RECENT NEWS – SCOUTING IN THE DAN BEARD COUNCIL IS STRONG
INFORMATION ABOUT RECENT NEWS IN THE MEDIA
Dan Beard Council Local Statement
National Boy Scouts of America Announces Managed Chapter 11 Financial Restructuring
Dan Beard Council is an Independently Governed Locally Funded Nonprofit Organization
CINCINNATI (February 18, 2020) – The national organization of the Boy Scouts of America headquartered in Texas has announced a managed Chapter 11 financial restructuring as part of a plan to establish a compensation trust for victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting, as well as to ensure that BSA can continue to carry out its mission to serve youth, families and local communities through its programs.
Only the national organization has filed for Chapter 11. The Dan Beard Council is an independently governed and locally funded nonprofit organization that is separate and distinct from the national organization and is not part of the national organization’s action. Dan Beard Council is responsible for providing programming, financial, facility and administrative support to local units and individual Scouts in our local community. All Dan Beard Council Pack, Troop & Crew meetings, local activities, countless service projects, and other Scouting adventures will continue as usual.
“Scouting in our region is strong, and we will continue to serve local families with a program of character building, citizenship training, and leadership development that instills values for a lifetime. Additionally, the safety of children in Scouting is our absolute top priority and the Dan Beard Council remains as committed as ever to delivering the safest and highest quality Scouting programs in our area with dedicated volunteers and Scouting families in our communities. There is no scenario under consideration in which our council will file for a Chapter 11 financial restructuring,” said Andy Zahn, Scout Executive and CEO of the Dan Beard Council, Boy Scouts of America. Read more…
Additional information about the BSA’s multilayered safeguards and a video of the youth protection training course that is mandatory for all volunteers and employees is available at www.scouting.org/youth-safety.
The national organization’s press release can be viewed here.
Should you have any additional questions related to the national organization, please reach out to PR@Scouting.org.
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FAQ’S
- The Dan Beard Council provides youth with character development programs and values-based leadership training.
- To give back to our communities, the Dan Beard Council Scouts performed more than 166,000 hours of community service in 2019.
- Earlier this month we recognized over 330 young men who achieved Eagle Scout
- Dan Beard Council serves over 24,000 youth and families in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. The Dan Beard Council covers five Ohio counties (Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Clermont and Brown) and seven Kentucky counties (Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Gallatin, Owen, Grant and Pendleton).
- The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America has announced a managed Chapter 11 financial restructuring. This type of filing ensures the future continuation of the BSA organization.
- The restructuring will enable the national Council to establish a Victims’ Compensation Trust for victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting.
- The financial restructuring ensures that BSA can continue to carry out its mission to serve youth, families and local communities through its programs.
- Dan Beard Council is financially independent from the National Council Boy Scouts of America and receives no funding from the national organization.
- Our local Council operates as an independently funded nonprofit organization in the state of Ohio. As such the council is locally governed and locally funded.
- Scouting in Dan Beard Council is strong and vibrant. Dan Beard Council remains both programmatically and financially strong in the perspectives of fiscal health, program quality, membership growth, board and volunteer dedication, camp properties, and staff leadership.
- For business purposes, Dan Beard Council partners with national BSA for insurance, IT services, and expertise related to Youth Protection and individual programs.
- Employee benefits such as healthcare and retirement are funded by each council through programs controlled and operated by the national BSA.
- Only the national council has filed for Chapter 11.
- Dan Beard Council has not filed for Chapter 11.
- All unit meetings, activities, summer camp, district and council events, and other Scouting adventures will continue as usual.
- Scouting in Dan Beard Council is strong and vibrant. Dan Beard Council remains as committed as ever to delivering the safest and highest quality Scouting programs in our area with dedicated volunteers and Scouting families in our communities.
- The national organization is facing financial strain from litigation related to past instances of abuse.
- One instance of abuse is one too many, and we are heartbroken that any child was ever harmed during their time in Scouting.
- Although more than 90% of these known cases occurred prior to 1987, many date back decades ago, some as far back as the 1940s, they have come to light due to recent changes in numerous States’ statute of limitations laws.
- The Boy Scouts of America’s top priority is the safety of youth in our programs.
- One instance of abuse is one too many, and we are heartbroken that any child was ever harmed during their time in Scouting.
- Over many years, we have developed some of the strongest expert-informed youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization including:
- Mandatory youth protection training
- Policies like two-deep leadership, no one-on-one interaction between youth and adults, and mandatory reporting of any suspected abuse
- Criminal background checks for adults working with youth
- Volunteers and employees take youth protection policies and procedures extremely seriously and do their part to help keep kids safe.
- An overview of safeguards and mandatory youth protection training course for all volunteers and employees is available at scouting.org/youth-safety.
- Immediate removal of individuals based only on allegations of inappropriate behavior;
- In every decade, Scouting has been at the forefront of implementing the best youth protection and safety practices. Currently, BSA is leading initiatives for youth safety.
- BSA is supporting and advocating for the creation of a national registry overseen by a governmental entity, similar to the national sex offender registry, to identify individuals suspected of child abuse or inappropriate behavior with a child. The national registry would be shared with all youth serving organizations.
- The national board and staff are calling upon Congress and other youth serving organizations to support this initiative.
- In addition to our council staff, the 24/7 Scouts First Helpline (1-844-SCOUTS1) and email address (scouts1st@scouting.org) are available for reporting suspected abuse or inappropriate behavior.