Urban Scout effort draws fire in Atlanta
Inflated numbers to attract funds become an issue
By Daniel Yee, Associated Press | August 15, 2005
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. -- There are towering pines, shimmering lakes, bike trails, target shooting, and cookouts. For Julian White, a Boy Scout camp in the north Georgia mountains seems to be a world away from his life on the streets of Atlanta.
''You can't find this kind of stuff in the city," said the 15-year-old, who would ordinarily spend the dog days of
summer playing basketball on cracked asphalt courts.
White is part of Operation First Class, a national program designed to draw more inner-city boys, mostly blacks and Hispanics, into the Scouts by waiving registration fees, providing free uniforms, and offering scholarships for camps.
The program has been under fire in Atlanta since an audit in May found that the area's Boy Scouts Council had inflated the number of boys in its program by nearly 5,000, purportedly to help
bring in more funding from agencies like the United Way.
The audit concluded that pressure to demonstrate increased membership had led some council staff members to inflate the numbers of Scouts.
''It's been very embarrassing for us," said Joe Arnold, an Atlanta council board member. ''Just getting everything out and being very transparent . . . is a very good thing to do. . . . We're hopeful, now that it's public, that chapter is behind
us."
Before the audit, the Atlanta area council reported having 10,238 Scouts in the program. The May audit found that only 5,361 boys had been registered; some critics have said that the number is still far lower, maybe only 500.
Because of the scandal, the council's largest donor, the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, withheld $250,000 last month. This amounts to roughly one-fourth of its annual funding for the Boy Scouts.
The Atlanta council director, David
Larkin, resigned. He said he was ''deeply disappointed both personally and professionally."
The Atlanta council isn't alone. In January, the FBI launched an investigation into whether the Greater Alabama Council had inflated its membership numbers. A Scout group in Texas has removed thousands of names from its membership rolls, and a federal grand jury looked into the matter two years ago, although no charges were filed.
Other cities have found success in
recruiting inner-city Scouts, including Orlando, Fla., which has 3,400 enrolled in its program, said Tico Perez, a member of the national committee for Scoutreach, a name for the inner-city programs.
''You can't point to Atlanta and say 'See, Scouts are evil,' " Perez said. ''We are spending millions of Boy Scouts dollars and volunteer dollars and countless hours to make this accessible."
One of the biggest problems in Atlanta has been a
shortage of adult volunteers to recruit and lead inner-city boys.
''We will probably not get appropriate numbers of volunteers just looking in largely underserved communities," Arnold said. ''We have to be creative. . . . We have to go to suburban units to assist us."
The Atlanta council is trying to attract inner-city members by providing free transportation to and from Scout events, such as the camp near Blairsville, about 80 miles north of
Atlanta.
''For some of the kids, going to camp might be as far as they get away from home," said Arnold, who is also a cochairman of the council's task force on improving inner-city participation.
 |
United Way withholds 1/4 of Boy Scout funds
By S.A. REID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/15/05
The United Way will withhold a portion of nearly $1 million in funding to local Boy Scouts because of its concerns about membership inflation involving the youth organization's program targeting inner-city black boys.
On Friday, the agency's board approved forwarding nearly $700,000 to the Boy Scouts of America-Atlanta Area Council, after hearing arguments on both sides of
the issue from Council representatives and their critics.
A decision on the $250,000 held in escrow probably won't come until late this year or early 2006 when a special task force is expected to present recommendations on how to restore accountability to Operation First Class, the program at the center of the membership inflation scandal.
The initiative was launched in 1991 to help promote and finance Scouting participation by disadvantaged and rural boys.
An audit earlier this year, however, found that local Scouting officials inflated the membership of minorities, and critics say the practice was designed to increase funding from groups like the United Way.
Before the audit, conducted by a law firm, Scout officials had put minority membership in Operation First Class at between 15,000 to 23,000. The audit, however, revealed the membership should be around 5,300, although critics say
that number is still 10 times higher than it should be.
