Ojoman

My vigil honor name translates to 'likes to talk', after this it may be changed to 'likes to write'... lol I'll make this 'personal'. I started as a professional in Penn's Woods Council out of Johnstown, Pa. I did my youth scouting in the Pittsburgh area. After 3 years I was promotable and went to New Jersey but had family reasons to return to Western Pa and Harry Mangle in Johnstown offered me a position with a considerable raise. My Scout Exec in NJ had me resign my position to accept the new post and then had the NE region block the move. I ended up going to the Pittsburgh Council wit

You need to have your DE do this along with your unit commissioner and district membership chairman. They should be on board to assist, especially to save a unit. They need to know what your unit status is and they need to assist in helping turn the unit around!

Back in the 1960's (boy I am old to recall this stuff) there was a membership scandal in Chicago. The purpose of bringing in 'new blood' was/is in part that a new broom sweeps clean so coverups don't continue and bad practices end. Not sure that really works because too often it seems like the good old boys take care of each other... less so now than in past years but still. At the lower levels a seasoned/experienced Sr. Dist Exec should be able to get up to speed quickly, even in a new district setting. I'll quote another pro, Every exec will tell you that they took over a district that was t

75 Years ago the American Humanics Foundation was started for the purpose of training and educating youth agency professionals. a half a dozen colleges were cultivated to offer degrees in Humanics and many of the professors were past professionals from the BSA. They changed in 2011... (https://nla1.org/donation/) but many of their graduates entered the BSA workforce and were solid professionals. We (I was one) were taught about cultivating community organizations and resources, recruiting and keeping volunteers, fund raising and program development. These are degrees that are much needed in th

Hey now... positive, remember... and yes, a DE should be visable and approachable... and try to live up to the oath and law... of course that is a pretty tall order but we can try...

I found the materials on line that listed the individual cases and included the documents and I did read a fair number to get an idea of how serious the suit was and yes, it was serious but none of the cases I saw included any professionals as abusers (I certainly expect there were some, just not the ones I read) but mainly volunteer adults and in some cases adults that were not even registered but affiliated through the chartered partner or as a relative of a youth member. I would change my mind if you can direct me to the documentation that shows that BSA employees were the abusers in signif

You are correct and I know first hand the measures that were taken in the 70's and 80's to protect kids. I was in the first batch of professionals trained to deliver youth protection training to volunteers that addressed directly sexual abuse and exploitation. I had to check out several 'red flags' on volunteers with similar names and ages to people on the ineligable volunteer list which the lawyers suing us renamed the perversion files... catchy isn't it. The BSA had and has less of a problem than the public school system and virtually zero problem when all the guidelines are followed. Sadly,

Thanks for the update... makes sense so friends of AOL's crossing over can join up with them...

Perhaps...

Meaning no disrespect to survivors... if any youths were abused by council staff then they ought to receive a significant settlement from that council. The vast majority of cases were volunteers that violated the trust of parents, chartered partners and the youth. Those are the ones that ought to be in jail and pay compensation. 1.4 billion divided by 82k comes out to around $1,700 per person on average. That is inadequate for anyone that was sexually abused. Having said that, the vast majority of scouts were not abused and had a positive experience in the program. To force councils to deplet

Personally I think the settlement was a bad deal for the BSA for a number of reasons. The NBC documentary said that of the 2.4 BILLION that the claiments would get 1.4 Billion (average $1,700) and the lawyers would split 1 Billion. Makes a lot of lawyers and law firms very wealthy. Most of the claims (90%) were over 30 years old. Very few cases involved BSA employees or camp staff as abusers so why sue the BSA and not the abusers? The lawyers went for the deep pockets... imagine trying to track down 10's of thousands of predators, many of whom had died and others with little or no assets. In s

What a new DE needs to become a good and effective DE First, the right attitude. Should know what the program(s) is and have had some experience with it as a youth and perhaps as a volunteer. Second, accept and try to live up to the Oath, Law, motto and slogan. No one manages to do this all of the time… well, maybe Jesus… Third, be totally open and transparent with your volunteers, share your goals, vision and concerns with them and ask them to do the same with you. Whatever goals and deadlines you have, be professional and keep them in balance. I held a meeting in December

I have found that money goals were the easiest to reach. When I came to Syracuse in the summer 25 years ago (yes I am old) my predecessor had raised less than $8k in the 'family campaign, with a bit of cleanup we got to about $9.5k but within a couple of years we were raising well over $30k. It was a combination of recruiting the right volunteer to head up the FOS campaign and improved service and visability. Just like respect, support needs to be earned.

Actually, unless things have changed since I 'retired' a youth remains a cub unless graduated earlier, until the end of the school year for grade 5. Youths and/or adults with certain disabilities can remain in Cubs or Scouts beyond the above criteria. I know of a nursing home that ran a Scout program for the male residents.

