As anticipated, the Boy Scouts of America has issued some major updates to our landmark Youth Protection procedures.
The program is being expanded and strengthened, and will include youth training in youth protection for the first time (aside from our traditional A Time to Tell and It Happened to Me programs). The requirement for all adult volunteers to take Youth Protection Training, often spotty in the past, will be strictly enforced, and there will be professional help and guidance available for those having questions about what to do as well as for those who have experienced abuse under Scouting’s umbrella in the past. There’s also new training for camp staff covering youth-on-youth situations.
Here is a summary of the changes affecting volunteers and units that are now in effect: Continue reading “Major updates to youth protection training and procedures”
As the old joke goes, meetings are the place where the minutes are kept and the hours are thrown away.
In October 2017, the Boy Scouts of America took the historic step of deciding to 
Time marches on, and technology comes along for the ride. It’s true of the Boy Scouts of America, which a couple years ago unvelied Scoutbook, a unit recordkeeping software package initially developed by a Scouter who had a better idea. Available to units at a reasonable cost (or free in some cases), Scoutbook is a step forward in terms of integration with the BSA’s own databases.
As we roll over the calendar into the new year, councils will be beginning their fundraising efforts for 2018. Our part as volunteers and Scouting families is participation in the Family Friends of Scouting program. Most of us are familiar with the need to help fund our Scouting programs above and beyond the direct fees that we pay, so many volunteers also choose to help support this effort by giving presentations to our packs, troops and crews inviting familiies to become Friends of Scouting.