Before the United Way board cut the funding today, local Boy Scouts apologized for inflating membership rolls and the program's shortcomings. United Way is the Scouts' largest single donor
L. Tom Gay, chairman of the Council's Board of Directors, joined other scouting representatives in outlining for the United Way board the local Scouting organization's efforts to prevent future abuses.
"This has been an embarrassment to the Boy Scouts and an embarrassment to you and the larger community," said Gay, offering assurances that the Atlanta Area Council is acting aggressively in correcting its problems.
Council officials said the United Way's continued financial support is necessary in maintaining the Scouting programs the organization offers to metro-area youth.
The United Way will give the Atlanta Area Council nearly $338,000 that its donors
specifically requested be given to the Boy Scouts.
Although the executive session was closed to the media, whistle-blowers Bob Kent and Cedric Samuels, who have joined Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's Joseph Beasley in opposing the release of the $945,000, said they talked with the United Way board.
Kent and others wanted the United Way funding to go directly to the Scouting units that work directly with inner-city boys. They charged the membership inflation was
conducted to boost donations, but investigators with the law firm of McKenna, Long and Aldridge, which conducted the audit, said they found no such connection.
United Way board members voted in May to withhold funding until the agency received the results of an audit of the Scouts' membership rolls and finances, and information on how the organization would address negative findings.
Since the audit's release, local Boy Scout Executive David Larkin has resigned.
The council currently is interviewing possible candidates for the top administrative post. |
Inner-city recruiting continues after Boy Scout audit scandal
DANIEL YEE
Associated Press
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. - Aiming a .22 caliber rifle on a target range, Julian White is far from the city life he is used to in Atlanta.
Taking careful aim, the dreadlocked 15-year-old pulls the rifle's trigger. With a short pop, the bullet hits its target, 100 feet away. He fires four more and then waits for the range instructor to give the all-clear to retrieve his target. All around him are trees and open blue sky.
"You can't find this kind of stuff in the city," White says. At home, he is used to urban pursuits, such as playing basketball on cracked asphalt courts with his friends. Or riding trick bikes and never having to wipe the mud off of it like he does after riding mountain bikes on the forested trails here at the Boy Scouts' Camp Woodruff in the Georgia mountains.
White is part of Operation First Class, a national program designed to draw more
inner-city boys, mostly blacks and Hispanics, into the Boy Scouts by waiving registration fees, providing free uniforms and books, and offering scholarships for camps.
The program has been under fire in Atlanta after an audit in May found the area's Boy Scouts Council inflated the number of boys in its program by nearly 5,000. The audit concluded that mounting pressure to demonstrate increased membership in the program led some council staffers to inflate the numbers.
"It's been very embarrassing for us," said Joe Arnold, an Atlanta council board member. "Just getting everything out and being very transparent ... is a very good thing to do. ... We're hopeful now that it's public that chapter's behind us."
Prior to the audit, the Atlanta area council had reported having 10,238 Scouts in the program. The May audit found only 5,361 boys were registered. Critics claim the number is still far lower - maybe only 500.
The findings tarnished, at least locally, the reputation of the Boy Scouts. Atlanta council director David Larkin resigned, saying he was "deeply disappointed both personally and professionally." Because of the scandal, the council's largest donor, the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, last month withheld $250,000 - roughly a quarter of its annual funding for the Scouts.
Other councils sought to distance themselves, including the Atlanta council's sister,
the Savannah, Ga.-based Coastal Empire Council. "We're not Atlanta," Ron Alt, one of its officials, told The Savannah Morning News when asked in June if that council's count of 703 boys in its inner-city program should be called into question.
Councils elsewhere also have had troubles with membership rolls. In January, the FBI launched an investigation into whether the Greater Alabama Council inflated its
membership numbers. Previously in Texas, a Scout group removed thousands of names from its membership rolls and a federal grand jury two years ago looked into the matter. No charges were filed.
"Don't judge me by my bad apple, judge me by the way I dealt with my bad apple. You can't point to Atlanta and say, 'See, Scouts are evil,'" said Tico Perez, a member of the national committee for Scoutreach, another name for the inner-city
programs. "We are spending millions of Boy Scouts dollars and volunteer dollars and countless hours to make this accessible."
