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I'm happy to see so many Councils putting out statements these last few days basically saying that they will not check birth certificates and that all youth are still welcome in Scouting. Once again, local has to do what National doesn't. Can't say I'm all that surprised, really. But it's nice to see so many Councils supporting our youth members, ALL members.

I wish. My troop folded in December after years of begging council for help. They said they needed to start new units instead of helping existing one. They didn't like the fact that I told them that National predicted membership and units would decline for a few years after the lawsuit before stabilizing, and that it is easier to keep a stable unit going than start a new on. And at my new troop's meeting tonite, we had visitors from the only other existing troop in town. They are joining us on a camp out this weekend. Oh we know what is causing the problem, we are not recruiting. And Council is not helping us in this matter. One CST's stats. Look like those councils with metro areas are doing well. Rural areas not so much.

Chicken or Egg? When adults lead the troop, the Scouts would rather be on their phones. If the parents are forcing them to be there, then are the parents also expecting the adult volunteers to baby sit? Its both counter-intuitive and a self reinforcing negative feedback loop. Its especially bad when the SM has a weak ego, sometimes feeling like the parents are out to get him/her. Weak ego usually leads to control issues. Though the weak ego can be the driving factor. The spouse in a key position or supporting position as it could well be co-dependency. Narcissist types also tend to seek each other out for mutual benefit/protection so watch-out if your SM, CC, & CoR are long-time scouters in a adult-led unit with anti-parent sentiments. And... “Boards of Review Must Be Granted When Requirements Are Met” though my interpretation is scheduled to occur promptly. The overarching issue to not intentionally delay advancement.

Heard second hand that a member of the national executive committee was at a council leadership summit and told people that the membership for scouts from military families was something they had already been working on and that there were large donors lined up to cover the costs. If accurate this should actually help with overall membership numbers, as I am sure there are a lot of kids out there who would like to join but the program is out of reach on a military salary.

I guess that all depends on where you are located. The goal here is for each of our districts to add at least one new unit each quarter, with an emphasis on every current charter having both a pack and troop. We are also putting an emphasis on contacting every family who had someone not renew their membership, find out what caused them to leave, and see what we might be able to do to bring them back into the program. If units, districts, and councils continue to just look at declining numbers and not look at why they are declining and work to mitigate those reasons, the decline will continue.

Some minor good news, sort of. Received email from Trust that they tried to send me a modest wire today, but it was rejected because of who knows what at the bank. Will call them tomorrow. But something is moving.

Add those numbers to the loss of formality paying military members, and the shortfall gets worse. Looks like we are in a death spiral: fewer members lead to higher dues, which lead to more member losses. We will likely follow the Girl Scout lead, with maga-sized councils and less council contact. Single units covering large areas

The 650,000 was a membership snapshot number posted on Scouting Forums before they closed it to general discussions. It wasn't from NAM. The NAM reports use annual numbers which for multiple years during and post Covid were artificially inflated for a variety of reasons.

I dunno, but in my career as a Federal manager, we were always taught that if we "suffer (require) OR permit" an employee to do work for the employer, it falls within the scope of employment and they must be compensated, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This was highlighted during furloughs or shutdowns when we had dedicated employees volunteer to keep coming to work to be able to "keep up" and in, some cases, the workplace was their life and they had few other options. So, by that standard anything the Professional does related to Scouting could be considered within the scope of their job, even if it's volunteering in their own kid's unit. I don't see anything wrong with that, just that it would seem to violate the terms of the SB award.

The current group of professionals and key volunteers know how (in some cases) to raise money. Grow program, not so much. Sad part is they are raising money on the nostalgia of the BSA, not the current BSA No real effort being made to add units or expand the program. Lots of excuses as to why membership decline, just no real honest effort to make updates so people (families) may want to buy what is being sold

Those slides from 2024 NAM. You'll notice the projection for end of 2025 was 1,224,000, all programs. Actual 2025 end was 907,950, so 25.8% below projected.

