RememberSchiff

Maybe. IMHO, nearly all MBC's are already unit leaders/committee members or registered family members in which case they already paid for a background check. I have been unable to recruit anyone outside of scouting to become a MBC. Once they see the paperwork, they immediately are concerned with protecting their privacy. This concern will only worsen with the broader information sharing in the new (2018?) background check form. For my troop's adult leaders, the fee increase in less concerning than the background check form.

From Heart of New England Council (Central Mass): To ensure BSA has the resources to fulfill the promise of Scouting despite increasing operating costs, the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America has made the difficult but necessary decision to increase the annual membership fee effective January 1, 2020 to $60 for Cub Scouts, Scouts, and Venturers, $36 for adult members and $60 for unit charter fees. Every dollar of the national membership fee will go toward the cost of essential services, including liability insurance for those participating in approved Scouting activities, program resources, safety standards, youth protection and personal safety training, and services to councils nationwide to sustain Scouting. The National organization will also continue to develop and improve resources that support our volunteers and youth members such as online registration, Member Care and Scoutbook, which now includes the Den Leader experience to ensure the safe and consistent delivery of Cub Scouting; as well as improvements aimed at simplifying the annual renewal process. The fee increases above are paid directly to the BSA. Including the $12 local insurance fee, that Heart of New England Council announced earlier this year, the recharter fees for 2020 will be: $60 for each unit charter fee $72 for each youth participant in Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing $48 for each youth participant in Exploring $48 for each adult leader (includes cost of background check and Scouting Magazine) The BSA will be sending out additional information through ScoutWire and Bryan on Scouting regarding their need for this increase. We realize that the timing of this increase is challenging for our units. Heart of New England Council’s board communicated our frustration regarding this process to the National Executive Committee. Our council will continue to provide need-based financial assistance that can help a family with financial barriers towards participation in Scouting. We will also provide a method for your unit to request up to 3% in additional popcorn commission for units who need assistance managing this change. Details will be available in November. from FAQ: Q: How will these fees be used? A: Every dollar of membership fees will go to cover the cost of essential services, including liability insurance for members participating in approved Scouting activities, background checks for adult leaders, program development and training resources, continuously updated youth protection and youth safety training, improved IT/digital experiences and services to our councils nationwide.

@5thGenTexan created a new topic with new fees.

Yes, as you observed, we re-schedule or re-locate activities due to lightning where the odds are even less.

Rochester,, MA (SE Mass): The Boy Scouts Haunted Hayride event, planned for Oct. 25 and 26, will be cancelled due to the Eastern equine encephalitis threat levels. In accordance with the Boy Scouts of America Council, camping or overnight events are still cancelled until at least three hard frosts with temperatures of 28 degrees or less have passed and the mosquitos which transmit EEE and their larvae are dead. https://sippican.theweektoday.com/article/boy-scouts’-haunted-hayride-cancelled-year/44480

Okay let's refrain from personal attacks. Hopefully, tomorrow Oct 23, we will have a better understanding of BSA priorities. Thanks. RS @desertrat77 @MattR @John-in-KC

Actually it does. In 2018, that sentence of sharing information suddenly appears : share this information with Company’s current or prospective clients, customers, others with a need to know, and/or their agents for business reasons (e.g., to place me in certain positions, work sites, etc.). The other major change is the CRA is not named! Most of what I am asking appeared in 2012, the last time I signed such an authorization. Use 2012 as template, replace Lexis Nexis and contact information with new agency name (not generic CRA placeholder) and its contact information. Yes, if the BSA changes agency again, a new authorization form is required as it has been in the past. If the right thing was done instead of only "all that is legally required", all volunteers not just those in CA, OK, MN, and NY would receive copies but I can sign a 2012-style authorization and contact the new specified agency if necessary. A provision should be added that if membership is revoked or application is denied that such an inquiry should be at no cost....I know not legally required , but the right thing to do. So the BSA wants my authorization to hire one or more unspecified CRA's to disclose whatever information these CRA 's obtain without my review to persons and groups unspecified until I leave the BSA. Not happening. The BSA overreached in this, perhaps to sell my private personal information which may or may not be correct, perhaps to reduce paperwork when they change CRA's.

Yes, National discloses their membership decision ( yes or "nope, not that guy.") to Council, my unit, and let me add CO, but not the information obtained from my personal background check.

Tweezers from my Swiss army knife works for me, that and staying on the trail.

Remove this sentence "Except as otherwise prohibited by applicable law, I consent to and authorize the Company to share this information with Company’s current or prospective clients, customers, others with a need to know, and/or their agents for business reasons (e.g., to place me in certain positions, work sites, etc.). " Legally, the BSA can perform only the specific personal background checks related to YP which I consent. If I do not consent , no check is done and I am no longer a member. But if I do consent, my information (CRA, etc.) is only to be shared with me. If others want that information, they can submit a request to me stating who they are and reason. All Council and my unit need to know is National's membership decision: approved or not. I understand the BSA may revoke or approve my membership based on the information in those background checks. Either way, the BSA needs to understand I want to fact check that information (same as OK, MN, and NY folk), after all I paid for this screening with my registration fee.

IMO , it could happen. Her REAL EBOR may raise concerns over this and the appeal process takes time. She may miss the first class of female eagles deadline.

