Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary delving deep into the Boy Scouts of America’s efforts to push down its decades-long issue of child sex abuse and its overall impact, Netflix’s ‘Scouts Honor’ is truly poignant. That’s because while this youth organization had been established with the aim of empowering young males across the nation, it ended up doing the opposite by covering the pedophilia within.
This Brian Knappenberger-original production thus features experts, survivors, and whistleblowers alike to really shine a light upon the dark side of this 113-year-old, once-renowned institution. Though if we’re being honest, the one aspect to have intrigued us the most concerning this entire matter has been the enterprise’s claims of bankruptcy — so, let’s find out more about it, shall we?
Is the Boy Scouts Bankrupt?
It was back in February 2020 that the Boy Scouts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to halt the hundreds of separate lawsuits against them in various states concerning the inside abuse. Yet they soon clarified they were looking to create an appropriate compensation fund for the nearly 82,500 men who’d courageously come forward with their experiences of having been molested as young boys by troop leaders, scoutmasters, or others in high positions of power.
According to reports, a September 2022 federal court hearing confirmed a reorganization plan, with the judge stating, “These boys – now men – seek and deserve compensation for the sexual abuse they suffered years ago. Abuse which has had a profound effect on their lives and for which no compensation will ever be enough. They also seek to ensure that to the extent BSA survives, there is an environment where sexual abuse can never again thrive or be hidden from view.”
As a result, following years of prolonged proceedings, in April 2023, the Boy Scouts of America announced its emergence from bankruptcy and the fact it’ll establish a $2.4 billion fund for survivors. The truth is this is just the first step as most of them still don’t know precisely how much they’d receive from this settlement or when, yet they’re glad things are finally moving along.
The fact this youth organization has finally taken some accountability is also a massive deal for them, particularly as they have since begun enacting new protocols to prevent abuse in the future too. This includes background checks for all staff plus volunteers, mandatory youth training, and a ban on one-on-one interactions with the kids, whether in-person, online, or via texts or calls.
Furthermore, the institution has confirmed they’ll be bringing in a survivor to have a seat on their board, launched a 24/7 phone hotline (1-844-SCOUTS1) as well as an email address for reporting suspected abuse or inappropriate conduct, and promised that every allegation from now on will be reported to law enforcement. Around this same time, CEO Roger Mosby even apologized to all survivors and conceded in a statement, “This is a significant milestone for the BSA as we emerge from a three-year financial restructuring process with a global resolution approved with overwhelming support of more than 85% of the survivors involved in the case.” In simpler words, neither is the Boy Scouts of America bankrupt nor do they plan on shutting down their operations anytime soon.
Read More: Scouts Honor: Where Are The Survivors Now?
