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Leadership Roles while a Unit Participant


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One of my Scouts is working toward his Eagle while on a special needs extension.  He is on our roster as a Unit Participant.  Can Unit Participants hold leadership roles and if so, do I enter them in SB in the normal way ?  His BOR date for Life was after he turned 18.  Does that affect anything with regard to Leadership Roles?  It hasn't affected his ability to advance...we can still add MB's, rank req's, etc.  It's the Leadership Roles I'm worried about for the potential of date conflicts between he as ScoutsBSA and Unit Participant.  Thanks All !!

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6 minutes ago, Alec27 said:

One of my Scouts is working toward his Eagle while on a special needs extension.  He is on our roster as a Unit Participant.  Can Unit Participants hold leadership roles and if so, do I enter them in SB in the normal way ?  His BOR date for Life was after he turned 18.  Does that affect anything with regard to Leadership Roles?  It hasn't affected his ability to advance...we can still add MB's, rank req's, etc.  It's the Leadership Roles I'm worried about for the potential of date conflicts between he as ScoutsBSA and Unit Participant.  Thanks All !!

I would register the participant as an assistant scoutmaster. I had an ASM with special needs when I was a scout (long before that term was used), and he was great! Going from youth to adult positions of responsibility at age 18 used to be the default trajectory just a decade or two ago. And in the 50s and 60s, a few ASMs could complete their work for Eagle — often after their scouting career was interrupted by a deployment.

This “unit participant” is new to everyone, and is used so that BSA can continue its half-century ageist policy of maintaining Eagle as a youth award. I take that to mean that while “unit participant” one can earn merit badges, perform service projects, camp, hike, and hold youth positions of responsibility. I think that would be especially true of special needs scouts.

All the best to your scout. Let him know he has a stranger on the internet rooting for him!

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He is a "Unit Participant" because (most likely) he is "registered beyond the age of eligibility"  This designation allows him to continue to participate in the Youth Program, and earn badges and ranks for as long as he wishes to.  You should (should, that is) not have any difficulty entering Positions of Responsibility into Scoutbook while he is in this designation.  If you do, please post here, and we will highlight this as an issue for the Scoutbook Development Team.

Do not register him as an ASM.  (Or any other adult position!!)  This will remove the ability to work on badges and ranks.  The Scout himself (and family) makes the call as to whether to continue as a youth or an adult.

Call your Registrar if you have any questions on this Scout's status.

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5 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

He is a "Unit Participant" because (most likely) he is "registered beyond the age of eligibility"  This designation allows him to continue to participate in the Youth Program, and earn badges and ranks for as long as he wishes to.  You should (should, that is) not have any difficulty entering Positions of Responsibility into Scoutbook while he is in this designation.  If you do, please post here, and we will highlight this as an issue for the Scoutbook Development Team.

Do not register him as an ASM.  (Or any other adult position!!)  This will remove the ability to work on badges and ranks.  The Scout himself (and family) makes the call as to whether to continue as a youth or an adult.

Call your Registrar if you have any questions on this Scout's status.

So far so good.  SB is letting us enter the leadership roles and the day counter looks accurate.  Fingers crossed when it comes time to populate into his eagle app, but so far so good.  Thank you !!

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47 minutes ago, Alec27 said:

So far so good.  SB is letting us enter the leadership roles and the day counter looks accurate.  Fingers crossed when it comes time to populate into his eagle app, but so far so good.  Thank you !!

The Scout can always download the Eagle Application and fill it out themselves if there are issues. Just have a paper copy of the info ready.

 

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1 hour ago, Alec27 said:

So far so good.  SB is letting us enter the leadership roles and the day counter looks accurate.  Fingers crossed when it comes time to populate into his eagle app, but so far so good.  Thank you !!

You can go to Reports and generate an Eagle app right now to give it a look-see.

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