CYC Family Scouting – What's New
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CYC Family Scouting – What’s New, What’s Next As of September 7, 2018 by Jay Lubin, Council Vice President for Membership The purpose of this memo is to update Leaders on Family Scouting in Connecticut Yankee Council. Cub Scouts What’s Next: You can recruit girls and boys into your Cub Scout Packs NOW. If your Pack was not part of the Early Adoption Program, please obtain the approval of your Chartered Organization (Chartered Organization Representative), before registering girls in the Pack. Many Chartered Organizations have been contacted by the Service Area Executives and most have agreed to welcome girls. Check with your COR to confirm. Depending on the decision by your Pack’s Chartered Organization, Packs can welcome all youth members into the Pack (boys and girls), from kindergarten through 5th grade, starting NOW. Under the Early Adoption Program initiated in January 2018, there were some “special” requirements put in place to help control aspects of the introduction of girls into Cub Scouts. Any “special” requirements related to Early Adoption NO LONGER APPLY: a. Separate dens by gender: This was not a “special” requirement. Boy dens must be separate from girl dens. Boys and girls cannot be members of the same den. b. Girl and boy Den Leaders: While not a requirement, a single den leader can lead both a girl and a boy den. The girl and boy dens can meet at the same time, and same place. Girl and boy dens can work together on the same adventures at the same time. c. Minimum den size: There is no minimum den size, for girls or boys. Of course, experience has shown that the ideal den size is generally 5 – 8 Cub Scouts. d. What happens if we only recruit 4 or 5 girls and they are different ages? The recommended solution in this case is to form a single den with all the girls, and each girl would work on the advancement requirements for their age/grade. Another solution is combine meetings with girl dens in other Packs in the same or adjacent towns. e. Does a Pack have to “apply” to the Council to be able to welcome girls? NO. No application is required. However, since this a change in the Pack’s membership, the Chartered Organization (Chartered Organization Representative) must approve the change to welcome girls into the Pack. f. Is there a different membership application for boys and girls? No, the current application is used for girls and boys to apply. g. Must the Pack create a written program plan how it will make certain that the girls advance? NO. 1 | Page h. Must the girl den leaders be women? Under BSA youth protection guidelines, each girl den must have at least one registered and trained female leader, age 21 or older, present at every meeting and event. This female leader can be the DL, ADL, or some other registered position. An unregistered female parent does not meet this youth protection requirement. i. Is the Pack required to have a New Member Coordinator? NO (although it is a good idea.) j. Is the Pack required to have a Family Scouting Coordinator? NO. k. What is the difference between a New Member Coordinator and a Family Scouting Coordinator? The NMC is a new position created by BSA to help welcome and guide new families in the unit. Online training is available for the NMC position. The FSC created was created locally by Connecticut Yankee Council to help Packs navigate through the Early Adoption Program. The FSC position is no longer needed. l. Can we recruit 5th grade girls into the Pack as Arrow of Light? YES. m. Can we recruit kindergarten girls (and boys) into the Pack as Lions? YES n. Is a Pack required to welcome girls? NO. The initial decision is technically up to the Chartered Organization of the Pack. After this initial approval has been made by the Organization, then it becomes a Pack decision whether they will welcome girls into their Pack. o. Can we form a separate, all‐girl, Cub Scout Pack? YES. A community organization must agree to sponsor the new Pack (just like any other Pack). Hopefully, this community organization will already be sponsoring a Unit, so they “know the ropes”. We can then form this new, all‐girl Pack, in the same manner that we would start any new Pack. p. Why are the Cub Scouts going coed? Technically, our program is not co‐ed. We are operating a single gender program in our Cub Scout Packs, with separate dens for boys and girls. More to the point, our families requested that we welcome girls to our program, and our Cub Scout program works as well for girls as it does for boys. Cub Scouts was formed by BSA in 1930. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, siblings have been an integral (if unofficial) part of the Cub Scout program, present at meetings and events. Girls today take an active part in Cub Scouts, including Pinewood Derbies and camping trips. This change in membership recognizes the part that siblings play in our membership. Please note: Lion Scouts (youth in kindergarten) are now an official program of BSA. There are no “special” requirements/limits to join Cub Scouts as a Lion. Therefore, the “special” Lion membership requirements and Pack organization from the 2‐year Lion pilot NO LONGER APPLY: a. Lion Den Leaders (formerly called Lion Guides) do NOT have to be an experienced Cub Scout Leader. b. A Cub Scout Pack does NOT apply to the Council to start a Lion Den. Simply start the den. c. Lions can camp with the Pack, as long as they are part of the Pack’s family camping program d. There are no limits for Lions on participation in Pack meetings and fundraisers. 2 | Page Boy Scouts One of the biggest changes in the program for Boy Scout age youth is the name change – to Scouts BSA. To be clear, the Boy Scouts of America is NOT changing the name of the organization. Boy Scouts of America (or BSA) has been an iconic American brand for over a century, and that IS NOT CHANGING. But, the program NAME for youth ages 11 through 18 will change from Boy Scouts to Scouts BSA. This name change reflects the reality that youth in our Scout Troops will be boys and girls. The name change is effective February 1, 2019, which is the same date we will be able to charter girl Troops and register girls in new girl Troops. Is there anything we can do NOW? YES, there is plenty to do. First, please obtain the confirmation (approval) of your Chartered Organization (Chartered Organization Representative), on whether they will agree to charter a girl Troop at their organization. Also, it is strongly recommended that all existing Troops in each town meet together ASAP, in the early fall, to discuss how to best form girl Troop(s) in that town. We anticipate (guesstimate) that for every 20 to 40 boys in Boy Scouts, roughly 5 to 8 girls will be interested in joining Scouts BSA. For towns with, say, 3 or 4 troops (for example), there may be 15 to 20 girls who want to join Scouts BSA. It might make sense to pool these resources in a town to form one girl Troop of 15 to 20 girls, rather than form 3 or 4 girl Troops of 5 or 6 or 7 girls in each Troop. As we all know, a larger troop is more effective than a smaller troop, with more leadership opportunities for the youth members and more financial resources. If this approach is taken, once the girl Troop is successful with more female members, it can later split in two (or three). This approach will also help determine how to organize the troop committee (see linked troop info below.) Then What? Get a core of 2 or 3 or 4 or more girls who are interested in forming a troop and help them plan and organize a meeting of other interested girls and their families. Publicize the meeting in the local newspaper, and on the town Facebook pages(s). MOST IMPORTANTLY, have the core group of girls ask their friends to this meeting. Experience has shown that girls are much more likely than boys to ask friends to join an organization. At the same time, solicit interest from parents and other Scout leaders in town to serve as the Troop leadership and Troop Committee. Once you have a core of girls and leaders, start meeting, at least twice a month. Have the girls select their own patrol leader(s), SPL, scribe, QM, etc. 3 | Page The meetings should be part planning and mostly fun, just like any Troop meeting. There is no reason you can’t start working on advancement or merit badges. Handbooks or blue cards cannot be officially signed off until the Troop is formally chartered on February 1, but requirements can still be worked on. Ideally, every youth in the new Troop could be ready to attain Scout rank on February 1, and have plenty of Tenderfoot requirements completed. Take the girls camping, on nature hikes, bike trips, anything you would consider doing with a boy Troop with a mixture of ages and outdoor experience. Collect applications (youth and adults) starting in September or October, along with registration and operations fees, so the applications will be ready to be submitted along with the charter application in mid‐January. Once a critical mass of girls start meeting, you could offer Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops to the prospective girl leaders.