PACAN

@David CO There are certainly scouting professionals that leave a lot to be desired. The Peter Principle applies in many cases at the SE level. This happens in lots of organizations including Congress for sure. There are many issues with professional scouters. One I've seen over and over is zero training in Customer Service and how to trust volunteers to do jobs. "No you can't collect the $5.00 fee for the Pinewood Derby...I have to sit here for 4 hours writing out $5 receipts to the 50 scouts who are here". The Executive Boards are neutered either by design or they just give up.

Council or Unit Assets Upon Dissolution Consistent with the Bylaws, in the event of the dissolution of a council or the revocation or lapse of its charter, the Executive Committee may, at its option, authorize the National Council to assume charge of the affairs of the council and continue operation pending reorganization or re-establishment of the council or wind up the business of the council. All funds and property in the possession or control of such council must be applied to the payment of the council’s obligations. Any surplus funds or property may thereafter be administered as deemed to be in the best interest of Scouting. In the event of the dissolution of a unit or the revocation or lapse of its charter, unit funds and assets must be used to first satisfy any outstanding unit obligations. Any remaining assets obtained with funds raised in the name of Scouting must be redeployed for Scouting use in the local area. Any assets obtained with funds from the chartered organization or parents of registered members may be redeployed as agreed upon by the chartered organization and local council. Any property or funds acquired by the National Council upon the dissolution of a Scouting unit or local council will be administered so as to make effective, as far as possible, the intentions and wishes of the donors.

Not to worry..National is going to hire another 6 figure exec as the national Chief Communications and Marketing Officer

@CynicalScouter PM me

One standard might be total youth served...after the significant membership losses in which all councils were affected, there are 75 councils with less than 2000 youth and 29 of these less than 1000 and as low as 200.

Been saying this for years....Allow units to go to the best provider. The franchise model we are locked into has failed.

I forgot JTE Gold is all we need!!🤣

Trying to find the LEAD part in this consultant produced PLAN. Members of this forum could do better than this but the folk in Texas wouldn't like what we came up with.

Are there no minimum standards now?

Citizenship in the community (7c) requires 8 hours of service that requires the scout to do the volunteer work for the charitable organization the scout has researched as part of the first two requirements of number 7. This requirement is not intended for random service projects in multiple areas. The rank service requirements are better suited for those.

This program still exists today...now called scout reach and/or urban scouting. 😉

What are your thoughts about councils running Virtual Summer camps which are really MB events ? Prices? I've heard of $5 up to $25 per badge . Also seen where they charge for Totem Chip and Fireman Chits and early scout skills. A few other evening events such as a campfire and OA socials.

So what happened with this ?

Camp Rodney in Maryland just announced they are closed for the season.

I think you misinterpreted...maybe your experience is different but scouts still procrastinate until the last minute and therefore are only concerned with checking off the last blocks on their MBs. You can yell, scream, jump up and down, cajole and explain keeping ahead of the game but they still do what they do. Eventually it is their responsibility. Why is the average age a scout earns Eagle 17.8 y/o. The value of scouting to me is enormous. Been doing this for close to 50 years. However you cannot get in the middle of a family's responsibility when it comes to their role as parent. You will lose every time. I have had single parents, homeless scouts, ugly divorces, parental deaths and other tragic situations where the leaders have provided a great amount of assistance as far as we could so please take a step back when you ask me why I do this.

@Navybone The point on B-P is that rational decisions and thought processes are devoid in people today. There are folks who want to remove the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial. The question on the pamphlet vs a MB is making it Eagle required is where do you want the BSA to inject itself in this area? My point is early. This will overtime become another last minute MB done to check the block. Also believe it or not we are not the primary influence on a boys life. We see then an hour and a half a week and once a month on an outdoor event if we are lucky. Just as in Family Life MB family meeting requirement there are sensitive topics that are discussed and we are not going to inject ourselves in these. Again JMHO with recognition that nobody asked me and nobody will. Enjoy.

