Boy Scouts bankruptcy will not affect local Scout activities
Despite the Boy Scouts of America seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, regional Boy Scout leaders say the organization is far from handing out its final merit badge.
In a statement released following the national organization’s bankruptcy filing Tuesday, the Laurel Highlands Council said it has not filed for bankruptcy, and meetings, activities, service projects and other events will be proceeding as usual.
“In short, there should be no change to the local Scouting experience,” the statement said.
The Boy Scouts of America has sought bankruptcy protection as a result of claims by thousands of former Scouts that they were sexually abused while they were in the organization, and a flood of lawsuits that has followed the revelations. The bankruptcy filing will give the national Boy Scouts organization the opportunity to create a trust fund to pay victims and get its finances in order. It will also limit the timeframe in which victims can seek compensation.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the bankruptcy filing “sets the stage for what could be one of the country’s most complicated bankruptcy cases in history. …”
The Laurel Highlands Council is separate from the national organization, as are other local councils, and it controls the area’s camps and properties, and provides financial and administrative support to local units. It covers a broad area, including Washington, Greene, Beaver and Allegheny counties, as well as parts of Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
The statement by the Laurel Highlands Council also insisted that being a Boy Scout “is safer now than ever before,” and the organization has “developed some of the strongest expert-informed youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization.”
Erik Tomalis, the chief development officer for the Laurel Highlands Council, did not respond to an e-mailed question on whether any of the lawsuits filed against the national organization come from this region.
Martin Barbie, the Scout executive with the Westmoreland-Fayette Council, said business would also be proceeding as usual in his area, and “we communicated that to all our stakeholders.”