"Trained" leaders - impact on unit?

[Armymutt]

Some of my Cub Scout leaders have not completed all the training to be considered "trained".  How big of a deal is that from the stand point of the district/council/national?  Our YPT is 100%, which is a non-negotiable for me.  I'm not sure about the other.

[CynicalScouter]

21 minutes ago, Armymutt said:

Some of my Cub Scout leaders have not completed all the training to be considered "trained".  How big of a deal is that from the stand point of the district/council/national?  Our YPT is 100%, which is a non-negotiable for me.  I'm not sure about the other.

Depends. Nationally, only 56.6% of direct contact leaders are trained. http://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/commissioner/newsletter/2021_winter/KPI_NatlRegion.pdf

More and more Councils, however, are requiring it. I know one council that as of 2021 is mandating that all leaders be position trained and in 2022 will require anyone even APPLYING to be a leader must first take the training (except for IOLS for SM/ASMs). The thinking is that now that ALL position leader training is online except IOLS, there's no excuse not to have trained leaders.

Of course the counterpoint is that to be a trained Den Leader now takes 3+ hours: YPT (1-1.5) and Den Leader (2 hours). You are asking a lot from people to sit through that.

Edited March 11, 2021 by CynicalScouter

[Armymutt]

I guess it kind of depends on your level of commitment.  The training isn't exactly difficult and could be easily knocked out in a couple of evenings worth of TV shows.  I was amazed to find out that it was all available online - we last did it in '92 and it was an all day event.

[Eagle94-A1]

16 hours ago, CynicalScouter said:

Of course the counterpoint is that to be a trained Den Leader now takes 3+ hours: YPT (1-1.5) and Den Leader (2 hours). You are asking a lot from people to sit through that.

While the course I took and taught, Cub Scout Basic Leader Training, were longer, they were live classes, and IMNSHO a heckuva a lot better. It was a 9AM - 4PM class with a lunch break/social, and when you completed it you were trained in any position in the pack except Den Leader Coach/ Pack Trainer. I know when I last did the online training a while back just to see what the complaints were about, the different CS DL courses had heavy repetition. 

3+ Hours on a computer will drive a person nuts, especially when repetitive.

16 hours ago, CynicalScouter said:

More and more Councils, however, are requiring it. I know one council that as of 2021 is mandating that all leaders be position trained and in 2022 will require anyone even APPLYING to be a leader must first take the training (except for IOLS for SM/ASMs).

Actually some councils are requiring IOLS to be completed before being an ASM/SM. Last IOLS class I taught, 2/3 of the participants were from the neighboring council that required all position training, including IOLS, to be completed before being registered in the position.

 

17 hours ago, Armymutt said:

Some of my Cub Scout leaders have not completed all the training to be considered "trained".  How big of a deal is that from the stand point of the district/council/national?  Our YPT is 100%, which is a non-negotiable for me.  I'm not sure about the other.

Training rates affect district and council JTE scores. Sadly just because some is "trained" does not mean they will implement the program properly. I have seen "trained" leaders run adult lead programs and limit their Scouts what months they can camp and to car camping. That last course I taught was designed primarily for one specific troop that had a bunch of new Scouters. The only time that fit both schedules was January, only 1 person showed up from that troop. When I asked where everyone else was, he stated "it's too cold to camp." Temps were in the upper 30s/lower 40s, and we had an enclosed shelter for the classes.  

[ParkMan]

 

18 hours ago, Armymutt said:

Some of my Cub Scout leaders have not completed all the training to be considered "trained".  How big of a deal is that from the stand point of the district/council/national?  Our YPT is 100%, which is a non-negotiable for me.  I'm not sure about the other.

Depends on the district & council to be honest.  As others have said, some councils require it and so I expect that in those councils it's a big deal.

In general, from the district & council perspective, the goal is well run packs & dens.  Knowledgeable, engaged leaders can have a big impact on the quality of the programs.  Training is one of the best ways to increase leader knowledge.  To that end, having trained leaders is important to improving Scouting which is important to a district.

The problem you run into is that a single leader can probably do fine by picking up the concepts somewhere else.  So, for a given individual the training may not be critical.  However, one individuals start to skip the training, it sets the expectation that others can as well.  It's not too long before you have a culture where training isn't important.

So long roundabout answer to say - yes, encourage you fellow leaders to take the training.  They can be part of the culture that leads to better trained leaders overall in your pack.

[qwazse]

The more training your volunteers get, the smoother things run. But as others mention, there are lots of avenues through which adults can pick up the skills needed to be great scouters.

There can be a point of diminishing returns. At one point we had several leaders take Powderhorn. I don't think it amounted to a single additional super-activity from that lot. The untrained leaders put in more time actually planning and providing based on their hobbies and interests.

[InquisitiveScouter]

45 minutes ago, qwazse said:

I don't think it amounted to a single additional super-activity from that lot.

Lol, but they  got some cool bling for their uniform!!  Doesn't that count??