Just got 1 girl

[Momleader]

Our Pack has their first girl join last week. 

Her dad is her younger brother’s leader. We currently have no ladies as leaders besides me.   The dad is a single dad too. Can he Lone Scout her through since dens need to be single gender?

[LeCastor]

Hi @Momleader. Congratulations on recruiting a new Cub Scout!

As for answering your question, you should refer this to your Unit Commissioner, or District Commissioner. If you can't find those two, you should then send your inquiry to your District Executive.

[Terasec]

parents are always encouraged to pursue the requirements with their kids,

that is different than lone scout program

there are technicalities BSA has not worked through,

as you mentioned no gender mixing of dens,

also 2 scout leaders in attendance, 1 has to be a female leader for female scouts,

as idiotic as it sounds bsa has not included a provision in YPT for when that leader is a father of the female scout,

for your discretion, in my communication with council and bsa texas, while technicalities are against written rules, bsa does not care, and is leaving it up to individuals discretion on how to handle such scenarios. 

[Laxplr21]

For registration purposes, the lone scout may work here.  There are no other female cub scouts in the den, there would not be the required number for a den to be formed.  Be sure to check out the link on Lone Scouts through the BSA site https://www.scouting.org/commissioners/lone-scout/

Make sure you speak with the unit commissioner.  If you do not have a unit commissioner, contact the district commissioner.  Their role is to help leaders of units.  They are a great resource to ask for help

 

[Eagle94-A1]

FYI, A male den and a female den can have "joint" den meetings.

[awanatech]

19 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

FYI, A male den and a female den can have "joint" den meetings.

Can BSA just go ahead and say that Pack/ Troop/ Dens/ Patrols are co-ed?  I mean, with all of the "joint" meeting non-sense, how much longer before they just go ahead and call the units co-ed?  At least then, the units that are actually trying to go by the rules & the spirit of the rule won't look at the other units as looking for "creative" ways to skirt around the rules.  If we are going to be co-ed, let's just call it what it really is.  If we're not going to be co-ed, then stick to that as well.  

[awanatech]

3 hours ago, Laxplr21 said:

For registration purposes, the lone scout may work here.  There are no other female cub scouts in the den, there would not be the required number for a den to be formed.  Be sure to check out the link on Lone Scouts through the BSA site https://www.scouting.org/commissioners/lone-scout/

Make sure you speak with the unit commissioner.  If you do not have a unit commissioner, contact the district commissioner.  Their role is to help leaders of units.  They are a great resource to ask for help

 

Are there no other Packs in the area that have a girl's den?  The way I understand the Lone Scout program to work, is that there not be a convenient Pack/ Troop in the area.  Not just that the Scout wants a particular unit.  Would you say that the Lone Scout program would work for a boy, let's say a Wolf, who wanted to join a specific Pack that had no other Wolves? So he would register as a Lone Scout, but participate in all Pack activities as if he were a part of that Pack? 

[qwazse]

4 minutes ago, awanatech said:

Can BSA just go ahead and say that Pack/ Troop/ Dens/ Patrols are co-ed?  I mean, with all of the "joint" meeting non-sense, how much longer before they just go ahead and call the units co-ed?  At least then, the units that are actually trying to go by the rules & the spirit of the rule won't look at the other units as looking for "creative" ways to skirt around the rules.  If we are going to be co-ed, let's just call it what it really is.  If we're not going to be co-ed, then stick to that as well.  

I feel your pain. But the larger portion of the market wants sex segregation to be the law (or at least very strong suggestion) of the land.

[awanatech]

4 minutes ago, qwazse said:

I feel your pain. But the larger portion of the market wants sex segregation to be the law (or at least very strong suggestion) of the land.

I understand that.  But either we are co-ed, or we are sex/ gender segregated.  Either is fine with me, but if the majority wants segregated, which is what BSA also says, then we should stick with segregation and quit playing word games to pretend that we are segregated.

 

I would actually prefer to just go co-ed.  My CO does not want a girls unit at this time.  Since BSA wrote the rules that units should be segregated, we have nothing to offer to the girls who would like to join us.  If BSA just went ahead and called it co-ed, like so many units are creatively doing, then we could accept girls & move on.  

