On Tuesday, February 18, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy. The organization called for a Chapter 11 filing, which means they will be able to keep running while they try to deal with around 300 lawsuits against them. The lawsuits come from men who say they were sexually abused as Scouts.
According to United States Courts, “a Chapter 11 debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time.” The Boy Scouts hired a law firm in December 2018 in order to make the filing, which was made in Delaware and “is expected to set a new deadline for victims’ claims to be made,” according to NPR.
Jim Turley, the National Chair of the Boy Scouts of America, wrote an open letter to victims, which promises that “we believe you, we believe in compensating you, and we have programs in place to pay for counseling for you and your family by a provider of your choice.”
It’s not as if the Boy Scouts doesn’t already have structure in place to protect its Scouts. In order to staff a scouting event (such as a summer camp), volunteers must have Youth Protection Training, which must be renewed every two years. YPT consists of a class and/or an online training session. Adults wishing to become Boy Scout leaders must complete an application that “requests background information” such as “his or her experience with children, why he or she wants to be a Scout Leader, and what discipline techniques he or she would use.” There’s also mandatory reporting of child abuse and steps on the Boy Scouts’ website explaining what to do in case there is a suspicion of child abuse.
“As knowledge on child sexual abuse prevention has advanced, so have our expert-informed policies, including mandatory background checks and trainings, a ban on one-on-one interactions between youth and adults, and mandatory reporting of any suspicion of abuse to law enforcement,” says Turley.
The problem is that these policies may not always be carried out. I’ve been both directly and indirectly involved with Boy Scouts almost my entire life — all of my brothers have been or are currently in Scouting, and my father has been a Cub Scout Cubmaster for seven years and an Assistant Scoutmaster for five. I also participated in a co-ed Venture Crew for two years. While I was lucky to not see or experience any sexual assault, I did see some parents (other scout leaders, mind you) who acted in ways that I would categorize as abusive towards their children, and I know of one case where two Boy Scouts were caught engaging in sexual behavior. Despite the training, two-deep leadership, and mandatory reporting, some things slip through the cracks, especially in a scouting environment in a state like Arkansas, which, according to a survey reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had the highest amount of Adverse Childhood Experiences (potentially traumatic experiences and events) in 2018.
While it’s clear the Boy Scouts of America is taking great steps to repair their image and keep Scouts safe, I think there’s more they could be doing. Hopefully this filing will allow them to repair the damage members of their organization have caused so that they can focus more of their efforts on preventing more cases in the future.
Categories: Opinion
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