Unit Scouter Reserve

[beaglelover]

Background:  I am an assistant den leader.  Also have a disability related to a medical issue.  We are looking toward resident camp this summer for our boys.  However, after reading the resident camp leader guide, I am worried they are not going to allow me to attend due to the medical issue and the accommodation it would require.  Still need to talk with the camp director to work out specifics, however, if I can't go or if they determine with my limitations I could not effectively be a leader, we will not be able to achieve the 1 to 5 leader to scout ratio for our den.

 

As such, we are looking at possibly seeing if a couple parents in our den might consider stepping up to help, possibly as a unit scouter reserve.  Has anybody used this position before?  As best I can tell there is no one in our pack that uses this designation.  But it seems like this might be a good way to have registered, youth protection trained parents that could fill in when I might get medically DQ'd but would not have to take on the full responsibility of leadership.

 

Any guidance or experience with this would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.  

[Stosh]

All my parents, leaders and committee people are YPT trained.  They could step in and chaperone in a situation like this without any problem.  Our council will teach a group of people YPT at any time, any place and we took an hour of training and coffee and knocked it out in a hour one evening.

 

Welcome tot he forum!

[qwazse]

Getting them trained and signing them on as reserve (http://www.scouting.org/Home/Commissioners/newsletter/bsa_news/04_2013_scoutparents.aspx) sounds like the way to go.

 

It's always good to build a depth chart.

 

You could also ask a troop if they have any assistant scoutmasters who could fill in; however, cubs often respond better to trustworthy parents.

[4CouncilsScouter]

Hey Beaglelover,

 

The unit Scouters reserve (position code 91U) would be the way to go, in my opinion, based on the information you've given. The unit Scouter reserve is designed to be used for Scout parents, transient volunteers, and community members who want to give back to Scouting. Any Scouting unit will tell you the more volunteers a unit has the better the unit's program can be, and this is where the unit Scouters reserve can play in.

 

That being said, any other den leaders, assistant den leaders, committee members, cubmasters, or assistant cubmasters should also satisfy the Youth Protection Training requirement.

 

You may also want to consider utilizing the unit college Scouter reserve (position code 92U). If you are near a college/university, you may have Scouting alumni who want to give back. Additionally, you may also have college students who need service hours. However for your situation, this is probably more of a long-term solution and may not be practical for this summer.

 

Hope this helps!