Advancing as a Lone Scout

Stage 1 of 11 Can start now

• 5.0.3.0. A youth has no access to a traditional unit Sets the finishing date

  The circumstance Lone Scouting exists for. Not a preference about the local units: the Guide says in terms that it is not an alternative for those who simply do not like them or cannot get along with them.

  Milestone

  Lone Scouting is not an alternative for those who simply do not like the local units or cannot get along with them. The Guide says so in terms.

• 5.0.3.0. The circumstances it is meant for Sets the finishing date

  Home schooling where the parents do not want a youth group; US citizens living abroad; exchange students away from the United States; a disability or communicable illness preventing attendance; a rural community far from a unit; conflicts with a job, night school or boarding school; families who travel constantly or live aboard a boat; parents in different communities; and places where getting to meetings would put the Scout in danger.

  Requirement

• 5.0.3.0. Living abroad: ask the National Council which council serves you Optional Sets the finishing date

  Those living outside the United States should contact the National Council on 972-580-2000 to find out which local council covers their location.

  Task

• 5.0.3.0. What the friend and counselor must be Sets the finishing date Often forgotten

  Youth Protection trained, at least 21 years old, registered with Scouting America, and meeting its adult membership requirements. All four apply even where the friend and counselor is the Scout's own parent.

  Requirement

• 5.0.3.0. They register on the standard adult application Sets the finishing date

  The same form any other registered adult uses.

  Document

• 5.0.3.1. Family, neighbours and friends can stand in for a den or a troop Recommended Sets the finishing date

  In some instances this increases the number of requirements that can be met exactly as stated, which is always the preferred outcome.

  Task

• 5.0.3.1. Simple wording issues need nobody's approval Optional Sets the finishing date

  The Guide's own example: a Lone Scout may fulfil a position of responsibility by serving in a school, a place of worship, a club and so on.

  Decision

• 5.0.3.1. Anything else needs council advancement committee approval Optional Sets the finishing date Often forgotten

  Where a requirement cannot be met as written, the friend and counselor may suggest equal or very similar alternatives. Suggesting them is not the same as approving them: the council advancement committee decides.

  Approval

  The friend and counselor may suggest an equal or very similar alternative. Approving it is the council advancement committee's decision, not theirs.

• 5.0.3.1. Dissimilar requirements only in extreme circumstances Optional Sets the finishing date

  Or where a requirement cannot be met without extreme hazard or hardship. The Lone Scout Friend and Counselor Guidebook has the detail.

  Requirement

• 5.0.3.2. Ask the council for its list of preapproved counselors Recommended Sets the finishing date

  Obtainable by telephoning the local council service centre.

  Document

• 5.0.3.0. Meet others and visit a unit where you can Recommended Sets the finishing date

  Permissible and even beneficial. These meetings provide extra instruction and counseling, and a more public setting in which achievement can be recognised.

  Task

• 5.0.3.3. The unit committee chair signature line is left blank Sets the finishing date Often forgotten

  There is no unit committee for a Lone Scout, so there is nobody to sign it. Leaving it blank is correct, not an omission.

  Requirement

  A blank unit committee chair line on a Lone Scout's application is correct. It is not a missing signature and should not be chased.

• 5.0.3.3. No unit committee approval for the service project proposal Sets the finishing date

  For the same reason. The other proposal approvals still apply.

  Requirement

Stage 2 of 11

• 5.0.3.0. Cub Scouting or Scouts BSA — those two only Sets the finishing date Often forgotten

  Venturing and Sea Scouts do not offer an equivalent experience, so there is no Lone Venturer and no Lone Sea Scout.

  Decision

  Waiting for 5.0.3.0. A youth has no access to a traditional unit.

Stage 3 of 11

• 5.0.3.0. Register through the council service centre Sets the finishing date

  Application is made as a Lone Cub Scout or a Lone Scout through the local council.

  Document

  Waiting for 5.0.3.0. Cub Scouting or Scouts BSA — those two only.

