Lost Blue Cards

[eldoubleu]

Is there an official BSA policy on replacing lost Merit Badge Blue Cards before they have been recorded into Troop records?

My son, a Life Scout turned in 6 MB Blue Cards last summer, but the chair only recorded two of them. The fate of the other 4 Blue Cards is a mystery, but I did see all 6 cards before he turned them in. We are looking to replace the 4 missing cards. Unfortunately, all 4 were earned at Scout camps and not with local MB Counselors. My son has all the documentation from the MBs that require it, but one was Shotgun Shooting. When I Google the topic it appear that many Troops have developed their own policies on Lost Blue Cards, and they are all over the map. Our plan is to meet with a local Merit Badge counselor and review all the requirements with the appropriate documentation. He would love to have the Shotgun Shooting MB as well, since he's proud of that achievement.

[wagionvigil]

First welcome. Second the camp keeps records at least our camp does

[Quailman]

I had to track down a camp MB for my son a couple of years ago. Our council (where the camp is) maintains the records for all three camps they operate. Just know which week he attended when you contact the camp and/or council.

[wagionvigil]

I looked up a kids records from 4 years ago a while back. We keep them for I believe from 8 years back that way we can cover first year through age 17.

[smtroop168]

There is no official BSA policy requiring Blue Cards at all.

Lost Blue Cards??? Neeevvvveerrr happens.

Anyway...if these were done at Summer Camp, they should have a record of his MB either as the 3rd part of the BC or attendance records where they checked off progress.

[alex gregory]

As Advancement Chair for my troop in addition to being an ASM (plus actively involved in my daughter's activities) I'm way to busy to keep track of each scout's MB progress beyond recording completed MBs. Sorry kiddo, it's your MB and your blue card; if you lose the card you can get a new card from your MBC, but please do not ask me to be responsible for your advancement records.

As a MBC I always maintain a spreadsheet that tracks the progress for each scout I counsel precisely because blue cards get midsplaced.

I have yet to lose the blue cards for a scout and hope that never happens. When I update advancement records I do not take the blue cards, I just complete and submit the paperwork. As the Advancment Chair am I supposed to take the blue cards?

[Mrw]

As Advancement Chair, I do received the completed blue cards and then record the advancement and buy the badges. Then I return the scout's portion of the card with the badge.

I have yet to lose one, but it could happen.

We have had to track down advancements from summer camp when the SM gets home and finds the number of blue cards reeived back at the end of the week does not match the number of badges taken by the troop. Call the council office for the camp your son attended. They should be able to get you in touch with the correct person to look up and confirm his acheivements.

There really should not be a need to go back to revisit with MB counselors to re-earn these.

[ccjj]

The council should have records of merit badges earned at summer camp.

A couple of years ago, my son changed troops shortly after summer camp, and the old troop wouldn't give him his merit badges he earned at camp, or the green sheets back. We had to contact the office and get replacement green sheets, then fill out and advancement form to get the merit badges.

ccjj

[cballman]

Well after thinking about this one for a bit I have a few questions. Was all six badges earned at summer camp? If so who was the adult that picked them up at the end of camp and was they there then? If they were given to the boys to hold then why was not the scouts copy tore off and kept? And now a statement, If the cards were given to an adult from camp and was not given to the child then how can it be the childs fault if the blue cards are misplaced? When we came back from camp we had somewhere around 130 -150 blue cards that was given back to us from camp some partials most complete. Do we have a few oversights YES. Do we correct them YES. Do we blame the kid NO NO. Now we need to see exactly what happened in order before we can make a judgement on this issue.

[eldoubleu]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. I have contacted the two councils who operate the camps in question to see if they still have records of the missing badges.

Some clarifications:

There are actually only three badges missing- 1 from the "Trail to Eagle" camp, and two from Summer Camp- different weeks, different camps. All four of the "Trail to Eagle" camp Blue Cards were hand carried by my son and turned in to our Advancement Chair for signatures etc. with the Scout's record intact. In hindsight, this was an error and happened without my knowledge. In spite of that, three of the four were properly recorded and we have those Blue Cards. This camp is run by our council, and I should have no problem getting the record if it was retained.

The two Summer Camp Blue Cards were given to an ASM for handling along with all the Scouts' Blue Cards from the camp. Somehow both my son's Blue Cards disappeared. The ASM did a thorough search, as did the Advancement Chair, without success. I did verify that no cards were returned to any Scouts during camp. All were given to the ASM. I have contacted the council who operates that camp for their records.

Thanks again for all the input!

[Ursus Snorous Roarus]

Well, the purists on some other forums would be reveling in ‘told you so’ that the cards should’ve been given back to the boy by the counselors to begin with. At that point if it’s lost it’s another valuable life lesson. “Tough luck kid; not my problem.”
Our camp gives the leaders the cards and we verify that we got them all back on Friday afternoon. But admittedly, I’ve lost one or two before. If I know it’s all good, I will fill out the card myself and turn it in. Tracking down that staff member from camp to fill out another card is impossible in the off season, and an academic exercise at that point. Don’t let this drag out too long, if you don’t get much help from the council registrar, have the SM fill it out.

[ronin718]

I had something like this happen with a partial taken to camp to finish, but fortunately my son went provisional the week the cards were lost (by the camp staff), and we were back down there two weeks later. The camp staff was very accomodating, worked with us to get things fixed, and my son is getting his MB.

The best way to avoid problems... make a copy of the blue card. That way you can take it to a counselor and show them what was signed off previously. It's a lot harder to argue when the proof is in the picture.

[alex gregory]

If I know it’s all good . . . have the SM fill it out.

What's that saying about the best of intentions?

In our troop we have MBCs that cover all the summer camp MBs who usually deal with cleaning up the partials, but might also be a better resource for fixing the lost blue card than the SM. The scout does not need to redo the entire MB (that would be silly and cruel), just have Ima Unhappyscout sit down with the MBC and demonstrate what he completed at summer camp. A scout is trustworthy and there are adult leaders who know what got done at camp. My guess is that one of the adult leaders who was at camp with basic knowledge of the relevant MB curriculum and knows what got done before the card was lost could register him/herself as MBC and fix the problem.

[alex gregory]

Tracking down that staff member from camp to fill out another card is impossible in the off season, and an academic exercise at that point.

I don't think you have to track down the actual staff member (who probably won't remember a particular scout anyway after counselling who knows how many scouts over the course of a summer camp). I suspect the camp retains the paper records which are updated daily showing what was done, that's all you really need. I'd still get a replacement blue card, but from related postings we all know that the blue card is really not necessary after the advancement reports are e-filed.

[Quailman]

When I had to track one down, I went to the council office (it's convenient for me) and the woman who keeps the binders with the camp MB records looked it up, completed a blue card, and signed it.

[Ursus Snorous Roarus]

All of those ways will work, you guys have been there as well. Ths kid ends up in the end with the proper paperwork and there should be no linger issues, which is what needs to be avoided.

[owl scouter]

We have talked about the scout, the adults in the troop and the camp. What about the Counselors? Yes it was mentioned that they would probably not remember the scout, but the should not have too. If the blue card is filled out and distributed the right way, one third of the card is the Counselor's Record. The Counselor should retain this part after all requirements are completed. I have some that are 15 years old and I have all that I signed. This is what SHOULD be done, but I know it is not the norm. Still if you are going to be a MB Counselor give the blue card a good look over and make sure you know what to do with it. You may be the last link when it comes time to assure a scout that earned a badge gets it.

John
(owl-scouter)