Latino Scouts Look for a Few Good Parents

Officials of the Boy Scouts of America face a vexing problem in Los Angeles’ Latino neighborhoods: While Scout enrollment among Latino youngsters is among the highest in the city, as many as 30% to 40% of the boys drop out each year.

Although most of the boys come from low-income, inner-city homes, their inability to stick with the Scouts has less to do with money than the fact that practically none of the children’s parents will volunteer to be troop leaders or other assistants.

“It’s really very frustrating,” one Boy Scouts executive said. “It’s not in their tradition to volunteer. Many of them are illegal and they just don’t want to put their names on the dotted lines. So many of these boys fall by the wayside.”

In East Los Angeles and the Hollywood-Wilshire area, where record numbers of Latino youngsters are in scouting programs--about 4,500 in each region--as many as 40% of Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops formed in the fall do not last into the spring.

“The kids want the programs,” said Scout official Al Sonnenburg, who is in charge of East and Northeast Los Angeles district, known as the Sierra Trails District. “But the parents are definitely hesitant.”

Scout officials emphasize that because of Los Angeles’ multi-ethnic composition--62% of all Boy Scouts in the city are members of ethnic minority groups--they go to extraordinary lengths to recruit youngsters and parents. A Latino outreach officer goes door-to-door in Latino barrios several times a month. Other programs, including in-school activities, employment of college students, bilingual training sessions and materials, have been used.

Some churches and community service organizations have been approached to provide meeting places, funds and volunteers for the Scouts.

“We changed the technique of the delivery of our programs,” said Edward C. Jacobs, president of the Los Angeles-area council. “But we haven’t gotten away from the basic values of scouting.”

The dropout situation is troublesome for the officials of the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts Council because they have been working to pump up the rolls since enrollment hit an all-time low of 36,000 boys in 1976. Enrollment is at 63,000 now but that number includes many of the Latino youths who quickly drop out.

Officials hope that the enrollment figure will top 90,000 in the next five years. And they seek some solutions to the shortage of parent volunteers among Latinos. According to Boy Scout officials and volunteers, there are several reasons for that shortage:

- Volunteering, which may mean little or no reimbursement for expenses, does not appeal to many parents, especially those recently arrived in the United States. “A lot of them say, ‘If I’m not going to be paid, why should I volunteer?’ ” one Eastside volunteer said.

- Participation in the Boy Scouts in some Latin American countries is only for the wealthy. “I have to educate a lot of people,” said one volunteer, who concedes that many parents cannot afford the $60 to $90 for a complete uniform. Some boys end up with second-hand uniforms and some can only afford the Scout scarf.

- Many of the boys come from single-parent households. “Mom is keeping the family together and working and dad isn’t around,” he said.

- Families from Eastside public housing projects do not stay in one place long enough to put down community roots in activities such as the Boy Scouts.

The case of Boy Scouts Troop 62 in Boyle Heights is typical of the frustrations in Latino neighborhoods.

Joe Duarte, 52, participated in the Boy Scouts for only a month in his hometown, El Paso, but he has been an enthusiastic booster for the Boy Scouts in the neighborhoods near 1st and Soto streets on the Eastside for many years. Two sons were Scouts and preparations are already under way for his three grandsons to become involved. “All I need is my wife’s support and I’ll stick with it,” he said.

Popular Scoutmaster

He is considered a popular scoutmaster and Troop 62 is an active unit, going on outdoor treks each month.

The troop has had little trouble attracting members. Because of the lack of parent involvement, newly formed units of Cub and Boy Scouts in surrounding areas quickly perished and many of the youngsters came to Duarte.

By 1985, Duarte, with no parental help, found himself swamped with 60 youngsters in two Cub and Boy Scouts units. It was too much for him to handle.

“I tried to help each boy but I couldn’t,” he said. “Slowly, the kids could see they weren’t getting anything out of it and they started dropping off.”

Today, Troop 62 has about 15 boys, with some of them ready to become Eagle Scouts, scouting’s highest honor, he said.

But there are still problems. Duarte said the van the troop uses for outings is in frequent need of repairs and he absorbs all of the costs.

$1,200 Out of Pocket

Last year alone, Duarte said, Troop 62 activities cost him $1,200 from his own pocket. That’s a lot of cash for Duarte, who works in maintenance for the city of Los Angeles by day and goes to school at night.

Despite the problems, Scout officials go ahead with their programs, aware that alternatives to street gangs must be available to Latino youngsters.

“The Boy Scouts are proud to recruit for the gangs,” said Los Angeles council President Jacobs. “The right kind of gang . . . the Boy Scouts gang.”