IMHO....this is a family discussion issue just like the YPT pamphlets for Scout Ranks and Cubs. This is not just a BLM issue, it spans across all ethnic and other groups who experience racism possibly including groups we don't agree with? With an almost 600,000 loss of membership in the last year. The BSA needs to focus on their current issues that could put them out of business. Adding an Eagle Required MB is unnecessary. If you want to inculcate this into scouts you make American Cultures a required MB for Tenderfoot. Doing it as the last MB the night before a scout turns 18 does nothing for the scout or the younger guys. Will this be a required line of questioning for the Eagle BOR? All BORs? How do you show diversity and inclusion diversity in your scouting actions? Will the BSA eliminate the OA? Indian Lore MB? Will they remove all references to Baden Powell from the history of the BSA? Does the term Brownsea get axed? Again JMHO.

Just curious....has anyone ever had a potential new Scout's parent tell you that they were joining because this is such a great value and way cheaper than the X activity we were going to sign him up to do.

Commendable that you want the scout to come to his own conclusion. First question "did you read through the entire workbook?" since he is required to attest to that when he signs the Candidate's promise. Page 4 would give him his answer on Routine Maintenance. Your advisor answer to him is no. Remember 9.0.2.3 A good test of any project is to evaluate its complexity.

@Cburkhardt you are very fortunate to have the unit you have with apparently zero resource issues. My guess is that you are in the minority of units. With a 1/3 reduction in the youth membership (LDS included) this year a number of units have likely folded. The continued comparison the "other activities" that middle class families spend their money on is a tired argument. Raising the cost of service is a part of doing business but you cannot assume the "don't worry, be happy" increase will even keep those in the program, in the program. If the service and/or product is not attractive you are done. The organization needs to right size itself. We wil never have 4 million youth again. It needs to do a risk assesssment of the impact of their decision instead of the usual "all in favor" method. These figureheads on the national EB are in the business world where they do risk assessments every day. JMHO.

And don't forget councils will charge their own $66.00 "activity fee" per scout and $42/adult as National has already allowed councils to match up to the National fees last year.

Congrats. you also have figured out the way out of bankruptcy.....they will use the "cent " sent to your council for his paperwork.🤑

I see none of these sacred cows going away. The closest one I can see are STEM scouts Certainly everyone of them on the list need to be evaluated and streamlined. For example...the scout rank requirements have gone beserk over the past 5 years. 2 pages of TF and 3 pages each for 2nd and 1st in the annual requirements books. Example...first aid requirements in each rank...just have FA MB required for TF. Unless your argument is since your can work on all three rans at the same time, why have three. Eagle scout projects procedures and approvals can be streamlined. The process got this way due to units running boys through sucj a meatgrinder to get approval, they gave up. Most of the time it due to one individual who didn't like the scout. CORs are like any other part of the organization, some are great, some are lousy. Turning this over to the councils would be a disaster as the CORs/IHs are one of the few ways units can call foul on their antics. Commissioners and District Committees....problem here is that these individuals do not stay current. I have seen district advancement people who had never cracked open the GTA and Commissioners who didn't know there was a new Eagle WB years after it came out. KILL the Doctorate of Commissioner service program. MB Fairs...the reason there are bad ones is because no one does any oversight from the council and SMs don't do their part to call them out on them. Same goes for summer camps. when the standard on the camp inspection is "do you have MBs here?" it's game over on execution. Council Executive Boards need to step up and do their jobs and not rubber stamp powerpoint presentations and fail to communicate with the units. Enough rambling...as I said the professionals will be so focused on staying alive, they will not do much effort on the rest. No one asked the new guy to tell us what sacred cows he thought should be eliminated either. 🤨

I think dkurtenbach was using Gordon Ramsey as an example that we need some no nonsense, asking the hard questions people cutting through some of these inefficient processes. When a commissioner takes your charter and counts the names and does the multiplcation ($60x20 = 1200) on a separate "special sheet" and then says "that matches your form" it is unneccessary and makes the council look like they think we are idiots. I hit send when the charter says no errors and refuse to participate in their nonsense. My pick would be John McEnroe whose favorite saying to the umpires was "you can't be serious". And then it still takes 4 months to "process" through the black hole

And we counsel MBs not council them