Last Spring a number of scandals hit the news about enrollment scandals in Boy Scouts.
Unfortunately this is not a new problem - it has occurred regularly over the years - this is well documented in:
http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/...
This link is to a web site run by those opposed to BSA's discriminatory policies (I have no public opinion on that issue - BSA has thrown out members who have expressed conflicting opinions on "membership criteria" making any claims of "listening to our membership" a joke - how can you discuss an issue if you are thrown out for advocating "tolerance") http://www.scoutingforall.org/...
But this diary focuses on one local case which highlights just how "Trustworthy" - NOT - Boy Scouts actually is.
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I realize this topic is of limited interest to the larger audience here, but DK is quite powerful and serves as a way to highlight such issues in a way other forums do not. Past posts on this topic have reached an audience far wider than the DK community and had a positive impact spurring others to call for greater accountability.
My Scoutmaster taught us (as Scouts) to own up to our actions - good or bad. IF you did something wrong, you should acknowledge it and endeavor to make things right.
Most children have been taught this. Somehow, BSA has never learned this simple fundamental lesson.
Our Council issued the following statement last February just before NBC aired a story on membership fraud
Our Council will not be and is not one of the isolated councils referenced in this news story.
Our key staff and volunteer leadership ywould like to issue the following statement to our volunteers and membership:
"The Boy Scouts of America was built on the values and principles of honesty, integrity and truthfulness. These are the foundations of our organization.
Our Council President, Council Commissioner and Scout Executive (names omitted) are dedicated to these values. Accurately representing who we are and what we do for this community is essential to these values.
A number of volunteers here have not believed the claims of "growth" made by our new paid head.
(In truth, much of the "growth" claimed did not occur in Scouting but in a program called "Learning for Life." Many would classify "LFL" as a contrived program set up to receive governmental and charitable funding that BSA itself cannot receive because of its discriminatory membership policies. BSA goes to great lengths to state this is NOT "Scouting" and is structured as a supposedly independent corporation. BSA PAYS people to teach "classes" in schools using governmentally earmarked funds or charitable funds. The line between "Scouting" and "LFL" is very blurred in reality. Funds locally that had been supposedly raised to support "handicapped Scouting units" did NOT go to such units but paid for "LFL" programs in schools where handicapped children were taught crafts. While "LFL" may have some merits on its own, it is NOT "Scouting" and would not exist of its participants had to pay the costs of this program personally. Many would compare this effort to opening a medical clinic that only takes Medicare patients. This is a "side issue" and one that others have raised serious questions about. BSA seems to be mingling funding and misreporting funds for this program and Scouting. Another organization "Scouting for All" has recently raised serious questions about all of this .
http://www.scoutingforall.org/...
Disclaimer -I am not a member of this group and do not support their position on membership but they do provide an accurate synopsis of this issue. But I digress.)
Pooling information - including internal reports that showed dramatically different membership numbers from the publicly made claims - volunteers challenged our Council on their membership claims. This was done quietly within the local Scouting community.
A senior volunteer was chosen to head a committee investigating these claims. Known as a "stand-up" guy, this person promised a "whitewash" would not occur and that all results would be made public. However, he asserted that his committee would not be swayed by "innuendo." No investigation was begun before the end of school in 2005.
An audit at that point would have provided a clear snapshot of actual, "active" membership. BSA uses a "running total" for the calendar year - which has the effect of overstating actual participation. They count any youth enrolled during the year but do not remove non-returning or non-participating boys until the following calendar year. The "year-end" number maximizes "youth served" counts. This method of counting does not accurately reflect the number of boys active at any one time during a year - and reflects changes made to the "official" accounting methods over the years - changes made because they maximize counts.
The promised investigation never occurred. No announcement or explanation was made to explain why volunteers here did not audit numbers. Some believe that the investigation showed results that would NOT be "favorable" to BSA and therefore the investigation was halted.
Volunteers had challenged a number of issues:
1) overall claimed enrollments - are the reported counts accurate?
2) unit counts - do we have the number of units claimed?
3) classification of youth - were some being classified as "Scouts" who were not
4) were the numbers claimed to achieve "Quality" status correct?
There were a number of reasons to suspect overall numbers.
A senior volunteer stated bluntly - but privately - that we did NOT have the growth claimed in past years. Many volunteers had seen DELCINES in Scouting membership even though we claimed "growth."
