Irving, Texas, Jan. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In one of his first official visits, Roger Krone, the new President and CEO the Boy Scouts of America, met with Derrick Driscoll, Chief Operating Officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at their headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
“The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is the nation’s leading voice in fighting child sexual abuse and exploitation,” said Krone. “The BSA has some of the most vigorous youth safety protocols of any youth-serving organization, and I believe NCMEC’s experience and insight can be indispensable in our continuing efforts to create safe spaces for youth inside and outside of Scouting.”
“Both of our organizations are committed, first and foremost, to the safety of children, so it is fitting that we collaborate to share perspectives and ideas as we walk this path together,” said Krone.
Krone said relationships with organizations like The Center for Missing and Exploited Children are critical because of the insight and resources they offer can strengthen efforts nationwide.
“One of the purposes of this visit is to discuss how we can work together to ensure that our youth safety policies remain cutting edge and effective in a world where the tactics that abusers use to access kids get more sophisticated every day,” said Krone. “We’re not standing still. We want to evolve and advance our policies for our Scouts, families, and communities, and we strongly believe NCMEC’s resources can be an important part of that.”
“All youth-serving organizations have a responsibility of making sure that the children under their purview are safe,” said Driscoll. “We appreciate BSA and their leadership for making child protection a priority and are looking forward to collaborating with them further as they work to help make sure that all Scouts have a safe childhood.”
Other topics the organizations discussed included the challenges of keeping youth safe online, as well as ways to prevent suspected abusers from moving from organization to organization.
“Right now, there is no database of banned individuals,” said Dr. Michael Bourke, retired Chief Psychologist for the United States Marshals Service and chair of the BSA Youth Protection Committee. “In other words, there is no official way for organizations to share the names of individuals banned for breaking key youth protection policies."
The BSA is also collaborating with organizations including the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center Foundation, Children’s Advocacy Center, and others.
Krone was also joined by the BSA’s Youth Protection Executive, Glen Pounder, Chief Marketing Officer Michael Ramsey, and the BSA’s General Counsel, Joseph Zirkman.
In addition to Driscoll, the team met with NCMEC’s Stacy Garrett, Vice President of Content and Community Engagement, Staca Shehan, Vice President of Analytical Services and John Shehan, Senior Vice President of the Exploited Children Division and International Engagement.
About Youth Protection in the BSA
The Boy Scouts of America places the greatest importance on creating the most secure environment possible for its youth members. Working with experts over decades, the BSA has developed procedures and policies and provides resources and tools for leaders in its programs. The guidelines include mandatory youth protection training, criminal background checks, no one-on-one adult and youth interactions, mandatory reporting of suspected abuse to law enforcement, a volunteer screening database, and more.
Roger Krone became the BSA’s President and CEO in November of 2023. He recently served as Chairman and CEO of Leidos, a $15 billion Fortune 250 government technology solutions firm. An Eagle Scout who spent summers at Scout camp and Philmont Scout Ranch, Krone regularly applied the lessons he learned in Scouting during an engineering and aerospace career spanning more than 45 years.
About the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The BSA welcomes all of America’s youth, including girls and young women, into our programs. Our goal is to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow with us in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have been through our programs since our founding, and currently more than 1 million youth are served by 460,000 dedicated adult volunteers in local councils throughout the country.
To learn more about the BSA’s commitment to safety, visit https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/
About The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Since 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®, a private non-profit organization, has led the fight to protect children by creating vital services for them and the people who keep them safe. NCMEC believes that every child deserves a safe childhood and as part of its work as the clearinghouse and resource center on issues relating to missing and exploited children, NCMEC operates a hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted in the recovery of more than 400,000 missing children. NCMEC also operates the CyberTipline®, a mechanism for reporting suspected child sexual exploitation, which has received more than 150 million reports. To learn more about NCMEC, visit www.missingkids.org.
For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.Scouting.org.
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Scott Armstrong Boy Scouts of America 315-439-6139 Scott.Armstrong@scouting.org
