1. Why didn’t the BSA investigate a particular report of abuse?
The BSA requires that all employees and volunteers promptly report any allegation or suspicion of abuse to law enforcement so that allegations can be investigated by the proper authorities. We believe survivors. We remove individuals from Scouting based on suspicion alone — we have a very low bar for removal — and our threshold falls well below what would be needed to accuse someone of abuse. We steadfastly believe that one incident of abuse is one too many, and we are continually improving all our policies to prevent abuse.
In 2011, after a review of files in the Volunteer Screening Database, the BSA launched an initiative to help ensure that past allegations of potential child abuse were reported to law enforcement. As part of that effort, the BSA reported any files that contained allegations of potential child abuse that did not clearly indicate that law enforcement was aware of the allegations.
The BSA is first and foremost a youth-serving organization and therefore does not have the resources or expertise to act as an enforcement agency. It is important that these issues be handled with the utmost care, and that’s why we defer to experts in law enforcement. We fully support and advocate for the development of a national database that all youth-serving organizations could contribute to and utilize to screen volunteers.
2. Is it BSA procedure to inform parents and guardians if there is a report of suspected abuse or inappropriate behavior?
The BSA hosts meetings with parents if there are allegations of abuse that relate to individuals in their local troop or pack. Meetings like this, which are sometimes attended by local law enforcement, are also an opportunity to remind parents of the resources we have in place to help them have important conversations with their children about how to stay safe and what to do if they ever feel unsafe.
To support parents in addressing personal safety awareness with their children, the BSA has developed a variety of resources. “How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide,” is available in the Scouts BSA and Cub Scouts handbooks. Videos for younger youth titled “Protect Yourself Rules” were designed in partnership with the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center Foundation.
3. Did the BSA ever apologize to survivors of child sex abuse?
Yes—the BSA has apologized to survivors in a variety of forms in hopes that our message of support would reach everyone whose lives were impacted by past abuse in Scouting. We’ve taken out newspaper ads, delivered media statements, posted on our dedicated restructuring website, and spoken directly to survivors as part of the national organization’s financial restructuring case. We made the decision to participate in this documentary as another way to ensure our apology was heard and felt by as many survivors as possible.
Please know that, in addition to offering our sincere apologies, the BSA has acted on our commitment to supporting survivors. To date, we have:
• As part of our restructuring, partnered with survivors to develop a robust set of enhancements to our youth protection programming, including commitments to form a Youth Protection Committee, to recognize survivors with a “place of remembrance” at the BSA’s high adventure bases, and to create a survivor-focused path to Eagle Scout.
• Commissioned Dr. Janet Warren of the University of Virginia, who has spent her career analyzing and profiling sexual offenders and serves as the University of Virginia liaison to the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit, to independently review the BSA Volunteer Screening Database. Dr. Warren noted in 2019 that “one of the key observations we made is that the data demonstrated that the Scouting program is safe and the BSA’s use of a database to prevent unsuitable adults from accessing children was cutting-edge and it worked.”
• Took out a full-page ad in USA Today to ensure the BSA’s Open Letter to Survivors would reach as many survivors as possible on the day the BSA emerged for bankruptcy.
• Intentionally developed an open, accessible process to reach survivors and help them take an essential step toward receiving compensation by filing a claim in BSA’s bankruptcy case. To reach as many survivors as possible, the campaign included print, television, social media, digital and radio advertising. Additionally, a notice package was sent via first class mail to more than 8,000 individuals, and an abuse claim email notice was sent to over 9.7 million individuals to ensure awareness of the bar date among adult Scouts, parents of youth in Scouting, alumni, and volunteers.
• Consulted with leading experts in law enforcement and child psychology to develop some of the strongest youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization. The BSA’s comprehensive youth protection training and certification program is mandatory for all Scouting volunteers and employees.
4. Is Scouting safe today?
Scouting is safer today than ever before. More than 85% of the claims allege a first instance of abuse prior to 1990, and 50% or more of the claims allege a first instance of abuse prior to 1974.
