Background issues and scouting

[hls2015]

My son will be old enough to start scouting this year and I would like to be involved in some way. I would like for my son to experience things that I wasn't able to.

When I was in my early 20's, I was convicted of several felonies for being involved in a crime.(not violent or sexual) I was a minor participant and didn't know that my actions would lead to crime being committed. Nonetheless, due to the ever receding concept once known as mens rea in this country, I was charged and convicted and the state of conviction does not allow expunction with the exception of ID theft. I spent 5 years in prison. I am 38 now.

 

Luckily, while in prison, I met a volunteer with the church who became my mentor. He encouraged me to go back to school and not let this ruin my life. I have since graduated from an Ivy and gotten my MBA. I now own a medium sized business and most people in the community do not know about my past. I guess they assume that one could not be someone in life with such a past.

 

What are the considerations for a situation such as this? What types of disclosure are required? Is it strictly on a high level need to know or is it required that all other parents know about this? Any advice would be helpful.

 

[SeattlePioneer]

The one thing I would predict is that your interest in being a Scout leader would be treated with sympathetic interest, not with an interest in humiliating a person interested in volunteering.

 

Decisions on volunteers are made first by unit leaders such as Cubmasters and Committee Chairs. When you talk to unit leaders about joining a Cub Pack or Scout Troop, I'd ask to meet with the unit leader and explain both your interest and the history you've explained here. Ask them if they would be willing to recommend you as a unit leader.

 

They might say yes, they might say no. Either way is going to tell you whether your possible status with that particular unit. You might need to check with a different Cub Pack and pose the same question.

 

It might also be that they would say "maybe" and reserve accepting you as a unit leader until they have more experience with you.

 

If the unit accepts you as a leader, you fill out the BSA adult leader application which requires that you approve a background check. It also asks questions about criminal history, which you must answer accurately.

 

When the background check is completed, a Scout official at the council reviews the result to decide whether a person should be accepted as a leader. They might decide that your offence is far enough in the past that it isn't a bar to being a leader.

 

They might decide that it is a bar, in which case you'd get a phone call to explain that and whether another application at a later date might be accepted.

 

Another possibility is that the leader of your Chartered Organization would receive a phone call apprising them of the background check results and asking them whether they want to accept you as a leader.

 

Your real option is to explain the situation to the unit leader and ask them whether they would be willing to accept you as a leader. If they are, I'd fill out the leader application and see what happens.

 

If you aren't approved as a leader, you can still do lots of things as a parent.

 

The short answer is --- no guarantees, but no reason not to give it a try.

 

 

[Nike]

I would also encourage you to write a letter explaining the circumstances, your remorse, how you have paid your debt to society, and what you have done to become a productive and upstanding citizen since then.

 

Being up front about these things is always the best option.

 

In the end your COR will have to decide whether to sign and then the council.

 

Good luck!

[SMT224]

Welcome to the club hls2015. There are 2 of us in our Troop with past convictions. We filled out our applications and forged ahead. No one has ever brought it up, and neither have we. It's been 14 years of leadership for me (Scoutmaster), about ten for one of our best Assistant Scoutmasters. We learned our lesson and have moved on. As with you, our past crimes were in our early 20's and non-violent/non-sexual in nature.

 

My advice, take the online Youth Protection training, fill out the application, and move forward. If someone in the Troop leadership chain has concerns, address only their issues and don't bring it up again. Once you are a leader, get as much training as you can, follow the 2 deep leadership rules to an extreme, and become the best leader possible. People really appreciate who you are now, not a mistake from the past.

 

[Papadaddy]

Congratulations, his2015 on turning your life around. I encourage you to follow the advice here. Follow the normal application procedure and be truthful if asked. If the BSA only accepted Saints, they would be out of business!

[packsaddle]

True enough about Saints. But OTOH I don't hold much optimism for a convicted felon. I'm fairly certain this CO would not even consider the application in that case - BSA would never see it.

[SMT224]

packsaddle is correct in that the CO has the final say. However, this really does not mean automatic rejection or even a high probability of rejection. It depends on the person, their values, and how they see Scouting. In our case, the CO is an understanding Catholic Priest.

[Eamonn]

Welcome to the forums.

I hate to say it but I can only echo what packsaddle posted.

