> Announced at the Scouting America National Annual Meeting and communicated today to Council, Council Service Territory, and National leadership:

> The 2-month lapse period will end on December 31, 2026. All members must be current by this date to maintain active status. Members with an October 2026 renewal date are last to receive a 2-month lapse period. Members with a November 2026 will receive a 1-month lapse period , and members with a December 2026 will not receive a lapse period.

Based on responses from this, and in no particular rank or order.

How realistic is it for these to actually take place? Where would the paid staff and/or volunteers come from to enforce these items?

Do Nothing

1. Do nothing

Miscellaneous

1. National-level communication to all parents that the program is about experiences, not just checking boxes.

Merit Badges

1. National and/or councils conduct audits of merit badge programs, particularly summer camps and merit badge colleges/universities, with consequences for failure.
2. National and/or councils ban certain merit badge programs, particularly summer camps and merit badge colleges/universities.
3. National and/or councils place caps on the number of Scouts in merit badge programs, particularly summer camps and merit badge colleges/universities.
4. National and/or councils mandate that all merit badge counselors be position-trained, including examples of good and bad outcomes.
5. National intervenes when it is clear that council staff or volunteers are failing to enforce standards.
6. National sets a policy that prohibits parents from signing off on their own children.
7. National allows units to award merit badges if a Scout leaves camp with a one-requirement partial for a non-Eagle-required merit badge and no local merit badge counselors are available.
8. Councils require counselors to submit plans/syllabi before merit badge colleges/universities.
9. Councils provide roving auditors for merit badge programs.

Unit/Rank Advancement

1. National and/or councils mandate that all unit leadership be position-trained, including examples of good and bad outcomes.
2. National allows Boards of Review to retest Scouts (e.g., knots).
3. National policy prohibits parents/guardians from signing off on their own children.
4. National policy prohibits Scouts from signing off on rank advancement.
5. National creates a standardized, published test for each rank to be used in Scoutmaster conferences.
6. National intervenes when it is clear that unit volunteers are failing to enforce standards and councils fail to act.
7. Councils conduct annual assessments/audits of units and their advancement practices.

Seen way, way too many people posting about how they had YPT, skipped directly to the SYT refresher, and then got angry that it wasn’t sufficient or that they have to take the full 90-minute SYT first.

And yes, in a perfect world, Scouting America’s Learning Management System would block you from taking the SYT refresher before completing SYT, but the LMS wasn’t built for that.