RememberSchiff

So a Scoutmaster run, Eagle mill troop. Scout is prevented from experiencing non-camping, Scout activities. From my experience, by the time a scout matures and realizes his troop will not correct these flaws, he has turned 13 or 14 and leaves scouting all together to follow his interests. My read is that becoming Eagle is not your son's interest (at least right now), rather Dad's. This SM sees this and the friends and so has the upper hand. You will not be able to fix the troop. Find another troop or activity. Explore other nearby troops or youth groups that have the activities your son likes and see if you can manage an invite. Say Troop B is going to the Air & Space Museum and needs at least 3 more scouts to attend, do you think you and your buddies would like to go? You would really be helping Troop B as otherwise they might have to cancel. Suggest to your son that he move up the timetable and look at other activities inline with his interests. Some scout camps now have provisional day camps for scouts. Drop him off in the morning, pickup in the afternoon. Though rare, your son can be a member of more than one troop. Divorced parents sometimes have this arrangement. Never seen it within the same council. The monthly troop activity need not be camping. Some PLC's plan community service or a day outing instead. And then there are fundraisers. There is a tendency with control freak SM's (coaches too) to over-schedule and have attendance requirements in an attempt to prevent scout's from straying into the other activities in his world and leaving the herd, I mean troop. Totally wrong-headed. Support your son's needs and interests. Keep it fun for both of you, these times will not come again. My $0.02

I hear what your saying. This is becoming a dog mess waiting to be stepped in. Here's an interesting read "What are a church’s responsibilities when they host Boy Scouts?" http://www.churchadminpros.com/scouts.htm

Strange there is no information collected about unit finances at chartering. For example does the CO or unit have an EIN, Who is the treasurer.. Where is the unit checking account(s)? What unit financial information should be documented at rechartering? Unless there is a downsizing of the IRS, I expect increased IRS oversite into charitable non-profits. If the FBI can ask for membership information from a Council, I imagine the IRS can ask for unit financial information from Council Another $0.02

B.P. must have visited Iowa.

For scouts, just a functional, full size, square troop necker and a scout baseball cap. Rank can be on slide (woggle) and POR on cap. Troop performance (wicking) t-shirt. Merit badge sash. No special uniform shirt, pants, belt, or socks. Done. For SM, ASM's, just a full size, square troop necker and a Smoky campaign hat or ball cap. Troop performance (wicking) t-shirt. MIght go along with a "utility belt" which had a first aid kit, cellphone/tech. Made in USA. Thrifty, simple, fun. For those who want a military-like uniform, there is CAP, Young Marines, JROTC,,. My $0.02

Not all CO's (e.g. fraternal organizations) incorporate and hence have no EIN. Whether this is done legally is between the CO and the state and IRS. For example, as I understand if the fraternal organization had a fundraiser then it would loose its exemption and would be required to have an EIN. Anyway, that's my understanding another $0.02.

Something like this. I use humor to put scout at ease. I do try to be accurate regarding his name and his unit. [video=youtube;jdWO9ozir1Y]

Show me a committee with only one vote and I'll show you a one person committee.

Granted dual signatures are not perfect but it is still better than allowing the Treasurer to easily withdraw money as if it is his or her personal checking account. Another consideration, if the second signature is forged or if there is two person conspiracy, criminal intent is clear and prosecution is easier. Besides as mentioned earlier, dual signatures for unit checking accounts is BSA policy. Showing cancelled check images to your CC is another imperfect but good idea. Imperfect as the money is already gone and second those images can be edited. Both imperfect measures demonstrate the Committee's honest attempt to protect the troop's assets, which is after all the Committee's, not just the treasurer or CC, responsibility. Another $0.02,

Suppose you wrote a fraudulent check to yourself or others, without dual signatures required, how soon would this be discovered if at all? Withholding/diverting a cash deposit is another concern even with receipts, it would be helpful to post an IOU deposit transaction to bank at time of receipt. We don't use accounting software apps; we are a small unit and as noted training is a hurdle we don't need to filling the Treasurer position. Another $0.02

Mostly the only time we see cash is during fundraisers and that is documented by the sales transaction and resulting deposit. We did have a cash receipt book a long time ago. A scout paid $x for dues or campout and a receipt was generated. Maybe a practice we should bring back for the few transactions where checks are not used. Or have these methods been replaced by credit cards, PayPay, Apple Pay, BitCoin? Our unit can't handle any of those methods.

Not entirely well, some checks would sit for months in the SM's attache case. Some parents insisted that payments be deposited after meetings, so the Treasurer got in the habit of collecting payments at Troop and Committee meetings and then an after-hours deposit at the bank. This worked for most situations but fundraising which often requires change and occurs at different times and with different adults remains problematic.

Can I come? Ask about rabies and other sick animals and what scouts should do. How to be safe in the outdoors (hiking, in water, in a boat). How to stay found. Ask about non-native species (boas, piranha), invasive plants (how is DisneyWorld (and other zoos) allowed to plant bamboo?). Killer bees, fire ants. Ask about protected species (manatee) Ask about how to get a fishing license and the rules. Ask how scouts can help dept. Impact of weather and pollution on wildlife. Very cool. Recommend scouts/parents write down their questions in advance on 3x5 to make efficient use of time.