Volunteers starting new units had tried to contact existing units on rosters. They found many did not exist - they had died years ago. This is a recurring problem in BSA where so-called "Ghost units" are kept alive to boost numbers.
Many youth claimed as "Scouts" were NOT enrolled in activities that would be classified as "traditional Scouting." This relates to "Learning for Life" and other programs - and membership criteria. A large percentage of membership in "Venturing" - BSA's senior "Scouting " program were simply enrolled in a "Safe Rides" program - something unrelated to Scouting.
BSA stresses "Quality" status for Districts and Councils. It is one of the goals set for paid staff. One paid staffer made it clear that he would NOT participate in any fraud - but another District claiming "Quality" status had numbers that could NOT be supported by any other official Council reports. There were clear alterations to numbers on the worksheet used to apply for "Quality" status. Leaders of Units in the District knew for a fact that some of the things required to attain this status had NOT been accomplished - though it was claimed they were.
Instead of a thorough audit conducted by a respected and "independent" authority, our Council has an "investigation" conducted by - surprise - BSA itself.
BSA NE Region conducted an "investigation" - though the letter summarizing the scope and findings are marked "Confidential." The reasons for this become immediately clear in reading the contents. The term "whitewash" clearly comes to mind.
Though "allegations of purported membership fraud" were made - in detail, backed by BSA reports, the investigating group states:
After consideration, we decided that it was appropriate to limit the scope of our investigation to the first allegation - namely whether the council is in compliance with BSA - approved membership practices and procedures.
Despite SPECIFIC questions raised about SPECIFIC numbers, BSA decided it was "appropriate" only to determine if "procedures were being followed."
NO specific numbers were audited. It appears that NO effort was made to determine if "BSA -approved procedures" had been followed in the past. It seems that the ONLY issue that was examined is "are they CURRENTLY following BSA-approved procedures" - and please note that even "BSA-approved procedures" result in overstatement of membership.
The main "finding" was:
We found no evidence of council activities by professionals, office staff or volunteers that was not in compliance with BSA National practices and procedures for membership accounting.
So, they found no evidence that they were NOT following procedures!?! I am reassured. At least NOW we seem to be "in compliance."
But were past claims fraudulent? Just what IS our current membership? Nobody is saying. No reports have been issued at quarterly meetings and our leadership is conspicuously silent when it comes to specific membership numbers. I suppose at some time in the future, new numbers will be quietly released - far from public view in a way not easily obtained. I don't expect they'll be handing out copies of their annual report this year. This would fit past patterns. "All's fine" "nothing to see here" move along." And sometime later new, far lower numbers will finally surface.
Ironically, an Executive Board report stated that there were 6,690 youth in "traditional Scouting" programs as of 5/31/2005 - with less than 8,000 youth "served" by all programs. You do NOT normally see any increases in membership from the beginning of the calendar year until school begins in the fall. Few boys will join half-way through the school year. A handful may enroll in May to qualify for summer camp.
Yet in July 2005, a fundraising letter went out stating"
Scouting in our Council serves more than 10,000 young people!
The verb tense was present - "serves". Not "served". Not "served in 2004." Not "served in past years." I suppose this would be "explained away" as a "semantic" error - but the intent is clear and misleading.
Many would state this qualifies as mail fraud - knowingly using inflated numbers to solicit funding. It has happened repeatedly with BSA in the past but somehow it seems that (despite this recurring pattern of illegal behavior) there are never prosecutions. At the very least it is misleading. Clearly this statement does not "accurately represent who we are."
What ever happened to "Trustworthy?"
This is far too typical of BSA lately. Clear and serious questions that raise the specter of fraud were ignored. A spurious "investigation" states "nothing is wrong" - but unless you have access to those "findings" you will not see that nothing of substance was "investigated." This follows a pattern of past fraud in BSA. Paid staff boast "nothing will be found" even though numbers are later restated at substantially lower levels.
