No communication with den leaders

[mbscoutmom]

As CC, I'm very frustrated with the Wolf den leaders. I repeatedly have said that every den must be represented at the leaders' meeting, but neither the leader nor the assistant attends. They don't answer my emails, either. They do seem to get them, because they usually know what's going on and show up for pack meetings and other events. I've had so little feedback from them that I didn't even know about two of the boys in the den for several months--they hadn't turned in any paperwork.

 

This is a new den--we only had one Tiger last year, and he dropped out last November. The leaders did attend training in September. But it's a large den, and some of the parents speak only Spanish. (Neither of the leaders is bilingual.) None of the boys have earned their rank yet. Some of them earned their bobcat in September, but since then they've earned nothing but a beltloop.

 

I've had many other problems to contend with this year, but now that we have a Cubmaster, Assistant Cubmaster, and my son's den has a new leader, I have a little time to deal with other problems. What do you think I can do to help this den?

[John-in-KC]

Several things:

 

1) Shake the trees, through local Scout Troops, for bilingual Boy Scouts to serve as Den Chiefs!

 

2) Divide up the territory, but have your CM and ACMs (particularly if there is no Pack Trainer) visit the den meetings. Find out if a quality program is in place out there. At the same time, have them (and you) explain that the committee serves to support the line den leaders, and it's a guaranteed time where they will get the Treasurer and the Advancement Coordinators' attention.

 

3) Have a talk with your advancement coordinator and Treasurer. Is the info getting in? Is the money getting in? If not, there are challenges of the first magnitude. If they are, then relook your own position on how firm you need to be about DLs "being at the meeting."

 

4) As a last resort, look for new DL/ADLs, and replace these folk come recharter time. DEFINITELY KEEP YOUR COR and UC in the loop if you have to consider that sort of extreme measure!

 

YIS

[mbscoutmom]

1) Good idea! We haven't had any den chiefs this year because our den meetings were at the same time as our troop's meetings, but I never thought of asking a different troop.

 

2) I guess I should visit a den meeting and see what they're doing. I've offered to help before, but they didn't seem to want me to.

 

3) I thing dues and fees are getting paid; contacting them for advancement info is often a problem.

 

4) Replace them with whom? No one else will do it. Our pack has a serious shortage of people willing or able to be den leaders, not just in this den but in all but one of them. My biggest fear is that in trying to help, I'll say or do the wrong thing and scare away the leaders we have.

[ScoutNut]

We have one den whose leader is very hard to contact, rarely attends committee meetings, is REAL bad at turning in award sheets to our Advancement Chair, & pretty much does his own thing. His main problem is that he works multiple jobs at different hours so he is always on the run. His parent helpers are also busy guys.

 

He DOES however, make sure to turn in new registration forms (very important!), is great with the boys & runs a pretty good program. So, we grit our teeth, cut him some slack & work around the problems.

 

You said "My biggest fear is that in trying to help, I'll say or do the wrong thing and scare away the leaders we have."

 

If you can "scare away" leaders with offers of help, than they were NOT very committed to the boys & the program in the first place.

 

Finding bilingual Den Chiefs is a GREAT idea. You should also look for bilingual parents. You said that "some" of the parents speak only Spanish. What about the others? They do not need to become leaders, but it sounds like the den could use help communicating.

 

You need to sit these leaders down and find out what the problem is with committee meetings. Maybe they have conflicts with the day and/or time. You also need to find out how they are progressing with regards to rank. What are the problems there. What can you do to help. These are brand new leaders, maybe they could use some helpful coaching & ideas. Those registration forms being held up is a big problem. Make sure the leaders realize that registration has to be turned in ASAP because until the paperwork is turned in the new boys are NOT covered by BSA insurance.

 

On thing that might help this den is to have a den newsletter that is in both English & Spanish. That way every family knows what is going on. This actually might be a good idea for the Pack as well if you have a number of Hispanic families. We had a boy in our Pack at one time whose parents were both deaf. At Pack meetings their older daughter would stand in front, where they could see her, & repeat everything for them in sign. It helped keep them from feeling isolated & involved them in the activities.

 

[John-in-KC]

MBscoutmom,

 

To your last: This is where your COR and UC can come into play no matter what. Packs often need a steady flow of leaders ... people who will give of themselves to aid all the young men. If the pipeline falters in adults, sooner or later it will also in youth. Use them to give the talks about the many things Pack leaders do to support all the boys.

 

If your unit has a challenge getting leaders, one way to recruit is to ask for assistance in small steps: Can someone help set up the pack meeting site for meetings every month with the CM and ACMs? Can someone be responsible for refreshments after a Pack meeting for the youth?

 

Once the adults start seeing the smiles and hearing the thank-yous of those young men, sooner or later they will come around when you ask them for the next step up...

[mbscoutmom]

You're right, Scoutnut--if they let me scare them away, they're not very committed to the program. But they're all we have right now.

 

They do have parents who stay for the meetings and translate for the others, so I don't think the language problem during den meetings is that bad, though a bilingual den chief would certainly help. I'm not sure how well the den leaders are communicating with these families between meetings, though. I send out weekly reminders to everyone who has email, and this den has several families without access to email. I always ask the den leader to pass the word onto them by phone, but without any feedback from him, I don't know if it's being done.

 

I wish we had someone to write a newsletter again, and someone to translate it into Spanish. I wish we had a pack trainer, too, but we don't. We don't even have an active COR. (But we do have a brand new CM, ACM, and Advancement Chair, so I have plenty to be thankful for!) Should I ask the UC to speak to them, or should I visit a den meeting and speak to them first myself?