He said other cities have found success in recruiting inner-city Scouts, including Orlando, Fla., which has 3,400 enrolled in its program.
However, Perez was quick to point out that the programs are focused on quality, not quantity. "If I've got 100 kids or 400 kids, it doesn't make a difference if they're not
advancing" in their lives, he said.
In Atlanta, one of the biggest problems has been a shortage of adult volunteers to recruit and lead inner-city boys.
"We will probably not get appropriate numbers of volunteers just looking in largely underserved communities," Arnold said. "We have to be creative. ... We have to go to suburban units to assist us."
The council is seeking to overcome other obstacles, including providing free
transportation to and from Scout events, such as the camp near Blairsville, about 80 miles north of Atlanta.
"For some of the kids, going to camp might be as far as they get away from home," said Arnold, also co-chairman of the council's task force on improving inner-city participation.
Just getting inner-city boys to join a program is no easy task, experts say. That's because these kids, although living in densely populated areas, are often
separated from family and social links that normally would lead them to youth programs.
"The inner city is about survival. They don't see the point a lot because they're really struggling to make it," said Bruce Henry, the executive director of Covenant House, a program for runaway and homeless youth, in New York. "It is very difficult to get struggling kids ... into organized activities."
Critics say the Scouts should learn from some of the inner-city troops have been successful, largely through tutoring, mentoring and exposing boys to real occupations. This is how Troop 685, based out of an Atlanta public housing project, recruits and retains its member, says civil rights group leader Joseph Beasley of the Rainbow PUSH/Coalition, who first raised questions about the Atlanta council's membership numbers last fall.
"If they're really serious about wanting to attract African-American boys and poor boys, they would look at something realistic, not something theoretical. If you've already got a model why would you want to reinvent something?," Beasley said.
For White, he now loves the outdoors and camping thanks to the Boy Scouts. Although his current rank is First Class, he has his eye on becoming an Eagle Scout and the benefits that come with the top rank.
"It will be easier for me to get different jobs and easier to get scholarships to get into college," he says. |
Black Churches Jumping into Boy Scouts Dispute : Group Says its Willing to Meet With Religious Leaders
June 6, 2005
ATLANTA -- Black churches in Atlanta will get involved to resolve the dispute over black membership in an inner city Boy Scouts program, a civil rights group official said Monday.
Church officials are planning to meet with local Boy Scouts officials to resolve a dispute over the number of black Boy Scouts in the inner city Operation First Class program, said Joseph Beasley of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
"The black church has really been where we historically resolved these issues," said Beasley, who in September accused the Boy Scouts of grossly inflating the number of black Boy Scouts in the inner city program, which provides the boys' registration fee, books, uniforms and other opportunities, including scholarships for camp.
"Underdog boys throughout the country are being used in a shameful way to prop
up the image and finances of the Scouting organization," Beasley added in a statement released Monday afternoon. "We will not settle for anything less than a solution to the problem."
The meeting date has not been set. The pastor leading the effort, the Rev. Cameron Alexander of Antioch Baptist Church, did not immediately return phone messages Monday for comment.
Boy Scouts officials said Monday they're willing to meet with church leaders, said
Tom Gay, president of the Atlanta Area Council's board of trustees, adding that he has not yet been contacted by church officials. Gay said he soon will announce a separate task force of staff members and volunteers to create ways to improve the inner city program.
"We would certainly want to work with any group interested in helping us strengthen Operation First Class," Gay said.
In September, Beasley claimed there were no more than 500 black Boy Scouts in
the program when the Atlanta Area Council insisted they had more than 10,000.
Because of his accusation, the council hired a law firm to conduct an independent audit of the progr
am's membership. Last week, audit lawyers concluded the program only had little more than 5,300 participants.
They also said some staff members falsified thousands of other membership
records because of pressure to demonstrate increased membership for their performance appraisals. Although the Boy Scouts do not collect racial information on their membership forms, officials estimate about 95 percent of the program's participants are black, Gay said.
Although Beasley disputes the audit's membership numbers, he said that having black church officials negotiate with the Boy Scouts is acceptable. Beasley
canceled a Monday news conference in which he planned to challenge the Boy Scouts to prove their membership claim.
