Young Eagles and Background Security Checks

[combahee]

I have a 16 year old young man aspiring to be an aeronautical engineer as a member of my chapter. He is actively involved in many of our adventures, including trips to the Kermit Weeks hangar for restoration projects, member build projects, fly-outs, etc. Not to mention regular chapter meetings and the like.

As a Boy Scout Leader, I understand some of the reasoning behind recent decisions. I go through the same stuff in BSA, not only to be a Scout/Cub Master, but also as a merit badge counselor. Even more so as an Aviation Merit Badge counselor. So nothing new here for me.

I also see this as a reason that we have dwindling BSA memberships these days as well. Over-enthusiastic policies put in place as a reaction to a few bad eggs make people move toward activities that are less bothersome and personally intrusive. This may very well have the same effect on the Young Eagles and other youth programs based on some of the reactions and feedback of entire chapters I'm reading above.

That being said, I'm not about to ruin the experience for my dedicated young person, who really enjoys our group and the opportunities and events in which we participate. I will, however, be making sure that build activities will be completely separated from chapter activities, as there are restrictions that keep minors from using power tools. And whether or not we choose to become active in Young Eagles activities will be up to the membership and we'll explore it during the next meeting.

My vice president and I have committed to the Youth Protection Training and background checks because we believe very strongly in our mission to provide experience and guidance to our current teenage member. We'll do everything that we can to ensure that his experiences are not interrupted or hampered by these policy changes, even if we have to act upon them as external activities. What this means for future young members organization-wide remains to be seen.

I hope that for other chapters, this doesn't turn into a, "Yeah, we're glad you're interested. Come back when you're 18." kind of moment. It will surely hamper youth involvement in local chapters.

Respectfully,
Chris

Chris, great for you mentoring this youngster. You do realize under the new guidelines he can not attend a chapter meeting unless at least two vetted members are present at all times? He can not attend any function, fly out, visit to a museum, if it entails a flight or drive in a personal vehicle or aircraft? He can not participate in a workshop without the two vetted supervisors? You can't fly the kid unless it is a Young Eagle flight and depending on the interpretation, he has to be supervised by another adult, even getting in and out of the aircraft?
These regulations will virtually stop all youth based activities in EAA.

[Chris In Marshfield]

Chris, great for you mentoring this youngster. You do realize under the new guidelines he can not attend a chapter meeting unless at least two vetted members are present at all times? He can not attend any function, fly out, visit to a museum, if it entails a flight or drive in a personal vehicle or aircraft? He can not participate in a workshop without the two vetted supervisors? You can't fly the kid unless it is a Young Eagle flight and depending on the interpretation, he has to be supervised by another adult, even getting in and out of the aircraft?
These regulations will virtually stop all youth based activities in EAA.

Yes sir. It's certainly a sore spot. Not only does there have to be an appropriate number of members in place, he also has to be signed in and out, and we have to manage a separate record of this activity for three years. OUTSTANDING. My chapter-mates and I are dedicated to making sure that he gets the experience he needs to be the person he wants to be. If we have to do these things outside of chapter airspace, we're certainly ready and willing to do so!

~Chris

[combahee]

Good for you Chris!
All the YE pilots in our chapter will withdraw from the program, and it looks like the chapter will also withdraw from the EAA. We simply can't do business this way. The members are already drawing up plans for non EAA youth flights.

[FlyingRon]

Yes sir. It's certainly a sore spot. Not only does there have to be an appropriate number of members in place, he also has to be signed in and out, and we have to manage a separate record of this activity for three years. OUTSTANDING. My chapter-mates and I are dedicated to making sure that he gets the experience he needs to be the person he wants to be. If we have to do these things outside of chapter airspace, we're certainly ready and willing to do so!

~Chris

Hopefully the EAA will step up and let you mail all your records to them for safekeeping. Another organization I am involved with does this. I told them I didn't really want to be liaison anymore and had no replacement and they said just send my files to them.

[CraigCantwell]

Combahee: I hope you guys will hold off closing down the chapter for a little while at least. Nothing wrong with getting things laid out to leave, but as a very wise friend told me ( in a much cleaned up wording ) "You can't help management hang themselves from outside the fence". Cutting ties before this is resolved, hopefully, in a positive manner, could be very hurtful all around.

The fact that we are now a week into dealing with this smoking pile, and there has been nothing but absolute silence from national and the board of directors, other than the "don't shoot the messengers" note from Bret, speaks volumes on their apparent attitude towards the membership. With this festering more and more each day, and the anger of the membership increasing exponentially, they need to reach out to the membership in a hurry and work on fixing this. If they don't, the annual meeting might be very dark for the board and management. Whether they realize it or not, this subject is being discussed on multiple boards and is rapidly becoming very public. I'm actually surprised that Zoom has hasn't made it a front page splash on his website already, as much as he despises the EAA.

[ChrisNC]

It is a laudable goal to have background security checks to protect kids, but why would anyone submit to a background check with risks like this? Unless EAA can figure out a better way to do this (in other words, without pilots giving their SSN to anyone outside the government), this is quite likely to basically "kill" the YE program. Perhaps that is what someone really wanted to do and this is a good way to do it? I have really enjoyed flying YE kids in the past, but having been the victim of identity theft, I have no desire whatsoever - for any reason - to go through that mess again...There has to be a better way.

