More on Unit Metrics

Our objectives are focused on better serving more youth through Scouting. There are two, equally important (objectives):

1. Adding new youth and adult members

2. Retaining existing youth and adult members (growth is hard if current members don’t stay)

Some question the role of commissioners in growing membership; they believe responsibility for it rests with our district, council, CST and national membership committees and the volunteers and professionals that staff them. But think about it: if it is Scouting’s program that attracts and retains youth and adults – and it is - then Scouting’s unit leaders have the greatest responsibility for membership as they are responsible for delivering great, S.A.F.E. programs. Commissioners share that responsibility with them; we exist to enable their success.

Our Goal: To prepare America's Youth for Lives of Impact and Purpose. 

• we need to identify and align on key metrics we can use in unit service to help identify where we can (and whether or not we are) having an impact. 

Focus (for commissioners):

• on what we do to ensure that we are making a positive impact 

• on the information that we use  

• on the RELATIONSHIPS that we have with Unit Leaders 

• (on simplicity)

  • • We’ve made unit service too complex…we’ve made your work harder than it needs to be. It needs to be simple. 

    • Technology can be a powerful part of an effective solution, but it must be just one component of it….people and process must be given equal consideration and collaboration, cooperation, and communication are essential throughout the development process. 

• (on changing) the way that frontline commissioners are invited to serve and how they are deployed 

Metrics that are objective will help us identify which units are thriving and which could use a helping hand. 

An advantage to this new approach is that metrics are not a barrier to building a relationship with unit leaders – unlike our current system of scoring and assessing. 

[Reminder: Red Text is to highlight GTC comments and implementation and not to signal any other importance. National intends to score 0-6 whether these metrics are met. GTC is implementing a similar Unit Health, UH, score. ]

1. Key leaders trained – unit leader & committee chair

   • [our current measure of this implements this as Position Specific Only. Effectively, a score of 1 means both Key 2, Unit Leader and Committee chair, are Position Specific and YPT trained since the latter is being implemented monthly.]

2. Unit Size – Packs 20+, Troops 12+, OYPs- 7+ 

   • [our current measure implements this exactly for Packs and Scouts BSA programs. We are not calculating metrics on Older Youth Programs at this time. ]

3. Membership Growth – positive year over year growth OR units with larger than average size Packs 50+, Troops & Posts 30+, Crews & Ships 15+ 

   • [our current measure of this has not included the large size exception and simply shows positive growth or not]

4. Advancement – Packs & Troops 30% members advanced in rank during the past 12 months, OYPs – lead by youth officers who are elected and trained. 

   • [our current measure of this looks only at the last 6 months.]

5. Outdoor Activities – varies by program. Unit participates in outdoor activity, long-term camping or super activity. We will have to rely on unit leaders to enter this information in Scoutbook. 

   • [our current measure of this uses actual enrollment in Day Camp, Cub Resident Camp, and Scouts BSA as collected by and in the Black Pug system, which includes all nearby councils (this needs further checking). Buckeye Council does not use Black Pug, but they are included because we have a separate report from them. Fortunately, this needs to be recalculated as a metric only in each Fall. ]

6. Youth Retention – not part of the original pilot, but overwhelming support for including this number as one of the Key Metrics 

   • [our current measure of this has not included this, because we do not have access to the data that will allow this comparison. ]

7. Sufficient Adults is a measure currently in use in our score. - Packs are minimally sufficient if they have 10 registered adults, Scouts BSA Troops if they have 6 adults.

We are moving away from an emphasis on tracking data to a system that supports impact. Objective data helps us put a greater emphasis on people and utilizes technology to support that initiative. 

Hazardous Weather Training and “Trained” Leader Status Change, April 29, 2024

Hazardous Weather training is valid for two years. Failure to renew Hazardous Weather Training will now remove a Scoutmaster, Cubmaster, den leader, Advisor, and Skipper’s “trained” status. As with Youth Protection Training, Scouters will receive email warnings Hazardous Weather is expiring, and a notice if it does expire. Once Hazardous Weather is retaken, the Scouter’s “trained” status will be renewed for two more years. This will not impact positions where Hazardous Weather is not a required element of the training.  I expect this to be reflected in the unit metrics for trained moving forward post April 2024.

More information is available.

For each of the metrics above, GTC implements the measure as discussed. 

The bar is low. For example, a troop with under 12 youth is scored as unhealthy as one with a lack of positive growth. It is a low bar for a good reason. Commissioners can use the data to triage units, know where to focus support, and serve the units most in need first.

GTC, where practical, offers supporting data in the unit health reports. For example, you will know whether a unit lost 1 scout or 50% of their membership. You will know how many youths went to camp and not just one youth. These should help the trained commissioner. 

Support is available on our websites

When you find a unit is low on a metric there are specific resources on the website that may assist you in being the single best resource. 

1. Size of unit,

2. Positive Growth, and 

3. Sufficient Adults

   • Recruiting Guidance for all programs https://gtcbsa.org/recruit

   • Guidance on Retention of Older Scouts BSA https://sites.google.com/site/gtccommissioners/retention 

   • Our Council Joining page for recruiting: https://www.allaboutscouts.org

4. Trained Adults

   • Training Calendar https://gtcbsa.org/calendar-events/training

   • Wood Badge Training https://gtcbsa.org/woodbadge

   • (for Youth Leaders) National Youth Leadership Training https://gtcbsa.org/nylt

5. Outdoor Activities

   • Day Camp and Cub Resident Camp https://manatoc.org/cub-summer

   • Scouts BSA Resident Camp 

     • Manatoc NOW https://manatoc.org/now

     • https://manatoc.org/resident-camps

6. Advancement

   • https://gtcbsa.org/resources/program-resources/advancement

   • https://gtcbsa.org/new-cub-scout-program