Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy.

[Page Turner]

...please don't go all political on this. The sex abuse cases and settlement prospects aside, this made me kind of sad.

I have nothing but fond memories of my time in the organization, and I don't think the thing I remember is coming back anytime soon.

Just another example of my status as an endangered species.  I learned a lot there, and it made me the successful hippie I am today.

Quote

 

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy, according to a court document filed in Delaware bankruptcy court early Tuesday.

The youth organization, which celebrated its 110th anniversary February 8, listed liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million and estimated assets of $1 billion to $10 billion.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/18/us/boy-scouts-bankruptcy/index.html

[Kzoo]

Financial protection.  This puts the fate of the thousands of civil lawsuits in the hands of the bankruptcy judge instead of federal courts, possibly effectively making them all go away.

I agree it is a sad thing.  It is a different world.

 

[Wilbur]

Meh.  Product of the times. 

[jsharr]

This is not a HUGE END OF THE BSA deal.

Because the BSA kept written records of the leaders who committed these acts, the new changes in the laws have made the BSA a target for class action suits.  This allows the National orginization protection from the class action lawyers.

The BSA always has and always will support victims.  It believes them, provides counseling and equitable settlement, etc. 

The bankrupty will also set up a victim compensation trust so that the BSA can continue to support any vicitims that come forward.

All the councils are separate from the National office and are financially sound.

The program will go on.
 

 

[Page Turner]

...in the back of my mind, I kinda figured that, but I still have the feeling that between integrating girls into the organization and having this adult leader abuse scandal history, it will have some difficulty down the road.  That doesn't make it all that different from a lot of other organizations that will go on after some revelation of some flaws.  I think I'm just tired today from a combination of hay fever and the news.

[donkpow]

23 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Financial protection.

 

[jsharr]

5 minutes ago, donkpow said:

 

He is right.  This is done to protect funds so that they can actually be used to compensate victims, provide counselling and support and not pad the pockets of class action lawyers.

[Indy]

This obviously shows that cookies are superior to popcorn.

 

If they would've sold cookies instead of popcorn, they wouldn't have this problem.

 

That and those girl scouts are freaking selling machines.  Imagine what kind of money you could make opening up a crappy used car lot staffed with them, you'd be out of inventory and rich in less than a week.  I just need to figure out how to make it a fundraiser instead of calling them employees like the Scouts do and I'm set.

[Page Turner]

10 minutes ago, Indy said:

That and those girl scouts are freaking selling machines.  Imagine what kind of money you could make opening up a crappy used car lot staffed with them, you'd be out of inventory and rich in less than a week.  I just need to figure out how to make it a fundraiser instead of calling them employees like the Scouts do and I'm set.

...one of my (three different over the years) Scout troops ran a Christmas tree lot every year. It was, indeed, very much run like a used car lot.  

[MickinMD]

In my time in the scouts and my nephews' times, their packs were led by fathers of current or past scouts and no one was worried about the men who were guiding the boys.  I think the problems multiplied when fewer fathers bothered to do such a thing.

A similar thing happened to the little leagues in the park near me.  Parents, brothers, and other relatives tended to coach will the late 1980's.  A local supermarket did fundraisers and worked with Baltimore City to provide insurance for poor kids who often came to registration day with $4 in coins and no phone number to give us for a contact.  There were 7 baseball fields in use almost every day of the season with leagues running from 5-6 tee ball to 13-14 pony league and a 15-16 traveling team.

Now the parents, etc. can't be bothered - there's too much electronic entertainment I guess, and the ballfields sit empty all summer except for men's slow pitch softball leagues on weekends.

[MickinMD]

1 hour ago, jsharr said:

The BSA always has and always will support victims.  It believes them, provides counseling and equitable settlement, etc. 
 

The BSA is an excellent organization, but there have been cases where abuse was covered up, so it has not always supported victims. Unfortunately, there are a few bad apples in every barrel that destroy organizations' reputations for the rest of us that work for the common good.

[Indy]

17 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

In my time in the scouts and my nephews' times, their packs were led by fathers of current or past scouts and no one was worried about the men who were guiding the boys.  I think the problems multiplied when fewer fathers bothered to do such a thing.

A similar thing happened to the little leagues in the park near me.  Parents, brothers, and other relatives tended to coach will the late 1980's.  A local supermarket did fundraisers and worked with Baltimore City to provide insurance for poor kids who often came to registration day with $4 in coins and no phone number to give us for a contact.  There were 7 baseball fields in use almost every day of the season with leagues running from 5-6 tee ball to 13-14 pony league and a 15-16 traveling team.

Now the parents, etc. can't be bothered - there's too much electronic entertainment I guess, and the ballfields sit empty all summer except for men's slow pitch softball leagues on weekends.

Or, parents got sick of the abuse they took from other parents and don't want the responsibility.  I gave up coaching for that reason, I will help with my kids and maybe a few select kids, but that's it because I got sick of the abuse directed at me from other parents. 

[Dottleshead]

1 hour ago, Indy said:

This obviously shows that cookies are superior to popcorn.

Nothing else needs to be said.

[jsharr]

9 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

The BSA is an excellent organization, but there have been cases where abuse was covered up, so it has not always supported victims. Unfortunately, there are a few bad apples in every barrel that destroy organizations' reputations for the rest of us that work for the common good.

I did not say there was not any cover up.  I said that the BSA, to my knowledge, has never denied compensation, counseling or other restitution to victims that have come forward.

I would like to see links to the cover ups that you mention as I am not aware of them.  I do know that the current BSA Youth Protection Training is in place help the BSA weed out any potential bad leaders and I know that in the units I have been involved in for the last decade or so that the vast majority of the leaders are parents of a youth in the unit.  Very few leaders are not parents.

The primary issue is that the BSA kept written files of banned leaders in an effort to keep them out of the program in other cities and states, and due to this fact, the lawyers can now use the changes in the law to file class action suits.