BSA Medical form-- Adults authorized to take youth to and from Events?

[5yearscouter]

BSA Medical form has a spot to list names and phone numbers

 

"adults authorized to take youth to and from events" and "adults not authorized to take youth to and from events."

 

Going thru the troop med forms getting organized for summer camp and see parent have taken that to mean many different things.

 

We have parents who have listed only the parents on the list of who is authorized.

we have parents who have listed only troop particular adult leaders (who by the way are not going to summer camp)

and we have parents who have listed friends and family members who could take scouts to and from events.

and some who have tried to fill in all of the above on only 3 lines.

 

==>My question is

how do you interpret the question?

 

1. the persons authorized to pick up the scout from the drop off place where troop leaders then transport them to the summer camp or other campout? (by default isn't that the parents anyway?)

 

2. the persons authorized to transport the scout from the drop off location to the summer camp or other campout? (troop leaders should be assumed, but oftentimes other parents/not leaders have to drive to get enough tranportation, so 3 lines is not sufficient unless it says "scoutmaster or his designee")

 

3. the persons authorized to pick up or deliver the scout to the drop off location when parents are unavailable? (similar to #1, or maybe the same?)

 

4. the persons authorized to pick up the scout from the camp in case of emergency/injury when parents are unavailable (doesn't seem to fit the situation, but I've parents try to fill it in from that point of view as well).

 

4. some other interpretation?

 

The who is NOT authorized to take youth to and from events is more clear-- usually utilized when there is a custody situation where say dad is not authorized but could show up to try to collect the scout.

 

 

[gcnphkr]

From the FAQ for the form:

 

Q. What does it mean by ADULTS AUTHORIZED TO TAKE YOUTH TO AND FROM EVENTS?

A. For the majority of our participants, the parents or legal guardians will release and retrieve a youth at the start and end of a Scouting event. This information would be anticipated to change by adding to the parents or legal guardian someone who you authorize to pick up your child early from an event or if you are engaging someone to transport them to and from the Scouting program. It is not a list of specific drivers for a tour. Those are listed on the unit or contingent tour plan, not on an individuals Annual Health and Medical Record.

 

Parents and legal guardians are encouraged to review this information on a regular basis with Scout leaders to make sure they understand any out-of-the-ordinary requests or unusual circumstances such as who should not pick up a youth.

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/Resources/MedicalFormFAQs.aspx

[5yearscouter]

Thanks!

I forgot to look at the Med form FAQ.

Forms should not need an FAQ and a full page of directions to fill them out.

 

[kenk]

It is a silly item on an annual medical form. Its better suited to a permission slip.

 

Actually, it might be nice for a permission slip to allow the parent to specify who should NOT drive their children.

[Beavah]

Yah, da purpose of the form is so that the scout leaders know who to release a child to, eh? In this day and age with many divorces, custody battles and the like, it's hard to know whether or not if dad shows up to allow the kid to go with him or not. Number one kidnapping risk is a non-custodial parent.

 

It's not offerin' an option for designating who can drive your kid on the trip. That's up to the unit leadership, and by and large yeh take it or leave it or drive your kid yourself on every outing.

 

Beavah(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[shortridge]

I believe the kidnapping "risk" Beavah refers to covers all "family abductions," not just abductions by non-custodial parents. The Department of Justice studies on the subject say that category includes abductions by fathers, mothers, grandparents, siblings and other relatives.

[SctDad]

I see it as this. Once the troop is assembled, then the youth is considered to be part of the troop and the leaders for that event are responsible for the youth, both at the activity and during transportation.

 

In my opinion, the release is for when the troop activity is done, and the scout is being released to the person taking the scout away from the troop leaders. This would be where a parents comes to the scout hut/room/CO and picks them up to take them where ever. You need to make sure that the person picking them up is authorized to.

 

Not only parents/family taking the scout, but the scout trying to leave with another parent that he is not supposed to. Almost had that happen after a parade.

 

Communicate with families, but avoid prying. Let them know that it is in thiers and your best interest if you understand who the scout can leave with.

[CalicoPenn]

There's quite a bit of overthinking on this and part of that is because the form is trying to be all things to all people.

 

At the unit level, do you really need a medical form to tell you who one of your Scouts can be released to at the end (or in the middle) of an outing? If there is an issue in a family and dad, or mom, or grandma, or Uncle Joe or etc. isn't allowed to take custody of a Scout, you're going to know that because the custodial parent or guardian is going to tell that to you in person. If they can't make it, they're going to give you a call and tell you who will be there.

 

I'd still have them fill out the "who's authorized" and "who's unauthorized" portion and as an example, if dad is not, he should be clearly listed as unauthorized (and if it's part of a court order - the words "under court order" should be added) and I would also state "anyone not on the authorized list". What this does is if dad shows up in the middle of an outing, while one adult is slowing things up, the other is calling law enforcement, and has a copy of the form showing that you are following the custodial parents instructions - at the very least, it will cause the officer to put a release on hold until he get's in touch with the custodial parent to verify dad's ability to pick up the Scout.

 

For the most part though, it's meant as a resource for people like the summer camp director. When dad shows up in midweek and say's he's there to pick up his son, the camp director can check the medical form to see if he's authorized rather than having to send someone out to find a unit's leader to see if he knows what's going on. If dad is specifically listed in the unauthorized section, the Camp Director just isn't going to waste time tracking the lad and adult leader's down - he's telling dad he can't pick up his son and giving him a couple of minutes to leave camp. He'll follow-up with the unit after dad leaves, but he's not going to release anyone midweek to an unauthorized person.

