Rechartering

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) issues a charter through the local council to a chartered organization (like the civic group, religious institution, or other organization that owns your unit) which allows it to use a BSA program to serve youth in its community. BSA requires that the charter be renewed annually to continue using the program. We call that annual renewal “recharter.”

In addition to renewing the unit charter, recharter time is when all youth and adult members (leaders) renew their membership in the BSA. Member renewals are most of the work. If your unit collects all or part of its member dues or fees on an annual basis, that collection often takes place at recharter, too. Your unit should also complete the worksheet for the Journey to Excellence Award (now available to submit electronically; please see below).

The Online Rechartering System will be open for unit renewal processors to submit their 2021 charter renewals by November 1, 2020.

By Friday, October 16, 2020, emails will be sent to unit key-3 volunteers (chartered organization representatives, committee chairs, and unit leaders) with information about preparing for rechartering and their unit’s unique recharter access code. Please contact your unit commissioner, district commissioner, or district professional if you do not receive the information.

Please note: Unit access codes change annually, so please select Register on the next screen when you are accessing the system for the first time this year.

FORMS & RESOURCES

• Pro-Rated Fee Chart
• National Membership Fees Infographic
• More Info About National Fees

National Criminal Background Re-Check Documents (must be completed for all renewing adults if not submitted during last year’s charter renewal or during 2020):

• Background Check Disclosure
• Additional Disclosures & Background Check Authorization (this is the form that needs to be completed; enabled as a fillable PDF – please download to your computer, complete, save, and submit.)

OVERVIEW

Preparing NOW for Rechartering

The key to a smooth recharter process is to prepare as much as you can prior to logging into the Internet Rechartering System.

1. Assign a Recharter Processor – Ensure that the responsibility for rechartering is given to a specific individual and make sure that person has the information they need to complete the process.
2. Download your current BSA unit roster using the Member Manager tool at my.Scouting.org – All your unit Key-3 Members and your Key-3 Delegate (if your unit has assigned this My.Scouting position to another registered adult) have access to the Member Manager tool in My.Scouting. To run a current member report, log into my.Scouting.org; click on Menu in the upper left; if you have access to the Member Manager for multiple units, click on the desired unit and then click on Member Manager. Click on All to see your complete roster. To export your roster, click on the Download arrow in the upper right and you can then further export your roster as a CSV file to store locally on your computer.  If there are any youth or adults who are active in your unit but not listed on your my.Scouting roster, it is imperative that you register them as soon as possible. This will ensure that they will appear on your 2021 Internet Rechartering roster and save you the trouble of entering them manually during the Internet Rechartering process. Also, if you notice any corrections or updates that need to be made to member personal information, you can do this now via Member Manager by selecting the individual and then clicking on the Edit Profile icon in the upper right.
3. While in Member Manager, run a Youth Member Age Report – This will allow you to quickly identify those youth who have aged out or could possibly age out of your unit prior to January 1, 2021. Cub Scouts need to be younger than 11 (or in 5th grade or below); Scouts BSA youth members need to be younger than 18; and Venturers/Sea Scouts need to be younger than 21. Unless they have an approved age-extension waiver, all older youth will need to be dropped from your 2021 Internet Rechartering roster to avoid rechartering error(s). Anyone who has turned 18 during 2020, even those Scouts BSA members with Eagle extensions due to COVID-19, are required to complete a BSA Adult Application to be submitted to council any time after their 18th birthday or with your Unit Charter Renewal Report Package. The adult application Position Code is ‘UP’ for Scouts BSA and ‘VP’ for Venturing or Sea Scouts; Youth Protection Training is required for all over-18 youth participants, but PA Clearances are not required since they are not being registered as adult leaders.
4. Make sure all adult leaders are up to date with their Youth Protection Training (YPT) – Run a YPT Aging Report by logging into my.Scouting.org, clicking on Menu, clicking on Training Manager, and then clicking on the Report button below your YPT pie chart. All adult leaders are required to have an Effective Through date (right hand column of the exported PDF report) of 04/01/2021 or later (valid through the first quarter of 2021).  You can also run a position-specific training report by clicking on the Report button below your Trained Leaders pie chart.
5. Make sure all adult leaders are up to date with their PA State Clearances – This past summer was the 5th anniversary of the Pennsylvania state law requiring all volunteers to have clearances, and per that law these clearances are good for five (5) years from date of issue. You may find you have a number of adults with clearances that expired during 2020.  If they have not yet renewed their PA Clearances, please make sure they do so as soon as possible.  Details on the required clearances, renewing clearances, and uploading the new clearances to council can be found at colbsa.org/palaw.  To help you identify which of your adults have expired clearances, we will be sending out a unit-specific report listing all your adults and the date of issue of all their PA Clearances on file with council.
6. Make sure all adult leaders have signed and filed with council the new 2020-version of the BSA Additional Disclosures & Background Check Authorization – One of the BSA’s many barriers to abuse is a mandatory criminal background check during the adult volunteer application process. The BSA has now also committed to perform periodic rechecks of criminal backgrounds to support the continued safety of youth in its programs. Technical limitations and changes in law over the past five years prevent the BSA from using existing authorization from older adult applications; therefore, a signed new version of the Background Check Authorization is required to renew any adult registration. Most of your adults have probably signed the new form during last year’s recharter process (they don’t need to submit another form if they have). On the unit-specific report for PA Clearances you will be receiving, we will also identify any adults from whom we still require a signed copy of the latest version of the Additional Disclosures & Background Check Authorization.
7. Inventory your current members and collect fees – Since many adult leaders and youth move on, it is important that you review your Member Management roster and mark who is still active in the unit. Once you have an accurate recharter roster list (adding any new youth and adult to the list and removing any youth or adult not continuing with your unit), collect the 2021 National Registration Fee ($66 for youth; $42 for adults), Council Accident & Sickness Insurance Fee ($2 per youth, adult, and, in the case of Cub Scouts, any Lion & Tiger Adult Partner), and Boys’ Life subscription fee from each member that will be continuing membership.

