Blue Cards are a restricted item?

[moosetracker]

Our Council use to hand the blue cards to the District chairs stapled in a plastic baggie to the advancement report. When they went to computerized advancement reports, they stopped the practice of taking the stub of the blue card..

 

Husband when he started as District Advancement chair got 2 months of reports with the blue cards attached.. I am glad they are not there because less for my packrat of a husband to store up.. But there are disadvantages too.. For the entire time that the historical badges were offered, no one in our district signed up to be an MBC for any of them.. Yet we processed many, many, many troops earning the Merit Badges, some troops had their boys earn all of them.. Who did they use for MBC?? That was a time when the blue cards would have come in handy to open the plastic bag, see the name and challenge the troop or Counselor on it.. But, currently we just know many troops are using whoever they want for MBCs not going through the process, and we just have to shrug it off. No way to track it.

 

[Abel Magwitch]

http://www.scoutstuff.org/merit-badge-application-card-100-pack.html

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

Councils never "used" Blue Cards. Blue Cards are used by troops. It contains 3 parts. One for the Counselor, one for the Scout, and one for the Troop. If a troop wants to use them, then: use them!

[John-in-KC]

Bnelon44:

 

May we ask what your Scouting position is?

 

BTW, what are you going to do about the Councils who now use computer driven databases to manage MB apps during the summer camp cycles?

 

The card is a program item. No more, no less. It has a price with a profit component for Supply Corporation. Given the number of clone cards out there, I suspect the cost/unit can be driven down substantially with local reproduction.

 

Tell me again how the National Council is going to mandate a program items' use in the field ...

 

[bnelon44]

What I posted is what I know. It doesn't look that National is mandating as much as letting everyone know what the official form is and that they weren't suppose to be making their own up. Now that there are hundreds of different forms out there, and computer programs out there to do this job, national is trying to see if there is indeed a better way. Other than that, I don't know any more than what I posted.

 

My current position is a District Training Chairman and Troop Eagle Coordinator (aka advisor). I have been an adult leader in the program over 17 years and I have a lot of contacts.

 

(This message has been edited by bnelon44)

[moosetracker]

Buffalo Skipper - You can speak for your own council.. Your council never used the blue cards.. Our Council did (along with the required Advancment Report)..

 

 

As Beavah, stated some councils use them. They created their own procedures. I forget which part went to the council. I believe it was the Troop that lost their section, because the scout always got his, and I know MBC's (including me) would rip off their section.

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

moosetracker. What I meant was that on a blue card there is NO part which goes to the council, except prehaps the counselor copy of any underage staff member at camp. I worked as a counselor at camp for several summers back in the early 80s and I handled (along with the camp director) the blue card of every scout who went through my program area; I do not have the counselor copies of these cards as that was kept by the camp. I also have in my possession the blue card applicant of every merit badge I ever earned.

 

Before camp, I issue a Blue Card to every scout for the merit badges he is taking. If the camp does not collect and complete them, then we stamp the blue card (counselors signature) with the camp directors name and date. Partials are filled out by requirement, and returned to the scout with the name of a local counselor with whom they can complete the MB. I usually do this a few days after returning from camp in a meeting with he Advancement Coordinator. It takes a 2-3 hours, but MBs (and the scout portion of the blue card) are presented at the next meeting. Formal cards are presented at the next Court of Honor.

[Beavah]

Yah, Buffalo, you're right, of course. One part for the counselor, one for the boy, one for the troop. But there are districts or councils that expect the troop to turn in its copy with an advancement report. Ostensibly to check signatures or somesuch, but that's a fool's errand in all but small districts with troops that never go to out-of-district events or camps. Mostly they box 'em and pitch 'em.

 

Honestly, I've never found da things a very good record-keeping device, and as I've gotten older it's even harder with how small and cramped yeh have to write. I think the reason yeh see so many alternatives is because folks really want somethin' better.

 

Beavah

 

[sbemis1]

Around these parts the blue cards for the listed merit badges are required when youth apply for Eagle rank. Nothing else (council records included) is acceptable.

[The Blancmange]

 

Around these parts the blue cards for the listed merit badges are required when youth apply for Eagle rank. Nothing else (council records included) is acceptable.

So what happens with a kid who transfers in from a unit / council that does not use blue cards? Is he SOL? At least the adults will feel good about maintaining the integrity of the process.

Did anyone ever consider how preposterous it sounds to tell a scout that we believed you engough to give you the merit badge when the advancement report was turned in, but now our own record of that issuance is worthless?

[bnelon44]

>Around these parts the blue cards for the listed merit badges are required when youth apply for Eagle rank. Nothing else (council records included) is acceptable.

 

I think that would be adding to the requirements and the Scout wouldn't have any problem on appeal.

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

If this is the Council Advancement Committee policy, then the appeal would have to go to National.

 

Sigh. It'd be interesting.

[jtswestark]

Ive always looked at the blue cards as a lost opportunity. Youd think the District would want them to get metrics on their counselors: How many are active, which ones are doing the most, watch for counselors spread too thin, ones not doing any, are they current or needing YP training... If nothing else to verify that the Scouts are using currently registered counselors. At least you could recognize them for their hard work and years of registration! So many possibilities...

 

Who is this guy, Mr. Scoutmaster?

Oh, hes from the ski day we went to on our trip to New York.

What a great idea! Would you be willing to give a presentation at Roundtable about how you did this trip?

 

I was always fearful that anyone could sign the card, and the Scoutmaster may or may not know the person is registered as a MBC. I knew of some cases where counselors were no longer registered but they kept on signing and the SM never knew it, or just neglected to find out.

 

[Eagle92]

JT,

 

That's one of the responsibilities of the district advancement chair to keep the list and make sure all the SMs know who is on it as MBC is a DISTRICT Position of responsibility.

 

And there are other ways of keeping track of what folks have completed. MACSCOUTER.COM gives out great worksheets. I've aslo seen MBS initial MBPs and the old requirements books.

 

 

[moosetracker]

That's one of the responsibilities of the district advancement chair to keep the list and make sure all the SMs know who is on it as MBC is a DISTRICT Position of responsibility.

 

The District Advancement Chair can only do so much. As stated it is a known fact that many Troops just organize their own MB list of people, and don't bother to register them..

 

This started due to the fact that the council software started flaking out with the tracking of MBC's. The council lost all MBC's, then two years later the council lost all MBC's again.. Since then the council will keep this councilors and not those councilors, our registrar is pulling his hair out. He can delete MBC's and add new ones. The next day some of the MBC's took, some did not and some of the MBC's who he deleted have returned..

 

Troops started using MBC they thought were valid, found out they weren't but the council did not say anything about their use.. They got frustrated signing up, then resigning up, then resigning up.. To find they never make it to the list, or are on for six months then tossed off.. They found out there is no way to track that they are not using valid MBC's, and they are not going to use an MBC they think are valid have scouts use them, find out they fell off the list, and make the scout retake the MB because the MBC fell off and no one knew.. This moved into just not even trying to register the MBC..

 

Then add to this mess the added requirement of YPT.. And more troops saw the easier path of not registering their MBC's..

 

Even if my husband wanted to do spot checks, he has no history of who was MBC's, just knows who is MBC's.. So he could punish the scouts who got a merit badge in the last few months with an MBC who isn't in the system..

 

The scout has no idea of who is and isn't an MBC, they go to someone trusting that they are following things right.. So you end up punishing scouts for the problems of the adults and National's software.