Ronnie Holmes remains in his $200,000+ a year job in Birmingham Alabama even though he has yet to explain 30-40% discrepancies in membership claims. He blames "missing units" on the ACLU - saying that they could not be rechartered by schools - yet refuses to let anyone interview the leaders or past sponsors of even ONE of these "missing" units. The volunteer - on the Council `s Executive Board - who exposed this fraud was concerned that so many units lacked trained leaders. He was told "not to worry" then threatened when he pressed the issue. He was thrown out of Scouting the day his claims were shown to be true. This is the second scandal for Mr. Holmes in 5 years - he was at the center of the Circle Ten scandal in Dallas in 2000. This same personhad boasted to others that he was going to be the next head of BSA Nationally - a great and "trustworthy" role model. Many are astounded that he has not been fired - caught TWICE committing the same fraud in the same way. If nothing else this shows a level of incompetence that should be intolerable in such a high paying position. After all, listing boys as "John Doe" with addresss the same as your Council offices - is a bit transparent. Somehow BSA claimed this was "justified" - that such listings were to "protect boys." Who knew BSA was running a witness protection program for the Feds? Was this the BEST explanation they could come up with? The "investigation" there "continues."
Somehow scandals like this keep happening in BSA. Last year there were scandals in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. A paid staffer was suing in Oregon after being fired for refusing to sign off on fictitious units there.
Boy Scouts claims to have "new" procedures in place to prevent this type of fraud. "Key volunteers" now have to sign off on enrollment numbers. Perhaps this explains the substantial drop in BSA membership.
Unofficial sources now report that BSA will show a total membership of 2.77 million in "Traditional Scouting" programs now - a significant drop from the 3.1 million claimed for year-end 2004.
This will be the first time Boy Scouting has had less than 3 million boys since the early 1950's - with a far larger base to draw from. At the same time, BSA has expanded the age range of Scouting programs and changed the way it counts members so the current situation states membership as FAVORABLY as possible. It is likely that Boy Scouting has closer to 2 million boys active in Scouting now - using the accounting methods from 1950 - where only those enrolled and active during a school year are counted.
Boy Scouts of America is a failing organization - despite the efforts of a dedicated volunteer base. The paid executives running this organization are well paid - very well paid - yet failing in their charge to serve, support and expand SCOUTING for boys in the United States.
In the past BSA has been found to be too "profitable" for a non-profit and had to spend down cash on hand. They did so by allowing executives to retire early with very generous packages - NOT by spending "excess funds" directly on programs for boys. It appears that something similar may be happening again soon. BSA National is sitting on $500,000,000 in liquid assets - an amount which does NOT include all assets and funds held by local Councils (which are independent corporations). Roy Williams - the head of BSA - had a compensation package worth over $915,000 in 2004. This makes him one of the top paid non-profit CEOS's in the country. Yet Scouting has lost membership under his "leadership."
Locally, our Scout Executive has a compensation package that is over $140,000 - AND the Council holds a note on his house (apparently providing a down payment). His counterpart in Girl Scouts here earns less than $90,000 while running a program that has almost twice the number of youth.
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
For an organization that states its mission is to teach youth to make moral and ethical choices in life, Boy Scouts of America is showing a remarkable and willful ignorance of what is ethical and moral. Frankly, the hypocrisy at work in BSA is getting to be beyond the pale. What does it take to get an organization to reform itself? Is it possible?
BSA has had remarkable success hiding behind the flag and God - touting "character and values." But it's time for those running Boy Scouts to start showing some of the character they claim to represent.
Any organization that stakes out the high ground on ethics and morals has an obligation to show some. It's appalling that Boy Scouts - a good program that has done great things for boys - seems to be on a self-destructive course. This is one more corporate fraud where overpaid executives are not being held accountable for their actions.
Last year's National Jamboree was a disaster. Child Abuse issues have not been fully addressed - a story in Idaho has led to the complete revamping of abuse laws and statutes of limitations there but has gotten NO National coverage. A legislator heading a committee on all this has caleld for BSA to remove one paid staffer there who failed TWICE to properly deal with cases of abuse reported personally to him. It seems that - above a certain level - it is impossible to get fired from Boy Scouts. Even the head of "Youth Protection" was allowed to retire last spring - after the FBI found him distributing child pornography. This was two weeks after that same person fired a highly respected 30+ year staffer who had vacationed at a gay resort ( I take it back - you CAN get fired from BSA - if you're gay. But being caught with child porn lets you retire with benefits?!?).
Unfortunately this all seems to be a story nobody wants to touch. NONE of the fraud stories from 2005 were fully resolved. NO open and independent results were ever announced. Even in Atlanta, those involved have backed away from demanding a full accounting, knowing that pushing the issue too far will only kill the programs they wish to continue. In all other cases, it seems BSA is hoping that people will simply forget now that media coversage has faded. An in-depth story being written by a national presence seems to have been killed - not surprisingly. Boy Scouts has friends in high places.