Ojoman

I get a lot of 'stuff' from National Capital Area council and I am always impressed... lots of training opps and top unit news. I find that few CO's ever attend District Committee Meetings even though they are an automatic part. Our district committee is comprised of 12-14 individuals that really do not have their own committees. We have put the membership duties on the commissioner staff which is comprised of 4 people serving 37 units that serve over 50 elementary and middle schools and that's not counting private/parochial schools. Your first paragraph summed it all up... If every district was properly staffed and did it's job well Scouting would be far more healthy than it is. God Bless all those volunteers that do try to do their district jobs well... often it can be a frustrating experience which is all the more sad.

I agree that the initial cost does hurt. Worse is when council tack on insurance and service fees. Frankly, if I was a unit leader and council wanted to do FOS I'd be sorely tempted to tell them it's one or the other... I don't like local council fees. I don't like excessive camp fees and 'training' fees. We are getting a new SE in 2 months and I intend to have a sit down with him/her and express myself on several points. The city of Syracuse is lacking for Scout Units. That's 19,000 youths with no Cub, Scout or Venture programs available to them. That is a sin. There are solutions to every problem if folks care enough to find them.

My grandson's sports programs get paid up front... I do agree that some families may find the up front fees to be a hardship but they can put it on plastic the first time around and then budget for the next year or participate in the unit product sale. Also, a unit can give a family a month to get their paperwork together and register. Some councils have programs to assist lower income families and troops could/should have unit savings plans much like a lay away for summer camp and rechartering so families can put a bit down each meeting/week/month. That's what I did as a kid. I recall taking my weekly payment and getting it recorded each week with the ;unit treasurer/scribe. It was good practice for real life and planning for expenses by setting a little bit aside each pay. Where there is a will there is a way! However, we need to get our image back... we need Scouting to be seen for what it is, a great growth opportunity for kids along with adventure, fun, leadership, friendship and citizenship.... Scouting has been overshadowed by a lot of 'stuff' that isn't nearly as good. Scouting needs to be the competition, not shrink from the competition.

Troops are probably more apt to 'create' their own culture and depart from BSA practices. Some troop leaders (like some sports coaches) are controlling or mired in out of date practices. Sadly, in many cases no one will challenge them and their programs tend to be weak and not hold membership. Of course there is the other end where a leader does a great job with his/her junior leaders and oversees a solid, well functioning program with great retention and advancement.

No one? I bet that there are programs brought in by the local police and fire departments and that the PTO has brought in some programs. Some teachers may bring in outside people to do presentations for students and outside groups may run book fairs and other events for the school. Get the PTO and School Board in your court. Sell the benefits at a time when student behavior is becoming an issue including bullying/cyber bullying and other anti social activities are growing. Our school board actually has referred to that law in their rules to reinforce open door policies for BSA. Good Luck

COST ISN'T THE MAIN FACTOR IN LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP, POOR RECRUITMENT, POOR COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS AND POOR RETENTION DUE TO WEAK PROGRAM ALONG WITH A LACK OF LEADERS ARE THE MAIN DRIVERS OF MEMBERSHIP DECLINES. My son pays for my 12 year old grandson, several hundred $ per 'soccer season' and there are several 'seasons' per year. Then there are the 'away games' which can include overnight stays and it is easy for him to drop $2,000 or more in a year. We complain about the new fees and other expenses in Scouting but the program is still cost effective when compared to many other youth activities. True, the 'woke' crowd that painted the BSA as bigoted in the 90's and early 2000's over our leadership standards didn't help and nor did the recent negative PR over the abuse lawsuit and bankruptcy but it is time to put that all behind us and focus on getting back to the business of bringing a quality, family values program to youth and families across the nation. The question isn't, can we rebound? the question is can our leadership, both professional and volunteer, apply themselves to the basics of proper marketing, training, program delivery, recruiting and retention to get the job done? So far the answer is no but we have new leadership and we are out of the woods regarding the bankruptcy so hopefully we can refocus and once more start to grow.

