Coalition, BSA Jointly Announce Formation of Survivor Advisory Working Group

[johnsch322]

10 minutes ago, elitts said:

I get it.  He's your champion. 

I am not championing anyone, I just don't think that being part of the TCC should be a disqualifier.

 

12 minutes ago, elitts said:

I'm talking about the emotional and mental fatigue and damage one suffers while going through a "bitter divorce" or something like this bankruptcy.

I also do not think that without intimate knowledge of a person one can say that someone suffers emotional and mental fatigue.  

[yknot]

1 hour ago, elitts said:

There's a big difference between the average survivor and one that has spent 2 years fighting an active battle against the BSA.  Kind of like the difference between a divorced spouse and a divorced spouse that went through 2 years of bitter divorce proceedings.

That disqualifier makes absolutley no sense. Certainly a thousand other review or oversight bodies aren't formed that way, whether it's sports injuries, accessibility, drunk driving, etc. If you want to fix something, you want people who are passionate critics and advocates involved. Otherwise you get lip service. 

[ThenNow]

On 11/2/2021 at 6:59 PM, MattR said:

Duration ends after voting is over. Regular meetings and probably regular reports. It will turn into the organization that the bsa and coalition agreed upon.

Per the excerpt from the press release below, what leverage would the the eventual Child Protection Committee “BSA...has already agreed to form” have over the BSA, post emergence? Who holds Thor’s hammer here? I believe the survivors are serious about this, but is there any indication of ongoing accountability? I have a million questions about this. Does anyone have easy access to CS’s list of TCC non-monetary youth protection demands?

“The Working Group will begin meeting within the next two weeks and convene regularly until BSA emerges from its Chapter 11 proceedings, at which point its work will be transitioned to the Child Protection Committee, a survivor advisory group which BSA, after negotiations with the Coalition, has already agreed to form pursuant to its Plan of Reorganization.“

[ThenNow]

On 11/2/2021 at 2:33 PM, RememberSchiff said:

More at Press release link:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-coalition-of-abused-scouts-for-justice-and-boy-scouts-of-america-jointly-announce-formation-of-survivor-advisory-working-group-301414470.html

Is there some sort of term sheet that is the framework for what BSA has apparently agreed to do in all of this? I would like to see something more than that loosey goosey PR b’ness. 

[RememberSchiff]

IMHO,  the answer is right there in quote. A BSA Committee is advisory and the Working Group is not yet a Committee.

Let's take an example, the United Church of Christ (UCC) Scouting Work Group prepared a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) which was approved and signed in 2016 by Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the UCC, and Michael Surbaugh, National Scout Executive for the BSA.

https://www.ucc.org/scouting_working_group/

Note in above link, all members of the UCC Scouting Working Group and their positions are named?? My guess, the United Church of Christ (UCC) Scouting Work Group was formed and controlled by the United Church of Christ and not the BSA. My guess anyway.

Forgot, my $0.02,

P.S. Also in 2016, the UCC Scouting Working Group sought qualified persons to serve as UCC Chaplains for the 2017 Boy Scouts of America Jamboree.

https://www.swcucc.org/faith-in-action-blog/2016/10/31/a-call-for-boy-scouts-chaplains

Edited November 5, 2021 by RememberSchiff

[ThenNow]

9 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

IMHO,  the answer is right there in quote. A BSA Committee is advisory and the Working Group is not yet a Committee.

So, I’m left with nothing but a very loose goose. Got it.

[RememberSchiff]

Portray a desired public appearance while maintaining control and limiting exposure and liability.

Is an independent, empowered YP task force possible?

Another $0.02,

Edited November 4, 2021 by RememberSchiff

[ThenNow]

16 minutes ago, ThenNow said:

26 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

IMHO,  the answer is right there in quote. A BSA Committee is advisory and the Working Group is not yet a Committee.

So, I’m left with nothing but a very loose goose. Got it.

PS - So a “Working Group” is not some new and fantabulous creation just to engage survivors about YPT and YP. That wasn’t clear to me and now is. How many such BSA Working Groups and Advisory Committees are there? Where can one view such a list? Does each include various and sundry BSA Bigs?

[ThenNow]

2 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

Portray a desired public appearance while maintaining control and limiting exposure and liability.

Is an independent, empowered YP task force possible?

Blech.

You guys would know better than I, says I. My guess at the answer (from all I’ve heard hear) is, “You gotta be kiddin’ me, right?”

[ThenNow]

17 hours ago, ThenNow said:

PS - So a “Working Group” is not some new and fantabulous creation just to engage survivors about YPT and YP. That wasn’t clear to me and now is. How many such BSA Working Groups and Advisory Committees are there? Where can one view such a list? Does each include various and sundry BSA Bigs?

Help from you Scouter guys in the know? Looking to understand the history and context of these WGs and ACs, as well as how many and varied they are. Many thanks.

[qwazse]

1 hour ago, ThenNow said:

Help from you Scouter guys in the know? Looking to understand the history and context of these WGs and ACs, as well as how many and varied they are. Many thanks.

First the titles are pure doublespeak.  BSA has often formed these under different names. A recent was the information technology group. They made a big show of wanting to recruit volunteers throughout the nation. I have the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” on that one.

I don’t know how many there are or were.

[MattR]

1 hour ago, ThenNow said:

Help from you Scouter guys in the know? Looking to understand the history and context of these WGs and ACs, as well as how many and varied they are. Many thanks.

I've always ignored them. Let's put it this way, if a problem really needs solving then the organization would turn its focus towards it. It would not need a new committee or group. The organization would be the committee. For example, any company that has a "quality committee" is not nearly as interested in quality as an organization that makes quality a day to day subject that everyone is involved in.

It's not clear to me what the BSA's core product is. I'm not saying it has no focus, only that I don't know what it is.

[skeptic]

This may be a jump-off, and I have no issue with that.  The more I review things here and on the FB page "Talk About Scouting", I feel our best opportunity to move ahead and remake our programs is to focus on LOCAL.  That means particularly the individual units and to some extent properly reworked, if necessary LC support.  The latter is a real issue now, as many are bare bones, such as ours, cut by about 80 percent if you include office and store.  Only two professionals left.  The good thing is that the districts are doing more and even drawing in a new type of volunteer, so to speak.  We are not nearly as dark as we fear within the community.  Many outside our own circle are surprisingly understanding of the challenges we face, but feel the program is still a worthwhile part of the community.  We need to build on that and try to keep the negative at a distance and assure there are not many additions to that element.  We will not get away from the sensationalism of the media, but we can use the tools with which they bludgeon us to counter.  They will not look for the positive, so we need to put it out ourselves, and we can.

[MattR]

8 minutes ago, skeptic said:

The good thing is that the districts are doing more and even drawing in a new type of volunteer, so to speak. 

Is this comment worthy of a new thread?

[T2Eagle]

1 hour ago, qwazse said:

First the titles are pure doublespeak.  BSA has often formed these under different names. A recent was the information technology group. They made a big show of wanting to recruit volunteers throughout the nation. I have the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” on that one.

I don’t know how many there are or were.

Yeah, I never heard of them reaching out to any volunteers.  I signed up, a friend of mine who owns a software company signed up, and neither of us got anything but that email. 

I doubt they reached out to any volunteers --- and their IT systems remain perpetually crappy.  Coincidence?