Angels and Demons

[Eamonn]

Reading the Thread about cheating in Georgia, got me thinking.

Someone posted that we provide a program that the youth desperately need.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a great supporter of Scouting and very active in Scouting. Still I'm a little unsure if the youth we serve are in desperate need of the programs we offer?

The Scout-reach idea is a good one. I'm 100% behind doing everything we can to get kids who might never be Scouts or members into the BSA.

This isn't easy. I was the SM of a inner-city Troop for almost 12 years, the Troop was 60% non-white, with a good number of the kids coming from subsidized housing and troubled homes.

We didn't manage to retain every Lad who looked in. Some were happy doing the stuff they were doing. Which a lot of the time was just hanging out and getting into trouble.In a lot of cases I had to be content just knowing that we had given it our best shot.

Much as I hate to admit it I now believe that while Scouting is for every Lad (Lass) Not every Lad is for Scouting.

If a unit is to really survive, it need to be wanted. Wanted by the people in the community it is in.

Sadly, at least in the Council I'm in, this fact seems to be pushed aside.

We send in paid volunteers (Americore)where we think they will do some good or at times where a group like HUD will allow us in. We fudge the paper work to remain legal, having some organization who will never really get involved or care about the unit become the on paper chartering organization.

The programs offered really are not like anything I would ever call "Real Scouting". Instead we offer a water down, cut and paste activity. Some units only receive the visit from the "Scout Guy" once a month.

I have questioned our Scout-reach program. I'm not sure if the answers I got are just plain lies? Or based on lack of real information?

When I asked why we allow charters to go through without the names of real kids on?

I'm informed that "We can do this because the kids in these areas are transient."

I went into the areas and this just isn't the truth.

I asked why we don't have real chartered organizations charter units in the community's?

I'm informed that there are none.

When I visit these areas on a Sunday, I see lots of well dressed people flooding out of the local churches. I see in the newspaper the good work these churches are doing. I feel sure if we could get a toe in the door and make the right presentation we could working on building real Scouting units that the community would want and support.

I suggested that we look for funds to use as seed money to get these units off the ground. Help pay for equipment, uniforms, books, training's.

I was told that we can't afford it. Yet we can come up with $27,000 a year to pay the volunteer.

I talked with the volunteer. He said he only gets to the units once a month, so he really doesn't get to know the kids a lot of the kids forget when he is coming.

I spoke to the Director of a juvenile detention center which has on paper a Crew, which the DE is to be taking care of. He said that they were unhappy with the program as the DE never showed up.Every kid in that facility is a real kid, on a real charter, but I question if they are "Real Venturers?"

Making Quality is a big boost to everyones ego.

One year when our Council didn't make it our Council President called a meeting of all the District Key 3's and moaned and groaned about how embarrassed he was that he had to remain seated when all the other Council Presidents got to stand up at the National Meeting. He gave each member of the District Key 3 a contract type sheet of paper which said we would make Quality District. I was a District Commissioner at the time, our District Chairman refused to sing it and resigned.

In 2004 we didn't bring in enough money and didn't really qualify to make Quality Council. Still an Ex-Council President found a way of cooking the books and we made it.

In 2005 it came back to bite us in the tail and we ended the year in the red or we would have if $160,000 which should have gone into the endowment fund had gone where it was supposed to and we hadn't borrowed money from the fund.

The time has come for us to stand up and face the truth.

Membership in service organizations is down.

Attendance at Baseball games is down.

People are not going out to watch movies.

Our small town had eight little league baseball teams, now they can only get two.

Attendance at church services is down.

Even our Soccer league which once had 325 kids, now only can muster up 200.

Why should Scouting be any different?

Why can't we just admit it?

Eamonn.

 

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Eamonn writes:

I spoke to the Director of a juvenile detention center which has on paper a Crew, which the DE is to be taking care of. He said that they were unhappy with the program as the DE never showed up.Every kid in that facility is a real kid, on a real charter, but I question if they are "Real Venturers?"

 

Of course, juvenile detention centers (as they are government entities) can't use a program that excludes atheists. I've seen some of these change over to Learning for Life, but there are still a few left that need to switch (barring a change in BSA policy that would allow atheists into Crews).

[Bobanon]

Eamonn,

 

I know exactly what you mean! Paper units to ensure the District gets Quality District. Invidual units keeping boys (who hide nor hair has been seen of in ages), on their rolls in order to remain a Quality Unit, and all for a lousy little patch and a cheap ribbon to hang on the unit flag. People can call this what ever they like, but cooking the books is lying.

 

My junior year of high school I was deeply involve in my Troop. Worked on summer camp staff and got to know several of the DE's. I told one that I was considering a career with the BSA and he told me he wasn't a professional Scout but a professional beggar.

