Complications from Extra YP requirements from CO

[perdidochas]

I'm a committee member in a Troop sponsored by a Catholic Church. Our diocese requires that all volunteers get fingerprinted and take the Church's YPT. Not a big deal at this time (other than the extra time), but starting in August, our Troop (or the prospective new volunteers) will be required to pay about $80 per leader for fingerprinting and background checks. Are any other troops in FL thinking about changing CO's over this? We are, because it's going to cut into our budget (either personal or troop). According to our SE, our diocese (Pensacola-Tallahassee) is the last in the State to do this, and the rest of FL has been doing this for years. Can any other FL troops enlighten me about this? How do you get around it?

[Beavah]

Yah, that's unusual perdidochas. The dioceses in our part of the country are all still paying for da volunteer background checks and for the training.

 

Sounds like somethin' that should be approached through your Catholic Committee on Scouting. Alternately, yeh might get da local parish to pay for the fees.

 

Yeh might also check on da Catholic Scouting email list to see what they say.

 

Beavah

 

[SeattlePioneer]

I second Beavah's suggestions.

 

 

Most Catholic Dioces have a Scouting Committee working on Catholic Scouting issues. This would be a good issues to raise with them, they've probably already thought about it and been dealing with it.

 

I'm Cubmaster for a pack chartered by a parish. This requirement hasn't been imposed on Scout units ---not yet anyway. I completed the archdioces background check a three years or so ago when I was doing recruiting in parish schools for Cub Scout Packs, but that involved no fees or fingerprinting at that time.

 

So --- ask. Perhaps the diocese committee will be able to persude the diocese to accept the Scouting YPT and background checks, o0r work out some other accomodation.

 

I googled "Seattle Archdioces Scouting" and came up with the Scouting Committee, or you could probably call your diocese and get contact information.

 

I attended one of the Archdiocese Scouting Committee meetings a year or so ago. It was worth the time and I'm planning to attend their May 1st meeting. The defacto leader is a retired Army Colonel who is a Deacon and who is a charismatic leader ---a very impressive guy. We have worked together on a couple of issues.

 

Just as a reference, their website:

 

http://seattleaccs.org/

[KC9DDI]

Have you asked the CO if they would cover the cost from their budget? I would imagine the church you're chartered to has other volunteers that work with children (CCD teachers, youth ministers, etc) - are they expected to pay for these background checks out of pocket as well? I would hope that since the church is the one requiring you to do this, they would pony up the cost. I would arrange for a meeting between the your CC, COR and IH to raise your concerns about where these funds will be coming from, and explain that you don't feel that its appropriate to ask your volunteers to cover this cost out of their own pocket, and that you're concerned about being able to cover it through the troop's budget.

[T2Eagle]

Perdidochas,

 

Our diocese requires that the volunteer pay for the fingerprinting/backgound check, but there are different levels of fingerprinting and differing levels as to which types of volunteers need which training.

 

If you have only lived in state a couple years they run a national (I think FBI) print check, if you have been in state a while it's just a state check for $25. Our parish (CO) picks up the first $10 and the troop picks up the balance. Also not all scouters need that full a background check, if you aren't going to camp or otherwise be overnight with the scouts there is a lesser training, the same as that for chaperones in school field trips and no fingerprints required.

 

Will all the volunteers in the parish such as all the coaches, have to pay the full amount?

[jhankins]

I've seen units lose the church as a CO despite the Diocese committee on scouting and some units using Catholic owned properties lose the meeting places. It's not pretty, and unfortunate.

 

See what can be done at the Diocese level, and then go from there. You can also approach the Knights of Columbus and see if they can help, either becoming a CO, or helping pay the funds.

[UCEagle72]

I will check with our Training ADC. She is a member of the Diocesan Scout Committee here in O-town, I'll see what is happening here.

[perdidochas]

Thanks for all the input. I think my first action is going to be asking the Catholic Committee on Scouting. We've got a camporee coming up this weekend, so I think I'll try to talk to some of the other troop leaders who have Catholic churches for their CO. I'm a parish member of our CO, and I really like having my boys in a Scout Troop sponsored by our local parish. The committee is thinking about changing CO's, which I would not like.

[ASM162]

I belong to a Catholic Church that used to charter a Cub Pack.

Things were OK until the sex abuse scandal hit.

Once the Catholic Church youth protection and volunteer screening requirements came about, I believe that the parish priest used that as a springboard to not recharter the Cub Pack; as he put in requirements that ANYONE WHO HAD ANY CONTACT WITH THE YOUTH OF THE PARISH HAD TO GO THRU THE SCREENING PROCESS! (Not screaming, just emphasizing). This included any and all family members who would attend a B&G banquet, Pinewood Derby, etc.

Since it was, in the opinion of many of the Pack members to be an undue burden, the Pack committee sought out to find another CO. They found that the local UMC church would charter them, without the undue burden of background screening, etc.

The parish priest claimed that the requirement came down from the Diocese. I haven't checked on it personally, but since there are several parishes in the Diocese who still charter Packs and Troops, I have a hard time believing that everyone in those units (parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc)submitted to the extra screening.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello ASM162,

 

 

Sad. But I can't blame institution leaders for being antsy.

 

I'M Cubmaster for a pack chartered by a parish. At least around here we haven't been burdened with additional restrictions or precautions beyond that required by the BSA and council.

 

Frankly, the idea of going back decades to dig up problems and raid treasuries is abusive, in my opinion. One of the purposes of Statutes of Limitations is to require plaintiffs to deal with issues with reasonable promptness. That puts everyone on notice of problems and allows the PROBLEMS to be CORRECTED. Allowing the problems to go on for decades and then supposing money solves the problem isn't good public policy in my opinion.

 

 

[BadenP]

ASM

 

You are quite correct in the reasons the Catholic Church requires all these extra checks, according to some of my priest friends. The sex abuse scandals have left many dioceses in serious financial trouble, many have declared bankruptcy to get out from under all the claims filed against them, Boston, Portland, Los Angeles, Phoenix to name just a few. You also have the recession and contributions are way way down in all churches. I have heard of a Catholic church or two in my area no longer sponsoring scout units because of the liability issues, people and money, and because they can not afford to pay for these fingerprint and background checks the Catholic Church now requires on all their staff and volunteers.

 

If this does become a really obstructive issue my advice is to find another sponsor such as a service club, VFW, Am Legion, or a church, not Catholic, open to reaching their youth.

[ASM162]

SP and BP -

I can understand the church not wanting to recharter to avoid liability issues. Just be up front about it.

Don't adopt restrictive rules at the drop of a hat, if the real reason that you no longer want to recharter a scout unit is because you are concerned about liability.

[BadenP]

ASM

 

I agree with you 100%, but the catholic church is rarely totally open or honest in these type of matters. To my understanding these are now nationwide rules that the NCCB adopted with the insistence of the Vatican. It really is sad IMO, that the kids and volunteers have to suffer because of the heinous acts of a number of perverted clergymen.

[ASM162]

>>>>Trying hard not to hijack this thread

[The Blancmange]

 

he put in requirements that ANYONE WHO HAD ANY CONTACT WITH THE YOUTH OF THE PARISH HAD TO GO THRU THE SCREENING PROCESS!

This has come up before, and I asked the question, what do churches or dioceses that have a rule like this do about summer camp, district events, MBC's or other events that have no ties to the parish and/or diocese? There is no way they ask council camp staff, who have already been screened by the coucil, to subject themselves to this. What about sending a scout to a MBC who is on the council list, but is not Catholic? This just seems so impractical and unworkable.

(BTW, I am Catholic, but the units I belong to are chartered to a civic organization.)