Complete", we make a big deal out of it at a Troop meeting. 3. In our Troop, we have a big Trail to Eagle board with each giant rank patch on it. Under each rank are all the nametags of all the Scouts in the unit with that rank. For our new Scouts, we put their nametag on the board upside down under Scout rank when they join. When they make Scout rank, they turn it right side up. At each rank announcement, the Scouts chant "Change the Board!" and the Scout earning his rank comes forward (with a huge smile!!) to receive his patch and move his nametag to the next rank. When a Scout submits his application for Eagle Scout, we have him Change the Board! and move his nametag under Eagle Scout, but upside down! 4. After his Eagle BoR is complete, we have him Change the Board! and turn his name right side up, while explaining that he is not yet an Eagle Scout in the eyes of the National Council, as we are awaiting the paperwork processing. 5. Once his credentials come back, we announce that at the Troop meeting and present his Eagle rank patch (yes, with "Insta-palms"), and explain it is official, he can wear it on his uniform, and that now we get to help him plan for his Eagle Court of Honor. There is much rejoicing! 6. The Eagle Court of Honor. After Eagle BoR, I tell parents the "rules," but also tell them the process normally takes between four and six weeks to get credentials back. I have seen them return as fast as two weeks, and as slow as ten weeks. It depends on the workload at National. I advise them they should pencil in a date no earlier than six weeks from EBoR for Eagle Court of Honor. We also give them options. You can have an event here at our CoR facility for free. If you want some other arrangement, then you will have to make the financial arrangements for that, but you take a risk by putting money down to reserve something without having credentials back. The Troop does not pay for Eagle CoH decorations or refreshments. (Some people want a "big wedding." Others are happy with having it as a part of our normal quarterly Troop Court of Honor. It all depends on the Scout's (and his mother's) wishes. (Yes, I said that 😜 ) I tell them we can not present an Eagle patch or medal until we receive the credentials back from National. At the ECoH, we present the Eagle Kit, an Eagle Scout Neckerchief, and Eagle Scout Slide. (all gifts from the Troop) We used to purchase a five year membership in NESA for them, but NESA upped the cost from $35 to $100. No thanks... If a Scout wishes to present more than one Mentor Pin, they have to purchase them... we help with arranging that, if needed. In handling Eagle this way, our unit is the exception around here. And yes, our Scout shop will sell you every Eagle kit they have in stock, no questions asked... They never check for any advancement report or other record before selling Merit Badges or Ranks. I used to bring in the printed report from Scoutbook, but eventually got the question from them of "why bother?"

I do not see a Notifications icon or a Messages icon on the mobile. Only an Unread Content, Create New Topic, and Search. I've never tried to access PMs from mobile. I use an Android device, and, on can pull down the browser menu from the top right corner, scroll down and select Desktop Site. You can see the Messages link there.

Yeah, I would have been happy to donate my time and talent to work at the jamboree. Just not going to pay $1200 for the privilege. (Plus travel costs to and fro.) https://jamboree.scouting.org/jamboree-service-team/