LDS policy trumps BSA policy?

[Backroads]

Okay, I was sick Sunday and did not attend church.

I come into work today (I split time between two offices) and find out yesterday that two different individuals from two different stakes demanded our council accept applications without proof of training, saying that the Church now requires a background check be completed before any of its Scout leaders complete training and that the Church's policy trumps BSA's.

National BSA now requires Youth Protection Training within 30 days of registration.. however, a month ago the training was required with the application (for a few months last year it was computer-impossible to register anyone without it.) Anywho, my council has been told we can add anything to that policy to suit our needs and we have always required Youth Protection Training to be completed before an application is turned in.

So, since I was not at church Sunday and my coworker who experienced all this is Methodist, I have no idea if this true or not. As it is, my council is clueless.

[Dravin]

While the Church has a lot of influence with the BSA because of the number of scouts it registers I doubt that extends to being able to preempt BSA policy, but more likely being able to get exceptions recognized. It may be a good idea to see if such an exemption exists.

On a personal level though my thought would be, "I work for the BSA, not the Church. They define the policy I follow."

[Backroads]

I guess I'm imagining that if the Church did have such a policy to the point that it would be announced in a letter, the BSA would know about it, approve, and fix our programs to accept it. Unfortunately, our council head honcho was at home with his daughter yesterday, so we still know nothing about any exception.

Though with the amount of LDS units in our council we would probably extend the policy to everyone.

[Gwen]

i don't know of any such policy. i was required to meet bsa standards. sounds like a unit that wants to be exempt not the church.

[Backroads]

I was just startled that they claimed a letter had been read in sacrement meeting.

[Gwen]

If a letter was read it would have been read everywhere. No such letter has been read here. The only "background check" I know of that the church does is if records are annotated.

[Dravin]

I was just startled that they claimed a letter had been read in sacrement meeting.

You do work for BSA though right? That a letter was read in sacrament meeting isn't particularly pertinent. The information has to come through the right channels, I highly doubt the official channel for BSA policy is LDS sacrament meetings. The issue here is that the supposed policy conflicts with BSA policy and you are wondering if BSA policy has changed (or you were mistaken) without you being aware of it right? The solution is to go through the proper channels with your question concerning policy, either if it's changed or if your understanding is correct.

Edited September 27, 2011 by Dravin

[Guest mormonmusic]

The joy of being an Indian in the tribe (in your case, perhaps non or front-line managerial) is that you can play dumb and run it up the food chain for an answer from the top Chiefs-- letting the accountability rest there. I wouldn't accept some He Said/She Said from someone trying to circumvent rules meant to protect kids and reduce/prevent lawsuits in my organization....I'd need some kind of proof from the top bananas.

[NeuroTypical]

Strange: I thoroughly detest bureaucracy and the "not my job" mentality so pervasive in American business. And yet, I find myself in complete agreement with mormonmusic's post.

(Probably because it involves urging the system to work, and also works to protect children.)

[MarginOfError]

The only recent letter I'm aware of regarding scouting is the one from spring of 2011 notifying leaders that scout leaders would have be complete youth protection training before beginning their service.

I don't have access to that letter any more, but here are some resources

http://lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/scout-leader-training.pdf?lang=eng

Youth Protection training is required for all registered Scout leaders and provides

instruction on BSA policies and guidelines intended to protect both youth and adults. The

training is offered online or may be taken as part of a district or council training course. It

is to be completed before service with youth begins, and is to be taken every two years.

The training can be completed in approximately 25 minutes.

http://lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/scouting-handbook-2011.pdf?lang=eng

Youth Protection (available online, to be completed before service with youth begins)

At the end of the day, the BSA will be held liable for any events that take place that violate a youth's protection. The policy was established in response to the law suits that took place over an incident involving LDS scouts. I don't see the BSA making an exception to the policy for the Church, especially when the Church's policy conforms to the BSA's in this matter.

[Backroads]

You do work for BSA though right? That a letter was read in sacrament meeting isn't particularly pertinent. The information has to come through the right channels, I highly doubt the official channel for BSA policy is LDS sacrament meetings. The issue here is that the supposed policy conflicts with BSA policy and you are wondering if BSA policy has changed (or you were mistaken) without you being aware of it right? The solution is to go through the proper channels with your question concerning policy, either if it's changed or if your understanding is correct.

Yes, I do. I definitely understand the channels... but it does make me curious as to how many people I will have screaming at me. The thing is, we do make a lot of LDS exceptions that derive mainly from LDS relations committees.

Just waiting for proper channels to be available...

[MarginOfError]

Not that what I have to say really carries any weight, but if these people can't be bothered to do a 30 minute training module before submitting their registration, then I'd be highly suspicious about whether they'd actually be effective leaders.

I'd recommend they stop being cry babies.

[Backroads]

If only you heard how we talked about some volunteers behind closed office doors...

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