Internet Rechartering

The next major step in the rechartering process is to log into the BSA Internet Rechartering system and complete the online portion of the process.  The Internet Rechartering system will open to all units by November 1, 2020.  Given that you have already completed the advanced legwork detailed above, you should be able to complete this online portion in less than an hour.

1. Your unit-assigned Recharter Processor (Preparation Step 1) should go to Internet Rechartering and register by clicking on the Register button, logging in using the Recharter Access Code given above, and filling in the requested information. You must use the Register button the first time you log into the system every year; after initial registration the Register button will not work.  You do not have to complete Internet Rechartering in one sitting. All information will be saved upon logout. When you log back in using the Log In button, your Recharter Access Code, and the Password you set up during registration, you will be returned to the same point in the Internet Rechartering process.
2. Follow the instructions to progress through the five (5) stages of Internet Rechartering.
3. • Stage 1, Load Roster – Whether you use third-party software to keep track of unit membership or not, it is highly recommended that you click on Load Council Information. This will open the same roster that you downloaded in Preparation Step 2.
   • Stage 2, Update Roster – This is the stage where you uncheck the Renew box from any adult or youth not continuing with your unit. You can add new members during this stage, but it is highly recommended that you submit new member applications to council prior to completing Internet Rechartering (Preparation Step 2).  This will make sure a completed application has been received and all supplemental required information for adults has been received and verified.  If you submit applications after logging into Internet Rechartering, give it a few days for processing and then log back into Internet Rechartering Stage 2 and click on Update Unit Roster to the right to add these new individuals to your Internet Rechartering roster.  Please note that if you change any chartered organization information during this stage, a completed New Unit Application showing these changes will need to be submitted.
   • Stage 3, Check Roster – In this stage your roster will be checked for errors such as adults with expired/expiring Youth Protection Training (Preparation Step 4) and warnings such as youth beyond the age of eligibility (Preparation Step 3). You will not be able to continue with Internet Rechartering until all errors have been corrected.  Age warnings can be ignored if the youth has a valid age-extension waiver.
   • Stage 4, Summary – Verify that all information on members is correct. This is also the stage where if you have any members with Primary registrations elsewhere (a different unit, a district position, or a council position) you need to edit their information marking them a “Multiple” with your unit.
   • Stage 5, Submit Roster – While after submission you can print a hard copy of your Unit Charter Renewal Report Package from the system, obtain the original approval signatures, and submit the hard copy to council, most unit find it much easier to have their Chartered Organization Representative (COR) approve the recharter online. While the Recharter Processor can check the COR approval box, it is required that you get approval of your COR prior to doing this.  The COR will receive an email notifying them that they officially approved your recharter.  Also, while you can pay your recharter fees online directly to the BSA, it is highly recommended that you do not do this!  First off, there is a 3% fee added for the funds processing, and secondly, past experience has shown this can delay your recharter by months if there are any last minute changes to your roster (e.g. an adult has to be dropped because of expired PA Clearances).  Payment can be made to council either by check or credit/debit card with no added fees.

Post Internet Rechartering Steps

Please note, the most frequent issues that hold up a units recharter are:

• Missing recharter funds
• Missing applications, youth and adult
• Missing training, in particular Youth Protection Training
• Missing/expired PA Clearances

1. Submit your Unit Charter Renewal Report Package to the council – Be sure to print out your Unit Charter Renewal Report Package (not the summary) for your records. If your Chartered Organization Representative (COR) approved your recharter report online during the Internet Rechartering process, there is no need to submit a hard copy to council.  If your report has signature lines on it, you will need to obtain the approval signatures and submit a hard copy of the report to council.
2. Submit your recharter fees to the council – This can be done via check or credit/debit card. The 2021 Unit Charter Renewal Fee Worksheet can be found here.
3. Submit any required applications to the council – Page 1 of your Unit Charter Renewal Report Package will list any required youth or adult applications. With adult applications, the applicant must complete Youth Protection Training and upload the required PA Clearances (see colbsa.org/palaw) to council before they can be registered with the BSA.
4. Verify that every adult’s Youth Protection Training is valid through at least 04/01/2020.
5. Verify that every adult has valid PA Clearances filed with the council – PA Clearances need to be valid past 01/01/2020. All adults with clearances expiring before this date need to renew that/those clearance(s) with the appropriate agencies and upload the new document(s) electronically to council.  See colbsa.org/palaw.

Thank you for all you do for Scouting and for getting your 2021 Unit Charter Renewal completed in a timely manner.