Over many years, the BSA has developed some of the strongest youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization, which are informed by respected experts in the fields of child safety, law enforcement, and child psychology. The BSA’s multi-layered safeguards include the following measures, all of which act as barriers to abuse:
• Extensive, mandatory youth protection training for all volunteers and employees;
• Partnered with the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center Foundation to educate and empower youth through the new “Protect Yourself Rules” videos to educate children to understand and recognize abuse while empowering them to get help any time they are made to feel uncomfortable;
• A leadership policy that requires at least two youth-protection trained adults be present with youth at all times during Scouting activities and bans one-on-one situations where adults would have any interaction alone with children – either in person, online, or via phone or text;
• A BSA team dedicated to addressing concerns raised about any individual in Scouting;
• A thorough screening process for new adult leaders and staff including criminal background checks;
• The prompt mandatory reporting of any allegation or suspicion of abuse to law enforcement.
5. Why did the BSA create the perversion files?
The Volunteer Screening Database (VSD) is a set of records that has been shared with law enforcement and is held by the national organization of the BSA for one reason and one reason only: to keep kids safe. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) began keeping records like this in the 1920s to bar individuals from Scouting that should not work with youth. That system has been continually updated and enhanced over time, in addition to being made available to experts like FBI-affiliated youth safety expert, Dr. Janet Warren. No system is perfect, but the Volunteer Screening Database (VSD) has been and remains a valuable tool in preventing known or suspected abusers from joining or reentering our organization.
6. Why did the BSA not release the files?
Unfortunately, there are considerable challenges to releasing the VSD files that have prevented the BSA from publication since the system began, including:
• We are committed to protecting the privacy of survivors and all those affected. It is BSA policy that all incidents of suspected abuse are reported to law enforcement, and we defer to the example set forth by experts in law enforcement not to publicize accounts of child sex abuse.
• We remove individuals from Scouting based on suspicion alone – we have a very low bar for removal— and our threshold falls well below what would be needed to accuse someone of abuse.
• There is currently no feasible mechanism available to the Boy Scouts of America or any other youth-serving organization to enable the sharing of such information across all groups.
7. Did the BSA know about the abuse and try to cover it up?
Dr. Janet Warren—who has spent her career analyzing and profiling sexual offenders and serves as the University of Virginia liaison to the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit—has professionally evaluated every known record of past abuse in Scouting held by the national organization and publicly reported on the BSA’s records of past abuse, stating plainly and directly that there was simply “no evidence of a cover-up initiated or condoned by BSA National Council.”
The BSA continues to be on the forefront of developing youth protection policies to strengthen and enhance efforts to protect youth through clear policies, training of adult volunteers, and effective screening of volunteers. Beginning in the early 1980s, the BSA has been working to educate parents, volunteers, children, and the public about the importance of youth protection, including the publication of “Child Sexual Abuse Prevention—Tips to Parents” and an extensive article titled “Child Abuse: Let’s Talk About It—A Statement by the Boy Scouts of America on Child Abuse,” which includes “the 12 points of the Child Bill of Rights” in Scouting magazine. Starting in 1990, the Scout and Scoutmaster handbooks included inserts about how to protect children, including “How to Protect Your Children” and exercises for each new Scout to complete with their parents upon joining. And, in 1993, the BSA hosted the first National Child Abuse Prevention Symposium for educational, religious, and other youth-serving organizations.
8. Why did you agree to have your former General Counsel appear in the video?
We were contacted during the film’s production process and provided an interview with Mr. McGowan in an effort to show our support for survivors on the record and address any misconceptions about the BSA and our commitment to youth safety. Our hope is that the documentary properly portrays our side of the story in a factual and meaningful manner.
9. What was Michael Johnson’s role at the BSA?
In his 10+ years as the Director of Youth Protection for the BSA, Michael Johnson both designed and publicly supported the youth protection measures in place today. You can see this via the podcasts, news articles, blogs and other places Mr. Johnson either spoke to or wrote about the BSA’s policies.