 

 

[5yearscouter]

if the form said

"Adults authorized to pick up scouts from Scouting Events when the parent/guardian is not available."

that might be clearer.

I'm really not sure that camp/troop goes to a lot of effort to track who is bringing a scout to events.

As long as the scout has the permission slips signed, he could be delivered to the troop meeting place for the event by virtually anyone, ride with a friend's family who lives nearby, or come in on bicycle, walking or city bus even.

 

Pick up seems the more important thing that should be monitored and it needs to be clear,

*who can pick up the scout and take them home with them.* This is a non-leader person, often a specific relative, neighbor or friend.

 

For my boys it would be parents, certain neighbor, certain friend, and grandmother. That's about it, plus troop leaders who would be able to bring them home in an emergency.

 

I do think this is a form trying to do too much, but instead of getting less it seems to add in more. Guess we should ask for a generic website release form to be added to it next(in addition to the media release)

 

On our troop information parents fill out when they register asks "is there a custody arrangement that leaders should know about that may effect attendance , or transportation of scout from meetings/events? [or something like that]

 

Allows parents to let us know that mom has the scout on most campout weekends, so his advancement may be thwarted thru no fault of his own, or that mom doens't have custody and cannot pick the scout up from meetings. [changed from dad to mom to keep examples fair to both sexes ]

 

We also ask for a description in layman's terms for scouts allergies (and severity, like anaphylaxis to peanuts), behavior and medical issues. Often the stuff on the med form doesn't help the troop leaders know--like what exactly is ODD and what might that look like on an outing? [Oppositional Defiance Disorder]

[MarkF]

I take one part of that to mean what beavah said about who can and cannot pick up the child after an event is over. However, there is another possible consideration. Suppose for whatever reason little Johnny's parents have forbid him from going on a scouting event. Little Johnny desperately wants to go so asks Uncle John to drop him off at the meeting point. Little Johnny gets hurt at the event and Uncle John is not listed on the form. Now what?

[Twocubdad]

All the day camps with which I'm familiar work this way. Typically at the end of the day there's a line of cars with parents holding relatively unique plackards with the names of the kids they are to pick up. Usually a parent is given the plackard for their child and who they give it to from there is their business. Staff calls the names on the plackards and the boys get in the car.

 

But who does this at the troop level. Honestly,when we break the circle at the end of the Scoutmaster's Benediction, 40 or 50 Scouts fly out three different doors into the night. I have no friggin' clue who they're going home with.

 

If a parent is concerned that their son tries to go home with someone else, shouldn't that parent be at the meeting in time to ensure that doesn't happen? If there is a restraining order against one parent and that parent tries to remove a Scout from an event early, shouldn't the Scout be the one saying, "I'm not allowed to go home with this person?"

 

I question why this is now a troop responsibility?

[Engineer61]

"If there is a restraining order against one parent and that parent tries to remove a Scout from an event early, shouldn't the Scout be the one saying, "I'm not allowed to go home with this person?""

 

Generally, Judges order parents specifically NOT to involve the children of divorced parents of the nature of any rulings by the Court regarding access or custody limitations. Doing so is a great way to get on the bad side of a Family Court judge.

 

So...the Scout may very well NOT know (and cannot be told so by his parent) that one parent is NOT permitted to transport him from the event.

 

This kind of arrangement also happens when one parent is not permitted to transport a child due to issues with intoxication or drug use while driving...again, something you don't generally tell a child.

 

This becomes the Troops responsibility for the same reason it becomes the school's responsibility...because the Troop basically has legal custody and responsibility for the safety and well being of the child while he is there.

[shortridge]

This issue is being way overthought - it's not rocket science, folks. Schools and day care centers and other day camps deal with this ALL the time. In my neck of the woods, if a parent isn't able to pick a child up, the adult who is doing the picking up has to come to the office, sign a form, present ID and be checked against a list that the parent has previously sent in.

 

My daughter's day camp program even has an electronic code, specific to each parent, that must be entered to pick a child up. So if I need her grandmother to pick her up one day when I'm running late with work, I have to list her on a form at the start of the summer and give her my code.

 

When I was a kid, my parents gave me a code word. I think this practice may have been recommended in the Cub books at the time. If an adult showed up someplace and said "Your mom and dad told me to pick you up, they couldn't come," I was to ask for the code. No code word, no going with them.

 

That line on the medical form is just the latter-day version of a code word, only with the responsibility put on the other adults, not a little kid.

[5yearscouter]

The thing is, with little cubbies and maybe young boy scouts, a list of parents makes perfect sense. when you get to be a 15 1/2 year old scout working at summer camp as a counselor in training for the summer, been SPL of a troop with 70 scouts, a very responsible scout-- you have the brains in your head to know who can pick you up even if their name is not on the list.

 

Any of his aunts and uncles could go to summer camp and get him if he were sick--they live 45 and work only 30 minutes away and I'm almost 3 hours away. but I'd then have to list 5 people just for that instance. not counting the handful of people I have locally who could pick him up if he were closer to here. or this summer in san diego my sister or my husbands sister that live close could pick him up there if necessary.

 

So really this list needs to be something done on a less than annual basis. trying to think of all possibilities for a whole year means it becomes a very inaccurate list.

 

also most scouts or scouters have a phone call and can call a parent to determine how they want the scout to go home if the parents don't show up to pick them up.

 

 

[RichardB]

Or just maybe it's there to facilitate state resident and day camping standard / requirements......but then again maybe just to make sure you were reading the FAQs......so 5 yr are you saying you want more than one form? I know people:)