Girl's Troop YPT Question on a family campout

[dangale 4]

The problem with every parent needing to be registered is the hurdles and costs it takes to do so. They really should create another leadership category beyond SM/ASM/CC for parents who want to participate and help out - no problem on the background checks etc. but at a minimum they should substantially lower the registration fee for this situation (currently about $100/year in our Council). It's hard enough to get parents to become active. At least out here in California, each registrant also need mandated reporter training and livescan, in addition to YPT. Livescan costs ~$35-40 and needs to be a separate livescan from any they may have done for their work or other roles in their life. So all of is a lot of expense and a lot of work load for parents who are often reluctant to begin with to find the time to help. Not to mention, if they register as an ASM or CC, they are supposed to do the position training. BSA making some other role for this situation and having a lower fee similar to MBC would help to some degree with this.

[qwazse 4345]

The other problem with having every parent registered is that some are simply not qualified to chaperone our youth. You need to find a balance. But, especially for girl troops, you need to search through all of the female parents/grandparents/adult siblings to see who would commit to becoming an ASM.

Family camping is kind of a recent trend in BSA marketing. It’s a square peg that takes some pounding to fit in the round hole. Not worth my effort IMHO. The only parents who need to be in camp are those of special needs kids — and then only until the scout learns how to address his/her difficulties independently or with buddies.

[Armymutt 217]

This whole family camping thing after Cub Scouts just sound weird to me.  The only time my family came camping with me was when we went to Kandersteg.  My mom and sisters stayed in he lodge with other family members.  My stepdad was the SM, so of course he stayed with the other adults in their campsite.  The families joined us for a dawn hike, but otherwise, were nowhere around.  I can't imagine having my mom along on a normal camping trip with the troop.  

[DannyG 69]

2 hours ago, Armymutt said:

This whole family camping thing after Cub Scouts just sound weird to me.  The only time my family came camping with me was when we went to Kandersteg.  My mom and sisters stayed in he lodge with other family members.  My stepdad was the SM, so of course he stayed with the other adults in their campsite.  The families joined us for a dawn hike, but otherwise, were nowhere around.  I can't imagine having my mom along on a normal camping trip with the troop.  

When I was a youth, my troop would schedule one or two camping trips per year as "family" events. It would be a fun trip: to the beach, an amusement park, something light and easy. As I remember the scouts would set up camp and operate separately from the parents and family, then we'd join together for the day trip. That's how we ran.

My current troop doesn't schedule any family overnight campouts. With our litigious society, I can understand the danger.

2 hours ago, Armymutt said:

 Now, how did we get here from a thread about family camping?  

I know. Crazy how we got onto the subject legal settlements and abuse from family campouts and YPT. 

[RememberSchiff 3683]

14 hours ago, DannyG said:

 Crazy how we got onto the subject legal settlements and abuse from family campouts and YPT. 

  @DannyG good point.  This topic is Girl's Troop YPT on a family campout.

I split recent "legal settlement and abuse" posts to its own new topic.

Note to OP @dangale

Edited August 31, 2023 by RememberSchiff
locking temporarily

[DannyG 69]

On 8/30/2023 at 10:59 AM, dangale said:

The problem with every parent needing to be registered is the hurdles and costs it takes to do so. They really should create another leadership category beyond SM/ASM/CC for parents who want to participate and help out - no problem on the background checks etc. but at a minimum they should substantially lower the registration fee for this situation (currently about $100/year in our Council). It's hard enough to get parents to become active. At least out here in California, each registrant also need mandated reporter training and livescan, in addition to YPT. Livescan costs ~$35-40 and needs to be a separate livescan from any they may have done for their work or other roles in their life. So all of is a lot of expense and a lot of work load for parents who are often reluctant to begin with to find the time to help. Not to mention, if they register as an ASM or CC, they are supposed to do the position training. BSA making some other role for this situation and having a lower fee similar to MBC would help to some degree with this.

The $60 cost to BSA for adult leaders to register is for the background check and training (theoretically). They are throwing their money away if they don't do training.

My unit told me I would not participate on overnight trips if I did not register, pay the fee, submit to the background check... And we are sponsored by a Catholic Church, which also has their own VIRTUS training and background check.

Yet it seems your unit still has adults participating without registration... Can they register with BSA, forgo the Livescan, so they won't be fully registered in the state but at least they're official to go on trips? Bottom line: National wants records and background checks of adults in contact with scouts.

[AwakeEnergyScouter 247]

There's no real way out of the tradeoff between ease of signup and thoroughly vetting and supervising volunteers.

Yes, more vetting of all volunteers in direct contact with scouts may well make it harder to get volunteers. But there's not really a frictionless, free way to vet them, either. Background checks for all scout-facing volunteers is kind of an obvious way to keep the super-obvious pedophiles out. I mean, keeping kids safe from CSA 101 is don't accept convicted pedophiles into your organization, no?

It's not covering all the bases, but not insisting upon it is... less smart, shall we say.

[Eagle94-A1 2687]

2 hours ago, DannyG said:

The $60 cost to BSA for adult leaders to register is for the background check and training (theoretically). They are throwing their money away if they don't do training.

Not every  council provides free training, outside of the online stuff. And even then, the online stuff leaves a lot to be desired. Heck even the current live classes have watered down materials compared to older courses.

 

And then you got old fogeys who are already trained.

[dangale 4]

I totally understand the need to fully vet all volunteers and don't propose any circumvention to that side of things. My thoughts are that BSA create a new role beyond SM/ASM/CC to cover parents who want to come on select outings and help out, with this new role perhaps lowering the annual fee (our annual cost is more in the range of $100, with additional add-ons by Council beyond the National expense). I don't believe it takes anywhere near $60 per person to do the various background checks and other vetting that are done on new leaders - perhaps I am mistaken but this seems more like a way for National and Councils to cover their overhead expenses. It's hard enough to recruit adult assistance where needed and for some folks, asking them to pay $100/year to volunteer is going to be a disincentive. As for the training, our Council/District offers BALOO, IOLS etc. free ~twice a year and I think that training is fine, although it does require the volunteers to dedicate an entire weekend to attend, which is a challenge for many. I am more thinking about all of the SM/ASM/CC on-line training - it seems like with a new position geared toward the parent who attends and helps here and there, this training is overkill and could be re-tooled to choose the modules appropriate for the "parent helper" role. The important thing is to have them take YPT and have background checks etc. to make sure they are trained in this realm and there are no re flags etc. on their background. Asking them to sit through hours of on-line training more suited for a new SM/ASM/CC is overkill IMO and likely to be a disincentive for them to want to become registered.