That was in Scouts only, not all programs. All programs 2020 was about 1 million. https://nam.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/05/Change-the-Way-We-Work-Together.pdf

Thank you for posting numbers. The nadir during Covid was at one point around 650,000, but that low included a lot of paused not lost memberships.

Taking out the LFL numbers, we now have 748,061 members in all unit based programs. Last time it was that low? 1933

UPDATE: 01 March ended the grace period for those memberships which expired on 31 Dec. Those expired memberships have now dropped off the rolls. Let's look at the updated numbers now... As of 03 March, numbers pulled moments ago... Same Month Last Year: 980,311 (Mar 2025) all programs... Total Current Youth: 781,539 (Mar 2026) a 20.28% drop from last year. Last Year End: 907,950 (This is the 31 Dec 2025 number in the system.) This changed by +1 from previous reports. (weird, huh?) Dec 2024 End of Year number was: 986,520 These numbers include Learning for Life, 33,478 on the books now.

Nope Citizenship was taught pretty well for decades primarily in the outdoors

You can do this through means other than sitting and discussing or visiting web pages. The issue is that as constructed, the program continues to add Eagle required MBs that are classroom style, including Citizenship in the Society. Just look at UK scouts, many of their requirements begin with take part in.... Compare to BSA citizenship badges. I've been scoutmaster for over 15 Eagle Scouts, my dad is Eagle, I'm and Eagle Scout, my son is an Eagle Scout. Overall, I believe in the program but we need more focus on aspects of the program that make unique and less on being school 2.0

Sounds like you're saying they need to change the stated Mission and Vision of the org: "Scouting America will prepare every eligible youth in America **to become a responsible, participating citizen** and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law." https://www.scouting.org/legal/mission It's fine if you think that, but understand Citizenship is a CORE part of the Vision, so it's a MAJOR suggested change.

I think this is one of the problems with scouts. Adults are more oriented towards what kids "should" know and "should" do vs. what they want to do, or they are stuck on nostalgia for the way things used to be for them -- how they experienced it, how they led it. As the outdoors program continues to wane in importance and variety, adults are boring youth out of the organization.

Not necessarily. I see a local team play and there are outfield grass you pay to watch from. You watch through a chain link fence.

See application here https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/92-103.pdf Nominations will not be considered for current or former professional Scouters within five (5) years of their leaving employment with Scouting America. Other council employees (part time or full time) are eligible to receive the Silver Beaver Award based on their volunteer service, not employed service.

If memory serves, there is a 5 year period that professionals are ineligible after leaving the profession. Do not know if any restriction on non professional staff, ie. office staff, rangers, etc. I do know of one SB recipient who was nominated before being employed by the council, but by the time of the awards ceremony, they were the camp ranger.

And they are watching people playing a competitive game where the best players have been selected based on their abilities. Everyone does not get to play, because everyone is not equal in that endeavor. How ironic...

I'm a "Life for Life" that got to 19 MBs. The primary ones I missed were the Citz in Com/Nat/Wrld. If you had your way, I'd probably be an Eagle today, but I still respectfully disagree with you. When I review those requirements now as an adult - I disagree that I got the same experience in high school (which I did finish). I did not: Citizenship in the Community: - learn the history of my community (req 1) - "Attend an in-person meeting of your city, town, or county council or school board, local court session; OR another state or local governmental meeting approved in advance by your counselor. " (req 2) - "volunteer at least eight hours".... at a" charitable organizations outside of Scouting" (req 7) - "Develop a public presentation (such as a video, slide show, speech, digital presentation, or photo exhibit) about important and unique aspects of your community" (req 8. ) ...and that's just the 1st of those badges. I'm happy to drop it and agree to disagree - but my experience has been different from yours, and I believe there's value in all 3 of the current Citz. MB's. Edit: After I posted this on a re-read, I want to acknowledge you did say "Citizenship in Community provides value and is often missed in school". So we're at least in agreement on that. Thank you.

Question: Don't all three pictures show them not paying to go see the game? (stealing) While everyone paid for their seats.