Good , remove that clause. This would give the accused and his/her attorneys time to review the CRA, any other documents , and respond. Over the years, we have had a few good people rejected for reasons unknown and no appeal. If Council knew, they were not saying. Second point, understood. If I reject their conditions, I am free to serve elsewhere. Well at least there is no "do not disparage" clause , well not in writing anyway. Where would I be then?

Not sure of the legal options, but can the BSA 1. obtain a cease and desist order against the New York assembly member and others from holding fraudulent BOR's? 2. Revoke memberships of any scouts and scouters knowingly participating in fraudulent BOR's?

The article I read including photo of EBOR. https://patch.com/new-york/southampton/young-woman-takes-next-step-eagle-scout-rank-despite-pushback "Those present for her Board of Review were NOW-NYC President Sonia Ossorio, Scout Leader Jim Nedelka, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, NOW-NYC Board Chair, Judi Polson, and Taylor Abbruzzese, MSW, she said."

Yeah, maybe instead of red,white,blue ribbon - green and gold ribbon, like James E. West Fellowship Award knot ($1000). <--- satire

This topic is now reopened. Ms. Ireland is now over 18, an adult. OP: @Jameson76 CR: @mrkstvns @desertrat77 @MattR @NJCubScouter @John-in-KC

I have wondered if FBI's National Instant Crime Background Check System (NICS) could be extended beyond firearm purchases.

I have been very impressed with the Lithuanian Scouts Association in the Boston area . I believe they have enclaves in Chicago and a couple other US cities. Update 5/16/2020: https://lituanica.us/ Lituanicos Tuntas serves the Lithuanian Boy Scouts in the Chicagoland Area. We are chartered BSA Troop 113 of the Tall Grass District in the Pathway to Adventure Council. Our base is at the Lithuanian World Center in Lemont, Illinois.

Depending on increase, I may not submit the form. If I do, I will cross out objectionable conditions and check the box for the report. What could happen? 1. The form will be lost or go unread and National will keep registration fee and proceed regardless. Wonder if they sell my personal info to marketing companies? or 2. National drops my membership and keeps registration fee. or 3. National drops my membership and refunds my registration fee.

I would like a copy of my CRA report and any other information the BSA uses to determine my membership qualification. From the form, only MN or OK residents are provided this courtesy due to their state laws. I do NOT consent to sharing this information with any unnamed "clients, customers," who have no stated justification regarding a "need to know". https://www.hoac-bsa.org/Data/Sites/1/media/disclosure-forms/additional-disclosures-and-background-check-authorization-not-california-hoac.pdf

"The best way to learn how to not get lost is to let yourself get a little lost once in a while. " Nice story about scouts leading and adults stepping back. https://highlandscurrent.org/2019/10/15/out-there-and-the-teens-shall-lead/

Locally, we have done this with school Veterans Day observance activities. Do my duty...country .

Now that's the ticket... ....Say that's a ticket idea for aspiring WBers. With pride, I was part of a group of scouters that built a latrine. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far,far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known. A lot of Field of Dream whisper lines during construction.

Yes, back in the day, we looked forward to our annual fall (Indian Summer) outing at scout camp - latrine and water at campsite, tent platforms, a phone up at ranger house. Luxury. IMO, if all camp fees stayed with the camp , say a separate camp cost center, camps would be self-sustaining. I remember as ASPL to book the above outing, I called camp ranger and paid fee when we arrived Friday night. No council web app, server,... Lean summer camp payroll, still CIT's did not pay for the privilege of working at camp. Thrifty. But back to the OP, for us since Cub camping is family camping , not "Council organized family camp", number of nights is a non-issue. My $0.02

Author Dr. Henry Hamrick’s relationship with Bud Schiele was established in the late 1950s and 60s at the Piedmont Boy Scout Camp on Lake Lanier near Tryon. Schiele was the chief scout executive for the Piedmont Council and directed the camp during those years. Hamrick made his first trip to Lake Lanier when he was 9 years old, and after spending a few summers there as a camper, he returned for several more as a counselor. It added up to eight consecutive years of his life that he would never forget, as he helped scouts earn merit badges by teaching skills such as swimming, lifesaving and woodworking. Schiele, a native of Philadelphia, was a self-styled naturalist and botanist who amassed an impressive collection of wildlife, rocks and minerals in the decades after he moved to Gastonia in 1924. He was 67 years old in 1961 when he used that trove to found the Gaston County Museum of Natural History, which was renamed in his honor four years later. Its opening was a culmination of a lifetime devoted to studying, cataloging and preserving nature. “A lot of my book focuses on how he came to Gastonia, how he got started, the odds he faced, and how he recruited a lot of leaders in churches and businesses to support scouting,” said Hamrick. Dr. Henry Hamrick’s book also delves into the important role that Lily Hobbs Schiele had in supporting and enhancing her husband’s endeavors, particularly with respect to honoring Native American cultures. “I think people will find that Mr. Schiele was a true leader, an organizer, and a man of great principal, and that he truly believed the Boy Scout movement was something that would help the youth of the country to become better adults,” said Hamrick. “And Mrs. Schiele was right there and on board with all of that.” “Boy Scouting in the North Carolina Foothills, 1909-1958” spans 140 pages and should be available later this month or in November. It is being distributed by Itasca Books, and interested readers can obtain a copy by calling the company at 1-800-901-3480. More at source: https://www.gastongazette.com/news/20191013/new-book-pays-tribute-to-bud-schiele-legacy-of-scouting