"We didn't come to destroy -- we come to make it better," Beasley said.
Gay and other Boy Scouts officials previously said they stand by the audit's findings because it was compiled by independent lawyers who conducted an investigation and scoured council records. |
Whistleblower Faults Scouts' Audit
Reported By: Paul Crawley
Last Modified: 6/6/2005 7:17:22 PM
Questions abound when it comes down to determining the best way to determine exactly how many of Atlanta's inner city youths actually benefited from the Atlanta Boy Scout Program.
The man who first blew the whistle on the Boy Scouts, alleging the Atlanta chapter inflated its African-American membership numbers, says even a formal audit done since then is still falling short of correcting the problem.
"There's a saying that whoever pays the piper will call the tune. Since the Boy Scouts was paying the auditors, they delivered back what they wanted to hear," said Joe Beasley, of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. (Read: Beasley's complete statement)
Beasley released a statement Monday that said, in part, "Disadvantaged inner city boys have been very badly used by the Boy Scout organization in Atlanta, and across the country. The Boy Scouts have failed utterly in their attempts to serve these boys and have manipulated the numbers to cover up that failure."
Last week at the headquarters, a top Boy Scout official resigned, leaving his post
shortly after the audit's findings were released. The audit showed that instead of the 15,000 boys documented as part of the Boy Scouts First Class Program, there were actually only an estimated 5,300 on the registry rolls.
The audit also revealed that some Boy Scout applications and signatures were forged. Despite these disparaging findings, Beasley said it's not enough.
He first blew the whistle on the Atlanta-area Boy Scouts last fall, when he claimed
the organization grossly inflated its number of inner city youths taking part in the Boy Scouts First Class Program to raise money.
Beasley said the 5,300 shown might still be inflated by counting who may have only attended one meeting a year. Instead of the revised 5,300, Beasley says he doubts more than 500 inner city youths are actually in the program.
In addition to the audit, Beasley is calling for a listing of the names of each
participant, as well as a check to see how involved that person truly is with the First Class Program. He says such measures will deter the Boy Scouts from engaging in any other illicit activities in the future.
"Scouting is an excellent model, so we're not attacking scouting at all. The only thing that we're hoping is we'll get an enhanced version of scouting," Beasley said.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta-area Boy Scouts of America Council is still investigating
eight other staffers suspected of being involved in false registrations. Once the investigation is concluded, those in question could face re-training, counseling or possible disciplinary action.Statement Regarding Boy Scouts - The Boy Scout Issue June 6, 2005
Joseph H. Beasley
I want to thank the public media for their interest and attention to the matter. It is now time to talk about a solution.
Disadvantaged inner city boys have been very badly used by the Boy Scout organization in Atlanta, and across the country. The Boy Scouts have failed utterly in their attempts to serve these boys and have manipulated the numbers to cover up that failure.
In Atlanta, we challenge Chairman of the Board Tom Gay to reveal the true situation
by calling the rolls and identifying the disadvantaged boys who are really served in our community. Mr. Gay has commissioned a study that says there are over 5,000 served. We challenge him to produce a list of even 1,000.
But this is not just an Atlanta problem. The national Boy Scout organization must face the issue and own up to its shortcomings. Underdog boys throughout the country are being used in a shameful way to prop up the image and the finances of the Scouting organization.
All this is terribly sad because we see the Boy Scouts as an ideal tool to help these boys.
Fortunately, the media has now lifted public awareness to the point that it may be possible to effect a solution to the problem.
Rainbow/PUSH is not a service delivery organization. We have heard the complaints. We are not pleased with the Boy Scout audit report in Atlanta. We challenge Board Chairman Tom Gay to back up his numbers. And we will not settle
for anything less than a solution to the problem.
But Rainbow/PUSH cannot solve the problem. And we do not want to talk it to death either. Once the full scope of problem is realized we need to stop talking about it and deal with it.
In our view, the institution best positioned to help the Boy Scouts in this matter is the church. Most Boy Scout troops in this country are sponsored by churches and, in the African American community, the churches are strong.
