sierracharliescouter

There may be some State-specific concerns going on here as well. In California, (and I think something similar in a few other states), all adults spending more than a minimal amount of time with youth in volunteer organizations have to go through a separate background check than the one done by BSA. This is 16 hours in a month or 32 in a year. This includes any activity, whether overnight or not. All of our registered adults are required to have this additional background check, but other parents are restricted from some activities in order to stay compliant with this law. As much as we would like to be 100% transparent in all activities for all parents, this law makes that not entirely possible unless they do the other background check.

Today I learned that Narragansett Council owned a significant fraction of the State of Rhode Island.

I used to help with FOS. I won't anymore with the massive increase in our local council dues.

I don't know if it's still on the Part C for Sea Base, but it used to have the same weight/height chart as Philmont uses, but there was a line something along the lines of "for adults, we can have up to 20 lbs over these numbers". I don't even recall if I was put on a scale at Sea Base, and I was close to the upper limit on the chart. I guess if you can pass the swim test, a little extra fat will just help you float better...

The huge problem with requiring all adult leaders on every campout to be registered with the unit is the issue of transparency of the program. It basically forces every parent of every scout to be registered if they want to be able to witness the program in action. From a legal perspective, I am more concerned about eliminating this element of transparency as I am of adhering to this strict new rule. Why would I, as a parent, trust adults that I may not know very well to be in charge of my kids when I can't witness first-hand how they handle campouts? There needs to be a reasonable carve-out of this new rule to allow for limited participation of YPT-trained by non-registered parents to see the program in action before committing to register.

I have no idea how you reached that conclusion. Thousands needed medical attention, many or most of whom would not have needed medical care if the event had be properly planned. I heard a report of one fatality from the British contingent, though with an event this size a fatality is always a possibility. Most were financially hurt, because they didn't get anything like the experience they reasonably expected.

Pretty amazing statement to have to say about a scouting organization. I'd say there is a lot of blame to go around. As far as BSA is concerned, if I had the responsibility of sending 600 people to go camping in a foreign country, I'd like to think I'd have been asking more pressing questions ahead of sending the contingent. NCAP exists for a reason. It should be policy that when sending a contingent NCAP standards are compared to the event standards, and decisions can be made about what "good enough" would be, since holding World to US NCAP standards can reasonably be judged as too stringent. I have to wonder if there were any real written "standards" for this event.

Something is lost in translation here..."esophagus"?

What changed, I'm pretty sure, is that there was significant push back on this from the Councils. I know I voiced opposition to this policy and I believe our SE also had problems with the one-night restriction. Simple fact is that in many areas you can't reserve a camp site for a single night on a weekend. So, at a basic level, you'd end up doubling the cost for the campout per night. It is also very stressful to do all the work to set up for a single night, then have to break it down less than 24 hours later.

Good news. Loved taking the train to Philmont. So much less stressful (and cost saving) than flying, or driving for 2 days. Did not love the 7 hour delay on the return trip. (Yes, I know, 24 hour delays aren't unheard of...)

Once again, there is nothing in the BSA Mission that even hints that delivering services to those outside of Scouting can't be done by councils. I assume you are aware that councils are independently formed non-profit organizations, and that as long as they don't violate an agreement they have with National, there is nothing that prevents them from delivering broader services to the community. If I thought these additional programs took anything away from how our Council delivers services, I'd be vocal about it, but I've never seen nor heard a complaint about a unit being disadvantaged because of the existence of these programs.

Tell me, what is the difference between providing a STEM program to Scouts and a similar STEM program to non-scout youth, when it comes to the mission of BSA? And yes, the Council makes some money doing these non-Scout activities. It helps support having the staff needed year-round to provide better programs for Scouts. A Scout is Thrifty. A Scout is Helpful. These programs are highly sought-after by schools who could not dream of running similar programs themselves. I'm also not aware that the "mission" was a be-all-and-end-all criteria for defining the allowable scope of activities performed by units or Councils. We've also picked up a few scouts who were first exposed to scouting through activities their school's participated in through these programs. I can't believe someone is complaining about a Council doing something good for their community while at the same time helping to maintain a stable budget. If you think your council's SE isn't worth what their paying, or the council should be doing more with the resources they have, become the squeaky wheel. Venting here isn't going to change anything.

The SE is responsible for all of the facilities run by the council, whether they are being used for scouts or other groups. In the case of our council, they have worked with the schools to develop and run STEM programs for the schools. The school group is still responsible for supervising their group, but the program is provided (at a fee) by council staff.

Our council runs a variety of STEM camps (overnights) and day-programs for local schools (and home school programs). This puts the facilities to good use during the school year at times the facilities would not normally be used by scout groups.

Something to consider, which may or may not be applicable in your case, is what other services your Council manages/runs outside of Scouts. In our council, there are some very significant programs run that involve school programs across the region, including overnights by non-scouts at more than one of the council facilities. Our SE does have to be involved in overseeing a lot of non-scout programs, involving thousands more youth than just the scout numbers.