Stage 4 of 11

• 5.0.3.0. Recruit a Lone Scout friend and counselor Sets the finishing date

  Every Lone Scout must work with one. Preferably a parent, but a religious leader, teacher, neighbour or Scouting volunteer will do.

  Approval

  Waiting for 5.0.3.0. Register through the council service centre.

  Even where the friend and counselor is the Scout's own parent, all four conditions apply: Youth Protection training, at least 21 years old, registered with Scouting America, and meeting the adult membership requirements.

Stage 5 of 11

• 5.0.3.0. Get the Lone Scout Friend and Counselor Guidebook Recommended Sets the finishing date

  Called an essential tool in carrying out the programme, and available at scouting.org/advancement. It holds detail on alternatives that the Guide to Advancement itself does not.

  Document

• 5.0.3.1. Requirements one Scout and a counselor can meet are met as written Sets the finishing date Often forgotten

  Ranks, merit badges and any other advancement award. This is the limit on the flexibility, and the Guide states it before it states the flexibility: Lone Scouting is not a place to register a youth simply to make parental approval of advancement easier.

  Requirement

  Waiting for 5.0.3.0. Recruit a Lone Scout friend and counselor.

  Lone Scouting is not a place to register a youth simply to facilitate parental approval of advancement. The flexibility described below exists for requirements that genuinely cannot be met, not for requirements that are inconvenient.

• 5.0.3.2. Merit badges: registered counselors, recruited locally Sets the finishing date

  A Lone Scout earns merit badges by working with adult counselors who meet the ordinary qualifications and are registered with the council. Teachers, hobbyists, business leaders and club members are the Guide's suggested sources.

  Task

  Waiting for 5.0.3.0. Recruit a Lone Scout friend and counselor.

Stage 6 of 11

• 5.0.3.1. Rank advancement Sets the finishing date

  The ranks themselves are the same ranks, earned to the same requirements, with the narrow room for alternatives described above.

  Milestone

  Waiting for 5.0.3.1. Requirements one Scout and a counselor can meet are met as written.

Stage 7 of 11

• 8.0.0.0. The board of review Sets the finishing date

  For the Eagle Scout rank, a Lone Scout works with the district or council advancement committee according to local practices. For the other ranks the Guide to Advancement does not say who holds the board — ask the council.

  Event

  Waiting for 5.0.3.1. Rank advancement.

  For the Eagle Scout rank, section 5.0.3.3 says a Lone Scout works with the district or council advancement committee. Nothing was found in the Guide to Advancement saying who holds the board of review for a Lone Scout's Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star or Life rank. Ask the local council rather than assuming.

Stage 8 of 11

• 5.0.3.3. The Eagle Scout application for a Lone Scout Optional Sets the finishing date

  Reviewed and processed through the ordinary Eagle application steps at 9.0.1.0 to 9.0.1.10 — council verification, the board of review, and submission to the National Program Committee — with four particulars that are not ordinary at all.

  Milestone

  Waiting for 8.0.0.0. The board of review.

Stage 9 of 11

• 5.0.3.3. The friend and counselor conducts the unit leader conference Sets the finishing date

  And signs as the unit leader, both on the Eagle Scout Rank Application and in the service project workbook.

  Task

  Waiting for 5.0.3.3. The Eagle Scout application for a Lone Scout.

Stage 10 of 11

• 5.0.3.3. Work with the district or council advancement committee Sets the finishing date

  According to local practices. They stand in for the unit that would ordinarily carry the application forward.

  Approval

  Waiting for 5.0.3.3. The friend and counselor conducts the unit leader conference and 5.0.3.3. The Eagle Scout application for a Lone Scout.

Stage 11 of 11

• 5.0.3.3. The council sends the application to National on paper Sets the finishing date Often forgotten

  Because the Lone Scout is not affiliated with a unit, the local council processor must send the application to the National Program Committee or their designee. It cannot be submitted electronically.

  Document

  Waiting for 5.0.3.3. Work with the district or council advancement committee.

  It cannot be submitted electronically. A council used to filing applications through the system needs to know this before the deadline, not afterwards.