Edited February 9, 2019 by awanatech

[Momleader]

Our DE had the brilliant answer of go recruit more girls (we have very strong brownie units in town) - gee, like we hadn’t thought to try that!   A real hard part of this situation is the dad who is the leader has the lions. The daughter is a bear and the bears and lions meet st the same night and time just in different church classrooms. The bear den has a leader and assistant leader (both men - and both who have asked me to attend den meetings since they feel uncomfortable having her be the only female in the room). For the most part I have gone to the meetings and worked on pack paperwork in the back corner of the room but I’m going to be selfish here - my youngest is almost out of high school.  I don’t mind helping with paperwork for the pack  and such but having to go for den meetings every other week is starting to get old.  

If the girls dad was able to be in the room I would feel better about it sliding. It isn’t her fault the mom isn’t around - why should she miss out. I don’t know that going to another pack in one of the neighboring towns would work for the family.  

We don’t want her to miss out and we can’t afford to lose a leader over this. Since none of the other lions parents would step up to be a leader and those are next year’s Tigers. 

[Cubmaster Pete]

The Lone Scout thing probably would not work here, your DE will just say that you have a Family Pack (which you do) and that’s the pack that’s nearby. Unfortunately this isn’t a situation where there is no unit available. 

I would have her work on requirements with her father at another time, attend pack meetings as normal. She could be a “helper” with a Lion den. I realize this is not perfect, but it’s a start.

Then, have her do the recruiting for you. She wants her own den, then let her bring friends. You never know what parents who have never thought about scouts might be willing to do to make it work for kids.... that might be where you find the female leader you need.....

[ParkMan]

For what it's worth, if I were a pack leader in this position my first step would be to decide if the pack is invested in admiting girls.  I assume the answer is yes from your question - but I wanted to confirm.

if the pack is in, I'd do:

• Go ahead and sign her up. 
• If the bear den agrees - let her work with them.
• Be upfront with the father that BSA rules prevent her from meeting without a female present.  Don't put yourself in that position for more than a few weeks up front. i.e. - I'll do it now, but someone needs to volunteer by March 15.  Perhaps a mother of one of the other bear Scouts.
• Put on a concerted push between the girls father, pack leadership, bear den families, and pack as a whole to recruit 7 more girls and one or two leaders.  Rally around starting with a fully formed Webelos den by the summer.  Perhaps set a compelling event like a Join Scouting event in April.  They have a way of generating some activity.

I guess I'm just of the opinion that you've got to start somewhere.  Yes, it's not perfect, but it seems like a very good opportunity to start.

[Wëlënakwsu]

Currently Pack does not have enough girls & women to offer girls a Cub program, no hint of near term improvement and assuming Momleader cannot attend all the Bear meetings … as Cubmaster Pete suggested: Let the girl attend Lion meetings with Dad and do a few Bear adventures. (Especially if childcare for the girl is an issue for Dad during Lion meeting time!)

In June the girl will be Webelos age and between now and next September the Pack will have to decide if they can offer 4^th and 5^th grade girls a quality Cub Scout program.

PS:  I do not know if there is a National rule, but Councils require a Pack to have at least five or so Cub age girls.  If you’re not sure, you may want to confirm if she is indeed registered.

[Liz]

On 2/10/2019 at 9:08 AM, ParkMan said:

 

• Be upfront with the father that BSA rules prevent her from meeting without a female present.  Don't put yourself in that position for more than a few weeks up front. i.e. - I'll do it now, but someone needs to volunteer by March 15.  Perhaps a mother of one of the other bear Scouts.

The dad may have some other ideas too if he understands that a female leader is a requirement to allow her to meet with the other Bears. Perhaps he has a sister or other female family member who would be willing to do this. The leader doesn't have to have any particular qualities other than passing the background check, taking (and adhering to) YPT, and showing up. Anything she actually does to assist the den other than as a chaperone would just be icing on the cake here. 

[dfg890]

I really think the national guidance should just be amended to allows co-ed dens if a particular pack wants that.  If the pack wants to segregate still, then let them.  I think that's the best compromise that will allow everyone to work in the way that fits their local pack's needs.  For our pack we have one girl at every level, and kind of have dens of one that meet jointly with their group.  Sure, we could form a combined tiger-webelos den of the girls, but the difference in age (1st to 5th grade) is a way bigger difference then gender is at their age.  I struggle to wrap my head around why they wanted to segregate anyhow, I certainly haven't heard a good reason for it yet.