I am a mother of a Boy Scout. His father and I share joint custody. Without my knowledge, his step-mom has signed herself as one of 2 emergency contacts on permission forms. On that permission form it states "In case of an emergency involving my child, I understand that efforts will be made to contact me. In the event I cannot be reached, permission is hereby given to the medical provider to secure proper treatment, including hospitalization, anesthesia, surgery, or injections of medication for my child."
The problem is, she does not have custody of my child or authority to make medical decisions (per law and a divorce decree).
Yet, if I am excluded from the form, then Boy Scouts of America are not bound to contact me if there's an emergency. The stepmom just happens to be a den mother and has administrative control of my son's Boy Scout account.
The troop leader said that in his opinion, she is a legal guardian and does have that right. When I contacted Boy Scouts of America, they said the same, even though she has no custodial rights.
As a natural and devoted parent, I feel I can not trust and organization that would disqualify my rights as a custodial parent, in favor of a staff member. This seems to pose a serious conflict of interest. The Boy Scouts permission slip equates "Parent" with "Legal guardian" and legally, those are not the same