We have discussed this issue at length with the Reverend C.M. Alexander, dean of the black clergy in Atlanta and past president of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc. If the Boy Scouts are willing to come completely clean on this issue and commit to work with the church, Reverend Alexander is willing to convene a working group and develop a solution. With the support of the United Way and leaders in the business community it may be possible to put the house in
order and bring this matter to a positive conclusion.
The Boy Scouts of America is a great organization. It teaches self reliance and self discipline. It has a strong moral code and teaches boys to work together and fend for themselves in the wilderness and in life. There is no better organization to serve inner city boys, and in our view, no higher calling for the Boy Scouts. |
Number of Atlanta black Boy Scouts disputable despite audit
USA Today
June 5, 2005 ATLANTA (AP) A civil rights group official on Sunday dismissed a Boy Scouts audit of the number of blacks participating in an inner city youth program, saying the figures still are unrealistic.
Joseph Beasley of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said that although the Atlanta Area
Council released an audit last week claiming more than 5,300 black Boy Scouts were registered in the Operation First Class program, fewer than 500 blacks are actually registered.
"Let's have a roll call. Who would be opposed to that?" Beasley said. He planned to challenge the council on Monday to identify 1,000 inner city Scouts in the program.
"We're very serious about this. We're not going to stop just because that report is out," he said.
The report was commissioned by the local Boy Scouts group after Beasley challenged the council's claim in September that more than 10,000 boys mainly blacks and other minorities were in the program. The program provides the boys' registration fee, books, uniforms and other opportunities, including scholarships for camp.
The audit, released Tuesday, found that nearly 5,000 boys were falsely registered
in the program, largely because of pressure on Scout officials assigned to inner city areas to increase membership numbers.
The audit found that former Scouts too old to participate remained on the memberships lists and that boys who had only attended informational meetings about the program were signed up.
The audit's findings prompted the resignation of David Larkin, the council's Scout
Executive, who said he took full responsibility for the organization's actions.
Bertram Sears, vice president of membership for the council, said Sunday the council had confidence in the audit investigation because the independent law firm that led it conducted interviews with staff and scoured Boy Scout records.
"It's always best to base actions on findings versus allegations," Sears said. "But
we've got open ears. If there are more things to look at, we'll certainly do that."
Tom Gay, president of the council's board of trustees, said Sunday that eight staff members involved in the false registrations will be held accountable. None has been suspended but each will be investigated and will be subject to "retraining, counseling and disciplining," he said.
The council also will make its membership records subject to routine audits and will
create a committee of volunteers and staff to improve the Operation First Class program.
"We've had a lot of success in that program but we also have made mistakes in that program. We are absolutely committed to be successful in that program," Gay said.
United Way officials are putting together a task force of board members and volunteers to examine the audit report and make decisions on whether to withhold funding to the council.
Similar allegations have been made in Alabama, where the FBI is investigating whether the Birmingham-based Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council padded its membership rolls. |
Probe: Boy Scouts Lied About Black Members
By DANIEL YEE
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 31, 2005; 2:14 PM
ATLANTA -- An independent investigation of the Atlanta-area Boy Scouts found that the organization inflated its number of black Scouts by more than 5,000 in a program for inner-city youth.
The executive director of the Atlanta Boy Scouts resigned after the report was released.
Auditors said Scout officials assigned to inner-city areas may have felt pressure to demonstrate membership growth, which is a part of their performance evaluations.
Membership numbers also are used to help determined funding from the United Way, a major Scouts donor.
The audit found that former Scouts too old to participate remained on the memberships lists and that boys who had only attended informational meetings about the program were signed up.
In one example, an official changed the birth date of 87 Cub Scouts so they would be old enough to participate in the program. In another case, an official continued to
report membership of a church Boy Scout unit although the church had burned down three years earlier.
The inflated numbers also included 200 Scout units that did not exist.
Edgar Sims Jr., an attorney with the law firm that conducted the audit, said the Atlanta Area Council claimed there were 10,238 Scouts in Operation First Class in 2004, but the audit found that only 5,361 were registered.
Operation First Class was designed to increase participation by boys in the
country's poorest areas, and it provides the boys' books, uniforms and other opportunities, including scholarships for camp.