Today, most IH and Co are less than fully functioning and that can be a problem. However, a good unit commissioner that works with them and the unit can change that. Also the annual IH visit that the DE is 'supposed' to do can bring a focus on the program to the IH. Sadly, I think most unit level volunteers think the only training they need is the on line training and BAlOO or Outdoor for troop leaders. Councils/District training committees should be offering everything from den chief training to PowWow and Univ of Scouting and pushing for volunteers to attend. Help from the membership committee and even finance in how to better run a product sale or other means of funding unit program... I'll stop here and look for more comments.

My post on expectations of DE's seemed to draw a lot of interesting responses but program delivery and support is just as much a responsibility of the volunteers at the district level as they are of the DE. I would like to hear from volunteers at all levels as to how effective the district volunteers are and what needs to be done to make it even better. Most districts do suffer from a lack of manpower so that might be addressed too. Thanks

An SE goes through his contacts pretty fast... It's the board that needs direction and ought to be opening doors to donors. I've seen new SE's move mountains, again, if they have the tools, skill and motivation... also, there is a lot more to the SE position which includes directing membership programs and overseeing a dynamic program calendar. New Blood, New Ideas, a new set of eyes on the operation. Having said that, a really solid, productive DE, SE or other staff member is worth whatever it takes to keep them. In the 80's I knew a Scout Exec that bragged he was paying a DE over $40 (at that time some SE's weren't making much more) but they guy just about walked on water. The SE felt it was a positive investment. No other council was going to try to steal him away at that cost. Personally, I wish there were fewer relocations for the families sake. I wish pay scales were better for the DE's and that the 3 years and move on mentality didn't exist.

Short version, pissed off that I was leaving... I had renewed the FOS program at FT. Dix for $5,000 and he wanted me to stay and work the same thing at McGuire AFB. This was back in the mid 70's and that was a lot of $$$$ It was payback of a sort.

My vigil honor name translates to 'likes to talk', after this it may be changed to 'likes to write'... lol I'll make this 'personal'. I started as a professional in Penn's Woods Council out of Johnstown, Pa. I did my youth scouting in the Pittsburgh area. After 3 years I was promotable and went to New Jersey but had family reasons to return to Western Pa and Harry Mangle in Johnstown offered me a position with a considerable raise. My Scout Exec in NJ had me resign my position to accept the new post and then had the NE region block the move. I ended up going to the Pittsburgh Council with a slight cut in pay but now I was in my old stomping grounds. I did quite well but a year later was offered a position as a youth counselor at a correction facility. More pay, regular hours and I was engaged so I made the jump (still had my nose out of joint over the blocked move). Long story short, 8 years later, with kids in cubs the new Scout Exec invited me back into the profession. I took over another district and rebuilt it. I don't count my success as being due to being a local but rather to my prior training and experience including college. The moral, it really doesn't matter if you are local or not if you have the tools and motivation to do the job.

You need to have your DE do this along with your unit commissioner and district membership chairman. They should be on board to assist, especially to save a unit. They need to know what your unit status is and they need to assist in helping turn the unit around!

Back in the 1960's (boy I am old to recall this stuff) there was a membership scandal in Chicago. The purpose of bringing in 'new blood' was/is in part that a new broom sweeps clean so coverups don't continue and bad practices end. Not sure that really works because too often it seems like the good old boys take care of each other... less so now than in past years but still. At the lower levels a seasoned/experienced Sr. Dist Exec should be able to get up to speed quickly, even in a new district setting. I'll quote another pro, Every exec will tell you that they took over a district that was trash and when they left it was doing awesome!' To be honest (and a scout always is) I liked a challenge and was presented with my share. One district had 3/4 of the packs dead or dying and it took me a year to turn that around but I won the leaders respect and you could say they owed me. My Scoutreach program in another district was mostly on paper when I arrived but my new DE and I spent a year rebuilding that and it is one of the things I was most proud of. (sadly, today there hasn't been a scoutreach program there for over a decade). I have seen local people come in and do an awesome job in part because they have a head start on knowing the territory. I could elaborate but there is the 'short' version.