Haven't found dual signatures burdensome as checks are signed either at troop meetings or Committee meetings. The Treasurer (TC) cannot make any payments not expressly approved by TC so after a vote at Troop Committee meeting (TCM) is a good time to dual sign checks. You do need a bank that can diligently handle dual signature checks. We units are thankfully not like Council , any troop adult can raise an issue with Treasurer, see the troop budget and bank statements. The whole Troop Committee has the opportunity to look at the current bank statement at each TCM, not just the CC. Unit Treasurer responsibilities are similar to handling a home checking account - deposits, withdrawals, record keeping. Just say no to add-on responsibilities that are not part of the job, e.g., FOS, bill collecting, scout accounts are now gone (IRS). If 1 year term is too short, how about 2 years then? I have seen too many problems with Treasurers and Committees who consider the position a lifetime appointment. "I've been doing this for x years and no one has ever asked/questioned/..." Another $0.02

Our Troop Committee notified a scout that they did not "approve" his selected Eagle adviser, another adviser would need to be selected and approved Our SM quickly correctly that. You need to stand up and right the wrongs. My $0.02

Fiscal Policies and Procedures for BSA Units FAQ is a good start: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/pdf/Fiscal_Policies_Procedures_BSA_Units.pdf Alot of practical, common sense information "Treasurer - Good Practices" http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Treasurer_-_Good_Practices IMO, the critical measures: 1. As with all leader positions, GET THE RIGHT PERSON - SOMEONE WHO WILL FOLLOW THE ABOVE COMMON SENSE (and IRS) POLICIES. No corporate control freaks please..And if a prima donna will not follow the policies, replace that person with the RIGHT Person. 2. Dual signatures for all checks and other account withdrawals. 3. The WHOLE Unit Committee is responsible for financial oversight so the Treasurer must bring the latest real bank statements and the unit check ledger/book to Committee meeting. No transcriptions to a spreadsheet. Real balances and transaction histories should be reviewed. 4. THRIFTY - look at all expenditures. Are you re-registering dead wood adults at recharter? I have recommended the following for every non-profit that I am involved 1. Treasurer should be a 1 year term position with a new RIGHT person each year. 2. At least 3 authorized signatories with two of those 3 required for every check or cash withdrawal. 3. Temporary cash withdrawals should have exact amount matching deposits. So say the troop needed $200 cash for change at Popcorn Show-n-Sells. Two signatories withdraw $200 cash for popcorn sale. Unit takes in $427 that day. There should be two deposits of $200 and $227 and not one deposit of $427. This makes auditing easier. 4. Periodic account reconcilation (audits). Don't assume TRUSTWORTHY where money is involved, rather Trust, but Verify. Yep been burned more than once. My accounted $0.02

Yes that is a great scouting site as is Kudu's (where is he?) website. http://inquiry.net/

Update: No information on requirements. Estimated release is now first quarter 2015,

Our unit started brainstorming about summer camp last night. The suggestion was made to try the Summit summer camp, aka National Scout Camp even though we knew there would added travel time and expenses. Went to the webpage and found the following: "25% adult leader discount for first two leaders ($299) and for additional adult leaders for every 10 additional Scouts". Yikes, deal killed even before we got to the med forms and liability paperwork. For the council camps on our list, those two adult leaders attend free and if the camps would even think of charging adult leaders - Provo or Nogo. So we will be Thrifty, no Summit summer camp for us.

Okay, so responders say 0 change in membership, no one has mentioned an increase. If this merger goes through, it will be interesting to see where the council office will be as for many, the council camps are closer than the Mohegan Council office. I believe Pine Tree Council (Maine) moved their council hq to Camp Hinds and Knox Trail (Mass) is moving to Camp Resolute. I hope that trend continues. As for brick and mortar scout stores, I think they are heading for extinction.

Is the adult leader's name in some way different on the charter doc than his YP, e.g., Bob on one, Robert on the other?

My concern is in improving boy scout membership, that is where I believe we have the greatest impact on youth character and skills development. Around here we have seen up spikes in young Cub Scout membership but that declines in Webelos through cross-over. Burn-out, sports, the usual suspects. So yes 90% of our Boy Scouts come from Cub Scouts whether we get 1 new scout or 12 each year, but more Cub Scouts has not translated into more Boy Scouts at least not around here. So my question does anyone know of a councils merger that increased the number of boy scouts in that area? This is a goal of this merger. If so, did it take a year, two, five? My gut tends to believe that mergers at the council or unit level more often reduce scout membership than increase it.

Mohegan and Nashua Vallley Council are in talks to merge. After reading the QA released, A Case to Better Serve the Youth of Central Massachusetts. http://www.mohegancouncilbsa.org/council-merger-qa/ and taking aspirin, I wondered if any Council mergers increased the number of Boy Scouts in the affected area in a year, 3 years, 5 years? Don't want to hear about Cub Scouts or Scout Reach numbers. Just wondering.

Memory disabilities are not uncommon. Ask the scout to repeat after you (short term memory) , the Pledge of Allegiance, Oath, and Law. In severe cases, you may have to speak one word at a time. After he repeats, have him explain the meaning, etc, We have had scouts who could not fully remember these oaths at their BOR but they could remember their meaning. Encourage and build confidence. From what you wrote, I see no need to file for alternative Tenderfoot requirements. Whether the scout is interested in Eagle is irrelevant.