SCOUT EXECUTIVE'S MINUTE

Dear Fellow Scouters:

Recently, I noticed a disturbing trend. More and more membership applications are being turned into the NWSC Volunteer Service Center many, many months after being signed and dated by a parent. What I thought initially was a unique “here and there” concern is a full fledged problem. Almost all of the applications I have checked in the past several months have been taking three and four months to get turned into the office. I have called this phenomena “briefcase lag” and it is a dangerous condition.

“Briefcase lag” has several problems. On youth membership applications Scouts are attending Scout meetings and activities without officially being registered members. Only members are covered by the BSA’s liability insurance and the NWSC’s medical sickness and accident insurance. Yes, if they are registered they are covered at the meetings and activities as well as coming to and going home from these meetings. And yes, prospective members are covered, but it was never the intention for this prospective member to mean for months and months at a time a person would be provided insurance coverage without paying the fees to join. How would you explain to the parent that their son was not covered by insurance in the event of an accident because his registration was not turned into the office?

Another concern is rank advancement. How can a non-member advance in rank, earn badges, and have their time of service counted without being a member? While it may not seem important to an 11 year old, it becomes vitally important to the 17 year old trying to get all of his requirements completed for Eagle Scout before his 18th birthday.

Isn’t there a reasonable expectation on the part of the parent that when he/she signs the application and presents the unit with a check that his son become registered in Scouting within the next week? Were not fees collected so that his/her son is joining the Scouting program now and not months from now? The lag time on Boys’ Life is two subscriptions. Do we not delay that lag time further by failing to process a membership application?

An even scarier scenario…An adult membership application not processed for months. The NWSC/BSA conducts a criminal background check on ALL new registered leaders. By delaying the processing of an adult membership application by many, many months we are delaying the processing of one of our security devices, the criminal background check, while at the same time permitting an adult to work directly with our kids. What reasonable excuse would you give to the lawyer or the judge for failing to process this application in a timely manner?

For the safety of our Scouts, for their accurate advancement processing, for their on-time delivery of Boys’ Life, and their mail notification of many Scouting activities… let’s eliminate “briefcase lag” immediately. It is reasonable to expect that within one week of a parent signing a membership application and providing registration fees the application should be in the NWSC Volunteer Service Center for immediate processing. Anything longer than one week is not what the prudent and reasonable parent should expect of any Scout Leader. Let’s do our part this Fall to eliminate “briefcase lag” and get all of our Scouts properly registered within one week.

Best regards,
Stephen J. Taylor, CFRE
Scout Executive
staylor@bsamail.org