75 Years ago the American Humanics Foundation was started for the purpose of training and educating youth agency professionals. a half a dozen colleges were cultivated to offer degrees in Humanics and many of the professors were past professionals from the BSA. They changed in 2011... (https://nla1.org/donation/) but many of their graduates entered the BSA workforce and were solid professionals. We (I was one) were taught about cultivating community organizations and resources, recruiting and keeping volunteers, fund raising and program development. These are degrees that are much needed in the nonprofit world. The training at Schiff Scout Reservation in New Jersey was also a great help. I'm not so keen on the present professional development courses. Councils might also consider starting a careers Exploring or Venture Crew for older scouts and plant the seeds there for coming into the profession. Summer camp staff is another place to cultivate. Alpha Phi Omega fraternity is a national service fraternity that is associated with BSA and councils that serve areas where there are chapters should/could cultivate positive relationships and engage APO in running merit badge clinics and in doing service projects at camps... possibly even have them sponsor and help run local units or activities. Councils might also check out some of their more successful volunteers at both unit and district levels. Early on in my career I left for 8 years and I was a volunteer during that time and built a pack up from half a dozen families to over 50 and then split off a new pack of 30 as we were getting too big. I learned a lot as a volunteer that I put to good use when I reentered the profession. I guess this is more along the lines of what you were looking for.

Hey now... positive, remember... and yes, a DE should be visable and approachable... and try to live up to the oath and law... of course that is a pretty tall order but we can try...

I found the materials on line that listed the individual cases and included the documents and I did read a fair number to get an idea of how serious the suit was and yes, it was serious but none of the cases I saw included any professionals as abusers (I certainly expect there were some, just not the ones I read) but mainly volunteer adults and in some cases adults that were not even registered but affiliated through the chartered partner or as a relative of a youth member. I would change my mind if you can direct me to the documentation that shows that BSA employees were the abusers in significant numbers. The bottom line is that I don't deny that victims should have had their day in court. Frankly, most of them could probably have gotten a much better settlement if they had sued their local councils individually. I believe there was one case settled for 5 million dollars, perhaps adjusted later to a lower amount but the point is, you are correct that individual judgements were quite substantial. The problem for me is I know literally dozens of individuals whose lives were vastly improved because of Scouting and the BSA because of this suit will now fail to reach 10's and even 100's of thousands of youth that could benefit from the values/teachings and trainings along with the positive mentors in Scouting. I ran an inner city program for over 6 years that served hundreds of Scouts and Cubs and that program no longer exists. The council no longer has the resources to even properly support its traditional unit programs let alone staff and support the Scoutreach program. There was no good outcome in this for anyone but the lawyers and law firms that brought the suit. I'm sorry that you were a part of this dark chapter. I hope you find healing. God Bless

You are correct and I know first hand the measures that were taken in the 70's and 80's to protect kids. I was in the first batch of professionals trained to deliver youth protection training to volunteers that addressed directly sexual abuse and exploitation. I had to check out several 'red flags' on volunteers with similar names and ages to people on the ineligable volunteer list which the lawyers suing us renamed the perversion files... catchy isn't it. The BSA had and has less of a problem than the public school system and virtually zero problem when all the guidelines are followed. Sadly, you wouldn't come away with that opinion if you followed the lurid media reports or watched the NBC documentary. When this was first surfaceing I read an article that concluded that the BSA had the Gold Standard in youth protection conpared to other youth agencies/activities... I still believe that.

Thanks for the update... makes sense so friends of AOL's crossing over can join up with them...

Perhaps...

Meaning no disrespect to survivors... if any youths were abused by council staff then they ought to receive a significant settlement from that council. The vast majority of cases were volunteers that violated the trust of parents, chartered partners and the youth. Those are the ones that ought to be in jail and pay compensation. 1.4 billion divided by 82k comes out to around $1,700 per person on average. That is inadequate for anyone that was sexually abused. Having said that, the vast majority of scouts were not abused and had a positive experience in the program. To force councils to deplete their cash reserves and sell off properties and increase fees to pay damages for abuses committed by pedophiles that lied to get access to kids is not right. I can understand anyone that was abused being angry and frustrated and wanting justice. Personally, the one case I came in contact with in my 30 years as a professional the guy ended up in jail where he belonged. That, at least, put the blame where it belonged.