[gearisgreen]

According to EAA HQ the following vendor was contracted to complete the backgrounds: AmericanChecked, Inc.


AmericanChecked is a national background screening company that services the Native American gaming and non-profit markets. The three founders of this woman-owned company share a collective 40 years of experience in the background screening industry.
Press Release
Tulsa, OK – July 13, 2015 – Effective Immediately

On July 1, 2015, AmericanChecked Inc. was officially certified for membership in the Chickasaw Nation Preferred Vendor Program.

AmericanChecked Inc. is a nationally accredited, Native/Woman-owned background screening solutions provider based in Tulsa, OK specializing in meeting the diverse screening needs of Indian Country.

The Chickasaw Nation Preferred Vendor Program was established in November, 2008. It has been and is currently the policy of the Nation to continue increasing business opportunities for qualified Chickasaw and other Native American owned businesses as well as other federally recognized minorities.

This recognized program reflects the Chickasaw Nation’s mission statement: “To enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people.”

Julie Hakman, President of AmericanChecked
http://www.tribaltrac.com/americanch...vendor-status/
http://www.bbb.org/tulsa/business-re...sa-ok-38001574

[CraigCantwell]

According to EAA HQ the following vendor was contracted to complete the backgrounds: AmericanChecked, Inc.

Please note that back on post #43, it has been shown that the SSLC for the website that we are directed to for inputting our information does not belong to AmericanChecked, but BackChecked, LLC in Phoenix, AZ. Nowhere in any of the available information shows any connection between the companies.

[TomBush]

My name is Tom Bush. I'm a retired Navy commander (F-14 and F/A-18 background), and currently fly the A320 for UAL. I live with my family at the Dry Creek Airport in Cypress, TX (TS07), and serve as President and Airport Manager of this 35+ homesite private facility. Along with my family and friends, I take great enjoyment from all things aviation.

Of the many flying activities my community is involved with, the largest is its annual 'Open House.' Occurring each November, this event is our way of sharing the joy of flight while spreading goodwill among neighbors and local community members. People flock to our event from miles around, and approximately 25 pilots devote themselves to providing safe and quality flight experiences to the hundreds of kids in attendance. I don't know the exact number of Young Eagle rides we have given over the years, but would guess it to be on the order of 1,000 or so based on the fact that we typically do around 120 each year. This will not happen anymore, because every pilot I have spoken to in our community feels the same way as I and hundreds of respondents to this forum do regarding EAA's so-called 'Youth Protection Program:'

1. That it is inane (It's a solution in search of a problem! Show me the data that indicates this is necessary! Out of a few million YE flights, how many kids have been groped? .000001% or less?)

2. That it is insulting (Not quite sure how, but me and the pilots that makeup my community have somehow, just somehow, managed to not molest any kids in our lifetimes, and yet all of a sudden we need 'training.' Ludicrous. . . Let me get this straight: we use our time, our airplanes, our money, our facility, our litigation risk, and EAA wants us to go through human decency training while surrendering our most sensitive information for a background check? I don't think so. . . We'll still fly the kids just like we always have. The only difference being that it will be administratively a lot easier to conduct the event without all the YE paperwork, and the kids won't walk away with the fancy certificate. Modern color printers are wonderful, however, so chances are we'll just print up some locally generated versions of our own first flight certificate).

3. That it is unnecessary (Again; show us the data that makes this program necessary. If the reasoning was / is: "if the program prevents only one child from being exposed to a pervert or one lawsuit from being filed then it is worth it." Actually, that's not correct. Everything in life is a cost/benefit analysis, and in this case these rules are going to 'cost' the EAA the viability of the YE program itself when pilots refuse to participate en masse. Much more has been said regarding the efficacy of the program in actually accomplishing anything, so I won't repeat it here).

4. That it is overreaching (Submitting my SSN to a non-profit organization like EAA, who then submits it to a faceless third-party for the background check? As a retired military officer and someone exposed to the OPM data hack, I don't think so. . . Others feel the same).

5. That it is risky (Risky to EAA members for the identity theft potential, and risky to EAA itself for loss of participation in the YE program. I'd also submit that it is risky to overall EAA membership statistics, as many like me will see no reason to renew their membership if we don't plan on conducting any YE flights).

I respectfully urge the great organization that is EAA to rescind this disastrous policy - for its own good as well as that of its membership.

[Mark van Wyk]

This is going to sound a little "out there," but as a person who has undergone many "sensitivity" training sessions and background checks at various corporations, government contractors, and government entities such as serving on a county board-- be it it be ethics, race relations, sexual harassment, etc. -- I've found that usually the way it works is you just put up with it and take the class and sign the form, and then life goes on as normal. You rarely notice any difference, except maybe you are a bit more aware of certain sensitive issues. I've never been "hurt" by any of these types of training.
I'm certain even people who have served in the Military know what I am talking about.
DON'T MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLE HILL, FOLKS. I doubt very seriously that there will be "rule compliance Nazis" at every YE event. My advice: take the training, take the background check, and keep participating in YE.