Looking for advice: Troop leaders withholding Scout account funds after we transferred
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We live in a small town and are brand new to Scouting. Our son recently joined a combined Pack/Troop that has about 20 boys total. The unit is run almost entirely by one husband-and-wife couple. The wife serves as the Charter Organization Representative / Committee Chair and holds most of the key positions; her husband holds the rest. In practice it functions as their personal unit.
From the beginning the program felt chaotic and poorly organized, even to someone with zero Scouting background. Parent involvement was essentially nonexistent. Of the roughly 20 boys, only one other mom (who had been involved for about six months) ever helped with anything.
The leaders regularly complained that no other parents helped. When we (and that other mom) started stepping up, we discovered that parents who try to help often leave or are pushed out within a year. The atmosphere is toxic: leaders yell at the boys, speak negatively about them and parents when they are not present, and become resentful when other adults want to contribute, treating it as an attempt to take control.
After summer camp the boys reported being yelled at and having their belongings taken by the female leader. Both our family and the other helping family decided the environment was unhealthy and that the boys did not feel safe unless a parent was present at all times. We transferred to a different troop.
The fundraising and money issue
While we were still in the unit, the leaders asked us to take over fundraising. They were very clear that they did not want fundraising done under Scouting America / the official unit. Instead they instructed us to run everything under a separate “Friends of the Troop” entity so that none of the money would go to council. We followed their instructions. We ran gun raffles (which are not Scouting-approved), bingo, hot-dog sales, and other events, all under that separate “Friends of” name. The money our sons raised was deposited into their individual Scout accounts.
Before we left, the leaders told us (on at least three separate occasions, including conversations with just me and conversations with both families) that if our sons ever left the unit, the money in their Scout accounts would go with them because it was their money.
After we transferred, they ignored our emails, texts, and a formal email from the new troop (with council members copied) for nearly a month. They finally replied that the charter organization had held a meeting that night and decided the funds would stay with the old troop.
Our son has approximately $450 in his account. That money was raised by the two of us mothers through the separate “Friends of” fundraisers—not by the troop. We cannot afford to keep him in Scouting without it. The other family is in the same situation.
What we’re asking
Has anyone dealt with a similar situation where unit leaders refused to release Scout account funds after a transfer, especially when the money came from parent-run, non-unit fundraising?
What are the actual Scouting America rules on individual Scout accounts and transfers?
What steps can we take (council, charter organization, district, etc.) to get the money released?
Any other practical advice would be greatly appreciated.