In resigning, David Larkin, executive director of the Atlanta Area Council, said he was "deeply disappointed both personally and professionally" and took fully responsibility for the false records.
"As scout executive of the Atlanta Area Council, I am charged with overseeing all
activities of the organization. When those activities do not reflect the principles and integrity of the Boy Scouts of America, at any level, I take full responsibility," he said.
Joe Beasley, regional director of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, claimed in October that the 13-county Boy Scouts council was reporting twice as many black participants as were actively involved.
Georgia Boy Scout officials then commissioned a law firm to independently
investigate the complaint. Directors of Atlanta's United Way voted May 18 to withhold money for area Boy Scouts pending an investigation.
Similar allegations have been made in Alabama, where the FBI is investigating whether the Birmingham-based Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council padded its membership rolls. |
Audit continues into Atlanta Boy Scouts black enrollment DANIEL YEE
Associated Press
3/2/2005 ATLANTA - More than four months after a civil rights leader claimed that Atlanta's Boy Scouts exaggerated how many black Scouts it has to get more donations, an independent audit into the accusation remains unfinished.
Joe Beasley, the southern region director of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, claimed in October that the 13-county Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America was reporting 10,000 black participants when less than 500 were actively involved. "We still maintain no more than 500 were actually getting the full benefit of Scouting. We stand by the number and we challenge the Boy Scouts to do a roll call," Beasley said Wednesday.
Boy Scout officials commissioned a law firm in November to independently investigate the complaint. The officials have denied any mismanagement in their program and council president Tom Gay declined on Wednesday to speculate on the report's possible findings. Gay said the report should be finished within a month, although his estimates on when the audit would be completed have been continually revised since December.
It's taken months for the firm to report its findings, in part, because the lawyers had to ask an accounting firm to examine the organization's finances and rosters, Gay said. "It's a large council ... and it involves a lot of Boy Scouts and volunteers. I've asked for a comprehensive report," Gay said. "We simply have asked for the audit and are standing back and are letting them do the job at the pace they think they should do it."
Beasley said the Boy Scouts need to release their numbers soon. "They need to come up with their results, at least with an interim report or something so we would know what's going on," Beasley said. Beasley's complaint centers on a Boy Scout program called Operation First Class, which was designed to increase participation in the program by boys in the country's poorest areas. The program provides the boys' books, uniforms and other
opportunities, including scholarships for camp. The civil rights leader made his complaint after receiving copies of Boy Scout troop rosters of black boys who allegedly were signed up in the program. But his office estimated that only 500 of them are active. Boy Scout councils in other states have been under fire for similar accusations. In December, a man sued the Crater Lake Council in southern Oregon, saying it
forced him to resign when he uncovered that troop totals were inflated to boost executive salaries. John Mangan, 62, discovered numerous Scouts who did not exist but had been identified on the council's books, according to his lawsuit. In Alabama, federal authorities are investigating whether the Greater Alabama Council, which operates in northeast Alabama, overstated membership. Volunteers there complained about their suspicions paid Scout workers inflated membership
numbers, which could lead to more funding of the group by organizations including the United Way. Although Atlanta Area Council officials previously have said that some boys do not stay active the entire year, Beasley said inactive boys should be reported as such on rosters, which are used in entirety in requests for money from corporate donors. "It's an advertising ploy and they get the money," Beasley said.
Gay said his council is not under investigation by state or federal authorities, although Beasley said he has tried to alert authorities to his concerns. Beasley said more black boys from Atlanta's poorest communities still could benefit from the program. "There are a lot of eligible boys out there - all of the boys I've talked to greatly enjoy the experience of Scouting," Beasley said. "There are a lot of hungry boys that could benefit from Scouting."
|
Audit Looks Into Claims Of Inflated Boy Scout Rolls
Thursday, December 16, 2004; Page A38
Washington Post
ATLANTA -- Independent auditors are investigating a civil rights leader's claim that
the metro Atlanta's Boy Scouts organization inflated its black membership numbers to gain more donations.
