The Boy Scouts of America is pushing back against reports the organization is considering filing for bankruptcy as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
According to the report, leadership with the Boy Scouts have hired a law firm that specializes in bankruptcy and have been brought on board to explore options. Filing for bankruptcy would halt the many lawsuits alleging inappropriate conduct by employees that have been brought against the organization, the newspaper said.
In a statement released Wednesday, Michael Surbaugh, chief scout executive said "...in anticipation of news reports that will speculate about the BSA’s financial position," that no immediate decisions are expected.
Surbach said BSA was focused on keeping the youth who participate in their programs safe and continue preparing them through character development and leadership training.
"We have an important duty, and an incredible opportunity, to focus as an organization on keeping children safe, supported and protected, and preparing youth for their futures through our nation’s foremost program of character development and values-based leadership training," Surbach said. "To do so in perpetuity, we are working with experts to explore all options available to ensure that the local and national programming of the Boy Scout of America continues uninterrupted."
In the statement, Surbach acknowledged the lawsuits and the rising costs of defending them.
"We have a social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting, and we also have an obligation to carry out our mission to serve youth, families and local communities through our programs."
Surbach also apologized to anyone who had been harmed during their time in scouting adding that one incident of child abuse is one too many.
"We sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in our programs," said Surbach. "As you all know, we have always taken care of victims – we believe them, we believe in fairly compensating them and we have paid for unlimited counseling, by a provider of their choice, regardless of the amount of time that has passed since an instance of abuse."
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