Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Boy Scouts, or Scouts BSA, is a youth organization with local chapters that provides young people training in outdoor skills and character development. The organization was originally founded in the early 20^th century as the Boy Scouts of America to improve masculinity and self-reliance among American boys. ¹

At the end of the 20^th and the beginning of the 21^st centuries, the Boy Scouts of America radically reoriented its mission, changing from an all-male organization to allowing girls and male-identifying natal females into its membership and adding training for members in left-of-center principles like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as environmentalism. The organization also began to allow openly gay adult leaders in 2014. To reflect its focus on diversity, Boy Scouts of America announced that it would rebrand as Scouting America in 2025. ^{2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12}

In 2020, Boy Scouts of America declared bankruptcy following hundreds of lawsuits filed by more than 82,000 men who claimed to have been sexually abused by their male scout leaders. BSA settled in court and agreed to pay victims a total of $2.5 billion in damages. As of 2024, Boy Scouts of America had one million members, a decline from over 2.2 million members in 2020. ^{13 14 15 16 17}

History

Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910 by W. D. Boyce to help young boys develop outdoor skills, knowledge, and character. The organization was originally based on British Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell’s military scouting book created in the Second Boer War. In 1911, former President Theodore Roosevelt became the honorary vice president of the Boy Scouts of America and was a major proponent of the scouting movement to improve masculinity amongst young males. Scouts were taught skills such as camping, swimming, sailing, and a code of chivalry based on the motto “Be prepared.” Scouts who master skills are awarded merit badges. As of May 2024, merit badges Boy Scouts can earn include golf, sustainability, journalism, and Indian lore. In November 2021, the Boy Scouts introduced the “New Citizenship in Society” merit badge to encourage scouts to explore “diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethical leadership.” The New Citizenship in Society merit badge is required to become an Eagle Scout, the movement’s highest rank. ^{18 19 20 21 22 23}

In 1916, the Boy Scouts were split by age, with younger boys joining the Cub Scouts and older boys ages 14 to 17 joining the Boy Scouts. That same year, the Boy Scouts received a congressional charter that charged the organization with teaching boys “patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues.” By 1922, there were 400,000 registered Scouts in the United States. ^{24 25 26}

On February 8, 2025, the organization’s 115^th anniversary, the Boy Scouts of America will officially rebrand as “Scouting America.” The organization announced its rebrand on the fifth anniversary of its decision to open the Boy Scouts of America to girls. As of May 2024, Boy Scouts of America had over 176,000 female members, including 6,000 Eagle Scouts. The purpose of the name change, according to president and CEO Roger Krone, was to make sure “everyone feels welcome in Scouting.” ²⁷

Boy Scout membership peaked at around five million members in the 1970s. In 2020, the group claimed to have 2.2 million members. By May 2024, that number had declined to one million members. The Scouts faced a significant decline in membership beginning in 2018 when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, said it would sever all ties with Boy Scouts of America following disagreements with the group over the Boy Scouts’ decisions allowing openly gay troop leaders and allowing female members. Before severing ties, Latter-day Saints youths were estimated to make up nearly 20 percent of the Boy Scouts’ over two million members, and the church had a relationship with the Boy Scouts of America for a century. ^{28 29 30}

Controversies

Gay Troop Leader Controversy

In the 1990s, Boy Scouts of America was criticized for not allowing openly gay men as troop leaders. In 1999, a gay assistant scoutmaster named James Dale was expelled from the organization. Dale sued the organization. In 2000, the case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Boy Scouts. However, BSA lost corporate sponsors based on its ban on gay men leading troops. The policy was reversed in 2014 by the new president of the Boy Scouts, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and openly gay leaders were officially allowed in 2015. ^{31 32}

Sex-Abuse Controversy

In 2020, Boy Scouts of America declared bankruptcy following hundreds of lawsuits filed by alleged victims of sex abuse. More than 82,000 men claimed to have been sexually assaulted by their scout leaders over the course of decades. Alleged abuse victims came from all 50 states as well as U.S. military bases around the world, with victims ranging in age from eight to 93.  In 2022, a bankruptcy court in Delaware approved a $2.5 billion plan to address all sexual abuse claims through a trust. The court-approved settlement ordered BSA to pay victims from $3,500 to $2.7 million in damages. In 2023, Boy Scouts of America officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ^{33 34 35 36 37}

Female and Transgender Membership

Though originally founded as a boys-only organization, in 2018 the youth-oriented Cub Scouts began welcoming female members. In 2019, Boy Scouts of America claimed more than 77,000 girls had joined the Cub Scouts. In 2017, BSA announced that girls would soon be able to join the Boy Scouts, meant for older boys ages 11 to 17. That same year, the Boy Scouts of America announced it would allow natal females who identify as boys to join the Boy Scouts as well based on their gender identity and not on their sex. In 2019, girls were allowed into the Scouts, and the organization changed its named to “Scouts BSA.” The first class of female Eagle Scouts, the highest level in the Scouting organization, were recognized in 2020. The decision to allow girls into the Boy Scouts was criticized by the Girl Scouts of the USA, which claimed that girls benefited from learning in a “single gender environment” and that BSA was welcoming girls to diminish enrollment in the Girl Scouts. Others criticized the Boy Scouts’ decision to allow non-males saying it was undermining its founding mission to create masculine, self-reliant men. ^{38 39 40 41}

People

Roger Krone is the president and CEO of Boy Scouts of America. Krone was previously the chairman and CEO of Leidos, a defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets firm with over $14 billion in annual revenue. Krone earned the rank of Eagle Scout through the Boy Scouts of America. ⁴²

The former president and CEO of Boy Scouts of America is Roger Mosby. Mosby previously held high level positions at Enron and Kinder Morgan. In 2022, Mosby was compensated $504,814 by the Boy Scouts of America. ^{43 44}

Lisa Schuchart is the chief diversity officer and vice president of human resources for Boy Scouts of America. Schuchart leads the organization’s efforts to implement left-of-center diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles within the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts’ DEI office hosts ethnic and sexual-identity workforce groups including the Asian Pacific workforce group, an LGBT workforce group, a Latino workforce group, a women’s resource group, and a Black resource group. ⁴⁵

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2022 Boy Scouts of America spent $66,216,881 on program development including camping and outdoor literature and materials, managing volunteer-training programs, developing uniforms and insignia, operating the National Scouting Museum, and other services; $20,544,421 on field operations to support 250 local councils; $5,694,651 on human resources and training; $2,932,130 on marketing; $2,343,836.039 on insurance, and $1,450,000 on fees to the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). ⁴⁶

Financials

In 2022, Boy Scouts of America received $45,413,730 in revenue from High Adventure Bases, outdoor recreation facilities operated by the Scouts; $36,773,445 from local council assessments; $5,757,683 from the National Eagle Scout Association; $1,350,192 from regional and professional training; $3,488,692 from conferences and seminars; and $76,334,038 from membership dues. Boy Scouts of America also reported an end of year endowment balance of $97,273,013. ⁴⁷

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