 

Money seems to be the evil root of the BSA problems. I know in my own council the District Execs could make the time to keep new units afloat, and existing units aided as needed if they wanted to. It seems they spend most of their time visiting large donors for more donations for hitting businesses up[ for more support. The professional staff gives good lip service, but thats about it. Here in West Texas there has been an increase of the Hispanic population from around 15% 30 years ago to where they now represent around 50% of the population, but one rarely sees a Hispanic Scout, and even rarer the Black Scout. The Council and Districts have given lip service to making a big push to develop Hispanic units and to involving various Hispanic organizations to earn their trust and assistance. Looks good on paper or as a discussion topic at a Council or District Committee meeting, but that is about as far as it has gone.

 

We lost our Council Exec last year for some financial hanky-panky with Council money. One thing is he paid for a hunting lease with Scout money. All his indicreations have not been fully revealed to the Scouting community at large as should have been done. Some information has trickled down but not enough to clear the air. We do know that he was able to resign instead of being terminated, and he did pay part of the money back. What infuriates me is why he wasn't held fully accountable for the supposed thefts. I absolutely hate a liar and a thief. Especially one that steals from the BSA.

 

I'm sure the Council Committee thought they were saving the Council embarassment by the actions they took. What they did only made it worse in many peoples eyes. By being able to basically walk away scot free the message that you can get away with such behavior is sent out. Personally I would have liked to have seen Company E of the Texas Rangers involved in the investigation and if warrented the former Council Exec going to Huntsville, TX to serve some time. There is no excuse for condoning such behavior.

 

I have known good hardworking District Execs and I have know lazy bums that are District Execs. The hardworking types it seem are few and far between these days, at least in my Council.

 

We as volunteers need to demand excellence and honesty from our paid staff and from our council and district boards. That is key to solving one problem we have now.

 

[Eamonn]

Merlyn_LeRoy,

Sorry I wasn't very clear.

This center is run by an organization that has a contract from the state.

 

While it is easy to say this is all about money! I however don't think so.

First it costs to pay the membership fee for all these members.

Sure $10.00 a head doesn't seem like a lot, but it can mount up in a hurry.

A couple of years back the FD we had at the time sweet talked a School District into signing up 400 kids as Venturers (Yes Merlyn_LeRoy I know!!). That's $4,000 that to my way of thinking could have been better spent.

I really think ego has a lot to do with it.

Our Council is a small one which other than support from a couple of very wealthy people doesn't receive very much money from foundations or the like.

Last year the United Way decided that the Council along with 38 other organizations would be de-funded over the next 3 years.

Not because of god, gays or anything like that!! They cut all organizations that had a endowment fund.

While I wasn't happy about it, I think I can see their point. In fact they are now giving money to the Friends Of Pennsylvanian Sea Scouts a 501 (3) ©,which doesn't have a endowment fund. (An organization very close to my heart!)

Joe Hardy from 84 Lumber is a great friend of the Council who really does give a lot of money.

Sadly we lost the support of Mr Eberly, he died. While we still receive some funding from the Eberly Foundation, it's nothing like it was when he was alive.

Our last Council President who's term of office ended last year didn't seem to have his own agenda. That or there just wasn't the money? The two Council Presidents before him seemed to really want to make sure that their legacy was something grand. Not making Quality Council just wasn't an option, even if we did manage not to make it one year.

Eamonn.

 

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Eamonn writes:

Sorry I wasn't very clear.

This center is run by an organization that has a contract from the state.

 

Any juvenile detention center run via a contract from the state cannot practice religious discrimination either. They are acting as agents of the state in such an arrangement.

 

A couple of years back the FD we had at the time sweet talked a School District into signing up 400 kids as Venturers (Yes Merlyn_LeRoy I know!!). That's $4,000 that to my way of thinking could have been better spent.

 

Especially since it could easily buy your council a civil rights lawsuit.

[Lynda J]

There is a juvenile judge somewhere in South Texas that makes boys that are just starting to get in trouble join Boy Scouts. There was a big stink about if a couple of years ago in the paper. But then they started looking at what was happening to the boys he was dealing with. Seems that once they got into Scouting there was about 80% that stayed in after they finished their probation. And almost all of those never got in trouble again.

 

I don't remember his name or even exactly where he was from. But seems if we give kids good things to do we can head them off of the bad ones.

Like my very wise dad use to say "if we keep kids busy with good things they don't have time to get in trouble"

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Yep, obviously it's not legal for a judge to force minors to join a group that requires them to hold religious beliefs; I've seen some councils move similar juvenile programs into Learning for Life, but some are still under Scouts, and are lawsuits waiting to happen.