You can as a parent ensure that your son does have a wonderful scouting experience, by supporting him.

If you want to become a BSA member?

You might want to talk with the organization that charters the Troop /Pack?

That your son has joined. See what they say and then maybe fill out an application which will be checked out by the company that does the checking for the BSA.

After that? I'm not sure if they say no, I have heard of people meeting with the Council Scout Executive and being allowed to join, but most SE's are unwilling to take the risk.

Good Luck.

Ea.

 

[hls2015]

Iv'e had some experience with having to disclose my past with a state licensing agency and eventually was successful. However, my state has laws that keep licensing investigations sealed. My concern with this ultimately comes back to my son, being that if full disclosure was required among parents etc.. at a very local level that eventually this will end up in a child's ear from where it would spread exponentially. The most likely outcome of that would be that my child would be picked on, ostracized or harassed.

This would be something that I wouldn't want to deal with.

[SMT224]

hls2015 - We have not had any problems along those lines. So there is precedent that you can become a leader and thrive with your son in Scouting.

 

But of course this depends on the Troop you are joining and the viewpoint of the CO. Do you have other possible Troops to join if this one does not work out?

[Lisabob]

I hate to say this, but I think that's a possible outcome. In any unit I've been involved with, two or three people would need to know about and approve your application before it even made it to the council level (where the formal background check occurs). Those would be the Charter Organization Representative, the Committee Chair, and probably the Scoutmaster or Cubmaster.

 

It is possible that the Charter Org Rep would want to take the matter to the institutional head of the charter organization, as well.

 

So, you put your situation in the hands of three or four individuals. It is to be hoped that they keep the matter to themselves, but as you no doubt understand, there are no guarantees of that. Fewer still, if they say "no" to you.

 

It is a gamble. How familiar are you, with the folks in charge of the cub pack or boy scout troop in question, and with the charter orgs that sponsor them?

 

 

Edited to add: you can still be supportive of your son's experience in scouting, even if you never register as a leader. That might be something to begin with, especially if you do not already have a strong relationship with the current leadership of the Charter org and the scout unit.

(This message has been edited by lisabob)

[packsaddle]

I would encourage you to forget the leader/member idea. Instead focus on working with your son as an involved cub parent. As an involved cub parent (or scout parent for that matter, just less involvement) there is no need for any disclosure. So just be his dad and have a great life.

[SMT224]

Goodness! What a pessimistic bunch!

 

I wouldn't give up that easily!!

 

Whether you divulge or not in pursuit of leadership will depend on what your personal sense is when you talk with Troop leadership. And you don't have to do it right away. You can hold off signing up immediately and see how the Troop feels, as well as what their leadership needs are.

 

If they have plenty of adult leaders, they might reject you just because they really do not have the need. On the other hand, if they are in dire need of leaders, you would stand a much better chance, especially if the Troop seems tolerant and open to moving past your history. When I turned in my application, the CC was the local Sheriff! And he approved it!

 

[SeattlePioneer]

While no responsible leader is going to gossip about confidential information, it could happen.

[Beavah]

Yah, hello hls2015. Thanks for your interest in Scouting.

 

This is a hard thing for remote internet folks to comment on, because it often depends on the local characters involved.

 

From the BSA side of things, yeh should answer the questions on the application honestly, and attach a brief explanation. Your background will pop on the check, it will be reviewed confidentially and it is highly unlikely that anything would ever be revealed outside the executive level of your local council.

 

As others have pointed out, when you are applying for a unit-level position you are really asking to be a volunteer for the organization that charters the troop. They are the true decision-makers on your application, not the BSA. So yeh need to take a look at who that organization is.

 

Most established chartered organizations like churches are goin' to have experience with this sort of thing, and they will tend to handle it confidentially and with compassion. What I would suggest in that case is that you submit your application directly to the Chartered Organization Representative and/or the head of the chartered organization, where you can explain your history and make a specific request that it be handled confidentially for the reasons you state. I'm sure that would be honored.

 

The only tricky situation is that some packs and troops are chartered to less stable or knowledgeable groups, like the "Parents of Troop 227", or like a school PTO chapter. Here, I think it's a crap shoot, and I do think you run some risk that word will get out into the gossip channels. PTOs are often the worst for gossip, eh? So it really depends on your assessment of da character of the individual parents who are in charge.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Beavah