The audit was prompted by a complaint from Joseph Beasley, director of the Atlanta bureau of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. He accused the 13-county Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America of reporting as many as 20,000 black participants, while there are no more than 500 actively involved.
The findings of the audit, being conducted by an outside law firm, are expected to be released by the end of the month, said Tom Gay, president of the local Boy Scouts council.
Scouts officials pledged that anything inappropriate found in the audit will be dealt with immediately. |
Atlanta Boy Scouts Respond To Allegations
By:CYNTHIA POST
November 29, 2004
Atlanta Daily World
Allegations regarding the Atlanta Area Council of the Boys Scouts of America have sparked calls for an investigation by a civil rights leader and volunteers with the Boy Scout movement in Atlanta.
According to Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Atlanta Bureau Southeast Region
Director Joseph H. Beasley, the Council has allegedly misrepresented the actual numbers of African American boys for fundraising purposes
The Council also allegedly redirected monies intended for Operation First Class, an outreach program for African American boys, to fund salaries and perks, according to Beasley.
David E. Larkin, Scout Executive with the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts
for America, disputes the allegations and asserts the Council's programs are bringing the positive aspects of scouting to thousands of African American youth in Atlanta.
"Over the last 10 years it appears that the Boy Scouts of America have committed a gross fraud in Atlanta by falsifying the registration of thousands of Black boys to raise money," Beasley said. "Apparently, they have also falsified the
registration of thousands of adult leaders and an entire network of phantom Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs.
"Further, it appears that they have redirected funds intended for the support of Black boys to internal accounts which fund salaries and perks, and the operation of the new Cobb County headquarters of the Boy Scout staff," Beasley continued. "One of the worst examples of a well funded and highly publicized but failed
program is 'Operation First Class', or 'Operation Overcome', or 'Scoutreach', the inner city program of the Boy Scouts of America."
The Atlanta Area Council covers 13 metropolitan Atlanta area counties and serves a membership of over 74,000 youth and 13,500 adult leaders.
"We take these allegations seriously," Larkin said. "We believe they are unfounded and untrue."
The Council's Board of Directors has initiated a thorough independent as well as internal review of all programs, Larkin said.
"The Boy Scouts have a strong, proud history of providing quality programs to disadvantaged, at-risk youth in the 13-county metro Atlanta area," he said.
It is the express purpose of the Boy Scouts to insure all youth may have the
opportunity to participate in scouting, Atlanta Area Council vice president of membership Bertram Sears said.
"The Board of Directors will take swift, appropriate action regarding these allegations," he said. "I am very pleased with what the Boy Scouts have done to date.
"We want all youth who want to participate in scouting an opportunity to become
active with the Boy Scouts, enjoy the programs and become outstanding citizens," Sears continued. "At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: to have as many boys as possible enjoying scouting programs."
Several volunteers with the Boy Scout movement in Atlanta have also come forward repeating the allegations, he said.
Bob Kent, a scout leader in west Atlanta since 1990, disputes the number of
African American youth involved in scouting.
"You have all of these boys who are registered but are not active," he said. "Active independent scoutmasters have discussed this issue.
"It is our understanding that between 10,000 and 20,000 boys are reported for fundraising purposes in the east, west and south Atlanta districts combined," Kent
continued. "But none of us believe that there are more than 500 active boys."
Large numbers of boys have suddenly appeared on troop and pack registration lists, he said.
"Boys in our troop have moved to other public housing communities where there are supposedly large troops but have been unable to find them," Kent said. "There are ghost troops and phantom scoutmasters all over the city."
Kent asserts he supports the scouting movement in Atlanta.
"Traditional scouting is an excellent tool to work with inner city boys," he said. "Scouting is great for these boys and could have a major impact in low income areas.
"These boys are quick, sharp and hungry, and respond well to structure, discipline and outdoor adventure," Kent continued.
Scouting offers the right combination of adult leadership, moral code and emphasis on self-reliance and self-discipline to give boys in African American communities a chance to become productive men, Beasley said.
"I have the greatest respect for the volunteers and financial donors of Boy Scout movement," he said. "I also believe that Boy Scouts is one of the best tools available to reach inner city black boys." |
