Delayed Merit Badge Sign-off

My son had completed all of the Family Life Merit Badge in 2005 except for returning a letter to the MB counselor from us stating that he had a family discussion with us, his parents, regarding drugs and sex. He had completed this family discussion but never got around to going back to the counselor with the letter. He went back to this original merit badge counselor with the needed letter from us three years after the merit badge had been started. The counselor recently signed the blue card which was then submitted to the scout master. The scout master had accepted it but this card was rejected by the advancement committer member because the counselor in question is no longer a current registered counselor although she had been at the time the work was completed. Can this counselor sign the blue card or does a currently registered counselor have to sign off the one requirement?

Can this counselor sign the blue card or does a currently registered counselor have to sign off the one requirement?

The simple answer is no. Your son, with the help of his SM, will have to find a new counselor. As long as your son has all his paperwork for the badge, the new counselor might accept it but doesn't have to!

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

Or get the past counselor re-registered & problem solved!

If the MB Counselor reregisters, than my problem goes away? I know she would be willing. The work for the merit badge has been completed, it is just a timing and registration issue.

As far as I know, if the counselor re-registers, yes, your problem will go away.

Vicki

Re-registering benefits in two ways - solves your son's problem, plus brings back an additional and experienced counselor to the MB list.

You said 'advancement committee', assuming you meant the troop's adv committee/chair? Interesting. A proactive advancement person would see this as an opportunity to get an easy sign-up for the counselor list. I would ask your advancement person to get a registration form to this counselor to remedy the road block they decided needed to be there. Wow, way to create a problem.

JTS(This message has been edited by jtswestark)

I would like to thank everyone who responded. I am in the process of getting the MB counselor reregistered. This has not yet been run by the scout master and advancement person but I will bring your replies with me. Thanks again. My son is in the process of working on his eagle project and this is the only stumbling block in the way. The MB work has been completed and I hate to see him penalized for a timing issue.

We had this exact issue with a Life Scout that transferred into our Troop. He had gotten a partial MB from his old SM. Same deal, took him a couple years to get around to finishing it. But the SM/counselor was no longer in the area nor in Scouting. I told him to either get another counselor and do it again or get the paperwork to him to register and finish the MB. He took the second option and the Eagle paperwork went through without any hitches. I cant remember how it was realized that the SM/counselor wasnt registered anymore; maybe the SM himself said so and wanted the kid to head off any issues down the road. We were in a different district than the Scout came from, so it is very doubtful anyone wouldve even caught it.

Jack(This message has been edited by jtswestark)

Hello

As a part of my Wood Badge ticket I am putting on a "Medical Merit Badge Midway" for my district. I have the potential instructors for it but I would like to know if anyone has out there has any power point presentations (or other another type) for Medicine, Dentistry, Public Health or Veterinary Medicine? If you do it would be greatly appreciated. YIS CPT John Green