What’s the big deal about rechartering on time?

It is important that Packs, Troops, and Crews submit their annual recharter paperwork on time because if the unit is not rechartered by one month after the recharter date the unit is “dropped”. … SO WHAT?

…. So if the unit is dropped, it is no longer a part of Boy Scouts of America. That means that if you are unfortunate enough to go on an outing and an accident were to occur…you would be without the accident insurance that BSA provides. Also, any pending advancement paperwork is suspended, e.g. one of our Troops which allowed their charter to elapse had a Life Scout who was about to get his Eagle Scout Application submitted. Guess what! His Troop no longer existed! His advancement application, along with all the others that were pending, was in suspense. Luckily the Troop got their recharter paperwork completed before the Scout turned 18. Wouldn’t that have been tragic if failure to do a routine piece of paperwork destroyed a Scout’s ambition to be an Eagle Scout?

There are at least a couple of possible roadblocks to submitting re-charters on time:

1. Where’s the paperwork? The re-charter package is prepared for the unit two months before the recharter date (which is the same date every year) and brought to Roundtable. Those that can’t be distributed then are given to the Unit Commissioners for them to deliver and assist the unit in preparation.

2. Where’s the money? Instead of waiting for the recharter date to start collecting fees, start several months before and collect in installments. Use you Popcorn Money to set up an escrow account to cover recharter fees until you can collect them in person.

3. Youth Protection? All unit leaders are now required to be certified in Youth Protection. The course can be taken on-line in about a half hour. Have the person print out the certificate and bring it to you. The person preparing the re-charter marks the recharter indicating the training has been done. (There is no data transfer connection between “e-learning” and ScoutNet, so it has to be done this way.)

4. It’s not the recharter date yet! The recharter date on the paperwork is the end date, not the start date. There is no reason why the paperwork can’t be done before the recharter date.

There may be other problems that we haven’t addressed, but your Unit Commissioner is prepared to assist you. Don’t let your Pack or Troop expire because you haven’t done the paperwork!