True, there is less opportunity for movement but also moving up, when it happens often means relocation and for many that means selling one house and purchasing another which is expensive. I served in multiple councils and had a total of 7 residences. (2 mobile homes and 4 homes and 1 rental) Honestly, if I had it all to do over I would probably not go into professional scouting. Easier hours and less stress in many other jobs. My engagement with volunteers gave me many positive experiences and I do feel that many thousands of youths gained positive experiences and personal growth due to my ef

Perhaps if more volunteers understood the demands of the job coupled with low pay they might appreciate their DE more. Also, with the national decline in volunteerism (in all areas, not just BSA) DE's are finding themselve trying to do what used to be volunteer functions just to hold a district together. There is no question that district volunteer manpower should be a major concern. Of course very few units these days have adequate manpower even at that level.

Well, you know that working for the scouts as a unit serving exec means you have a hundred or more 'bosses' to answer to and a 50 hour work week seems like a vacation. A few years ago the entry level pay was still under $40k and I doubt that it is much above that today. Young people with college loans are hard pressed to cover their basic living expenses at that rate. There is high turnover in the profession and I even know of some folks with decades of experience that are considering getting out. Constant deadlines for events, goals and quotas that sometimes don't seem to make any sense and a

Check out the Federal Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act https://www2.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/boyscouts.html school districts are required by federal statute to provide the same access to scouts that they allow for any other outside group. If they bring in outside agencies, distribute any sort of flyer for sports, community events or activities that involve any outside group they must do the same for scouts. Don't use this as a club... use it to help them control access to students. Tell them that there are only a couple of groups on the list that might ever ask for any accomo

Sounds like you have experienced a couple of professionals that lacked the temperament and/or training for their position. One of my volunteers told me that the reason she and so many others worked so dilligently for me and for Scouting was because I always said THANKS! That little word means so much to volunteers. I have seen it make the difference between them doubling their efforts or walking away. Volunteers do 'their thing' for many reasons but often it is because of a core belief that they are making a positive difference for kids and for their community. There are a lot of professionals

Some very good points. Unit support/service is, of course, the crux of volunteer concerns. Good emphasis on quality Commissioner service. I think empowering the unit leadership to provide a high quality program experience is critical to unit health and membership retention. This is particularly true at the Cub level where a youths (and parents) interests need to be met from grade K to grade 5. I would hope that every professional at every level really looks at what is happening in direct support of units and the delivery of a high quality program experience.

My recent post on Scoutreach turned negative on professionals. Please note: that is not what this post is for. Background: I became an 'idealistic' district exec out of college back in 1971. I was fortunate to have outstanding mentors in my Scout exec and Field Director. 6 years later with 3 council experiences as a DE and SDE I left for 8 years but during that time I became a unit commissioner and then a Pack Committee Chairman. Upon returning to the profession I had a pretty good idea of what I expected and needed from my professional and translated that to how I served my volunteers. I thin

Actually, AOL includes 6 months in 5th grade which starts in June which is when the National Office rolls all the grade levels up to the next year. Tecnically a Webelos can get the Arrow of Light in December and cross to Scouts even if only 10 years old. Other times to join Scouts BSA are age 11 or 10 1/2 and graduated grade 5.

It is always best to 'go by the book' but reality often has very similarity to what the book says.... in my experience most chartered partners have little to do with 'their units' except to provide a meeting location and sign off on the charter. Usually the original IH and governing body that chartered the unit is long gone, sometimes for decades and the present folks 'inherited' the unit and seldom pay it much attention. Years ago I announced at roundtable that I (their new DE) would be making my IH visits and the volunteers should let me know if there was anything they wanted me to discuss.

I see you have been on the job now for half a year. Probably have figured out most of what you posted. I don’t know what council you are in but I’ll pass on a few ‘tips’ that you are free to use or disregard. First, change CM to MC for Master of Ceremonies… the CM runs the pack meetings and is ‘in charge’ at most events unless a a committee member or other parent is running that. Bring songs, cheers and FUN to the meetings. The CM and CC work closely to pull together the pack annual plan (calendar). The CM along with the den leaders are the program side (mostly) and the committee is the busine

If the leadership decides that the unit can't continue, you are correct in that the charter is to the 'sponsor'. However, the DE needs to follow the proceedures which include meeting with the IH and determining what funds and equipment remain and how they will be dispursed. Generally, funds remaining are to be used for youth programs but if the partner has no other programs then often the funds are held by the local council for a period if the unit is reorganized (seperated/rechartered). Equipment such as camping/flags/derby tracks and such also need to be assigned by the partner.