Personally I think the settlement was a bad deal for the BSA for a number of reasons. The NBC documentary said that of the 2.4 BILLION that the claiments would get 1.4 Billion (average $1,700) and the lawyers would split 1 Billion. Makes a lot of lawyers and law firms very wealthy. Most of the claims (90%) were over 30 years old. Very few cases involved BSA employees or camp staff as abusers so why sue the BSA and not the abusers? The lawyers went for the deep pockets... imagine trying to track down 10's of thousands of predators, many of whom had died and others with little or no assets. In so many cases the BSA employees were 3 or 4 times removed from the incident. The scout might disclose to a leader or parent or other adult and they would contact perhaps the council or chartered partner that would contact the local council who would notify the national office. Most BSA staff at any level really only had hearsay, 2nd or 3rd hand information that might not be allowed in court. Add to that little or no physical evidence. The BSA lawyers didn't do a very good job of defending the National organization. The BSA needed some 'pitbull' lawyers to defend it. I say, go for a new trial. I doubt that the BSA has much to lose and a lot to gain.... as long as they get some new lawyers to represent them.

What a new DE needs to become a good and effective DE First, the right attitude. Should know what the program(s) is and have had some experience with it as a youth and perhaps as a volunteer. Second, accept and try to live up to the Oath, Law, motto and slogan. No one manages to do this all of the time… well, maybe Jesus… Third, be totally open and transparent with your volunteers, share your goals, vision and concerns with them and ask them to do the same with you. Whatever goals and deadlines you have, be professional and keep them in balance. I held a meeting in December with my Cub Summer Camps key staff for planning and my immediate supervisor (south end of a horse going north) told me this wasn’t program time it was membership time of the year and I informed him that every month was membership, program and finance time. You can’t neglect any area of operations even for a month. Be Prepared by proper planning with the correct people for the jobs at hand. Learn to read people and recruit the right person for the job at unit level and/or district level. Be the Power behind the Throne, give the volunteers the limelight. Always properly thank and recognize your volunteers. Communicate well! Communication is a two way street. Listen, evaluate, respond and do so regularly. Regardless of the size of your district plan on direct contact with your unit level people at least every other month. Remember, two way… in person is best but email and phone also work. Visit your school superintendents and principals and cultivate a solid relationship with them. Help to insure that your units have good access to recruit. Be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm is contagious! Don’t denigrate other professionals or volunteers. Share concerns and successes: worry shared is halved and joy shared is doubled. Do your best and encourage others to do the same… Example is the best teacher. Be approachable and let your volunteers know that you have an open door policy. Always return messages/calls the same day if possible. Let your volunteers know that they are important to you, to the program and to the kids. Always thank your volunteers spouses for sharing them with Scouting. I’m certain I could write much more but this is a good start! I would hope that every new DE has a strong/solid mentor or field director to guide and develop him/her.

I have found that money goals were the easiest to reach. When I came to Syracuse in the summer 25 years ago (yes I am old) my predecessor had raised less than $8k in the 'family campaign, with a bit of cleanup we got to about $9.5k but within a couple of years we were raising well over $30k. It was a combination of recruiting the right volunteer to head up the FOS campaign and improved service and visability. Just like respect, support needs to be earned.

Actually, unless things have changed since I 'retired' a youth remains a cub unless graduated earlier, until the end of the school year for grade 5. Youths and/or adults with certain disabilities can remain in Cubs or Scouts beyond the above criteria. I know of a nursing home that ran a Scout program for the male residents.

True, there is less opportunity for movement but also moving up, when it happens often means relocation and for many that means selling one house and purchasing another which is expensive. I served in multiple councils and had a total of 7 residences. (2 mobile homes and 4 homes and 1 rental) Honestly, if I had it all to do over I would probably not go into professional scouting. Easier hours and less stress in many other jobs. My engagement with volunteers gave me many positive experiences and I do feel that many thousands of youths gained positive experiences and personal growth due to my efforts to support their leaders, run/oversee many programs and build new units. That being said, I look back and I know that my family gave up a lot to support my work. A professional needs to always thank their volunteers in appropriate fashon and it would be nice if volunteers understood the sacrifices their pros make and did the same.