If you were sexually abused as a child while participating in the Boy Scouts of America, the bankruptcy that resolved the largest sex abuse case in American legal history may have left you with more questions than answers.

Some survivors got something. Some got very little. Some got nothing.

The plan that came out of bankruptcy court protected the local councils, the churches and schools that hosted troops, and the insurance companies that covered them, shielding all of them from individual lawsuits. Many survivors reasonably consider that result an injustice, and the people who say so out loud aren’t wrong.

We will address here what is actually still possible for Boy Scouts survivors, and for survivors of abuse in any other organized youth program.

Where the BSA Case Stands

The Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 18, 2020, becoming at the time the largest sex abuse-related bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. About 82,000 survivors filed claims by the November 16, 2020 deadline.

The bankruptcy court confirmed the BSA’s reorganization plan on September 8, 2022. The plan took effect on April 19, 2023, and a $2.46 billion settlement trust was established to evaluate and pay claims. By mid-2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that the total cost of the case, accounting for attorneys’ fees and other expenses, had exceeded $7 billion, more than double the original estimate.

The most consequential part of the plan, and the part that has caused the most lasting frustration among survivors, was its set of third–party releases. The plan protected BSA local councils, the chartered organizations that hosted Scout troops (i.e., churches, schools, civic clubs, and community groups), as well as settling insurance companies from individual lawsuits arising out of BSA abuse. In exchange for those releases, those entities contributed to the trust. For survivors, the downside was that even when a local church or school had been deeply complicit in covering up abuse, suing them directly was no longer permitted.

In May 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dismissed the broadest appeals of the plan that had been filed by dissenting survivors and holdout insurers, effectively locking the deal in place. A small group of survivors known as the Lujan claimants asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case in October 2025. As of this writing, that petition is pending.

In February 2025, the Boy Scouts of America renamed itself Scouting America.

How the Settlement Trust Works for Survivors Who Filed Claims

If you filed a claim by the November 2020 deadline, the Scouting Settlement Trust has been working through claims for more than two years. As of late 2025:

• The trust had determined approximately 43,276 of 58,082 Matrix claims, representing about 75% of all claims submitted.
• Roughly $295.5 million in payments had been distributed across approximately 36,896 claims.
• The trustee continues to issue determinations and payments, and a 2025 financial audit was scheduled for early 2026.

There are three pathways inside the trust:

The Matrix Process evaluates claims against a defined set of factors, including severity of abuse, duration, evidence of institutional knowledge, and others. This is the standard track most claimants are on.

The Expedited Distribution option offers a flat $3,500 payment in exchange for waiving full evaluation. About 6,027 survivors chose this path, and most of them have been paid in full.

The Independent Review Option (IRO) is for survivors with stronger or more complex cases. Reviews are conducted by neutral retired judges, and outcomes can substantially exceed what the standard Matrix process produces. About 198 survivors elected this path, and 141 settlement recommendations have been issued so far.

If your Matrix determination feels unjustly low, a request for reconsideration can be filed within 30 days, and arbitration through the Trust’s dispute resolution process is available after that. Survivors who feel dissatisfied with their initial determination should consult counsel before accepting it. The trust process is genuinely complex, and the gap between an initial determination and what a careful reconsideration or IRO can produce is sometimes significant.

What’s Still Possible Outside the Settlement Trust

Many survivors feel the bankruptcy didn’t deliver justice, and then there are survivors who never filed a claim at all. There may be options available to them:

A Direct Lawsuit against the Individual Perpetrator – The bankruptcy plan released the BSA, local councils, chartered organizations, and insurers, but it did not release the individual person who committed the abuse. A direct civil suit against that person remains possible, subject to your state’s statute of limitations and any discovery rule exceptions that may apply.

Claims against Entities Not Covered by the BSA Releases – The third–party releases covered the network of entities tied to BSA Scouting specifically. If the same perpetrator also worked at, volunteered at, coached for, or had access to children through any other organization, be it a school, a church youth program (outside their role as Scout chaplain), a summer camp, an athletic club, a juvenile facility, a daycare center, then claims against those organizations may not be barred by the BSA plan. Many of the worst predators in BSA pursued roles dealing with children in other organizations as well.

State Law Claims Tied to Revival Windows – A survivor whose case has any nexus to a state with a current revival window may have a state court path that operates independently of the BSA bankruptcy. For instance, California’s AB 250 lookback runs through December 31, 2027, while Louisiana’s lookback runs through June 14, 2027. New York and New Jersey have similar pathways that are now closed, with continuing litigation under them.

Late or Contested Claims – In rare circumstances, contested determinations or claims that were filed late have additional remedies. These are deeply fact–specific and require an attorney’s review.

In effect, the bankruptcy plan was structured to limit institutional liability, and it largely succeeded. But it did not eliminate every path. For some survivors, particularly those whose perpetrator’s conduct extended beyond BSA alone, meaningful options still exist.

Institutional Abuse in Youth Program

Most institutional abuse cases in youth programs do not involve a national bankruptcy, and survivors of abuse in those programs face a fundamentally different, and often more open, legal situation than BSA survivors did.

There are many types of youth programs and settings where civil litigation is actively being pursued today:

• Gymnastics gyms and elite training academies
• Swim clubs and swimming organizations
• AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) and other youth athletic leagues
• Summer camps, both overnight and day camps
• YMCA, JCC, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and similar community youth programs
• Religious youth groups beyond the major Catholic dioceses
• Boys & Girls Clubs
• Music, dance, and arts programs
• After-school and tutoring programs
• Juvenile detention centers and group homes
• Foster care placements and residential treatment

Most of these institutions have not pursued bankruptcy protection. That means survivors can pursue claims directly under standard tort theories of negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent supervision, fraudulent concealment, mandatory reporter failures, as well as breach of fiduciary duty. The structural advantage that BSA achieved through bankruptcy is simply not available to most other youth organizations.

USA Gymnastics – a Different Bankruptcy, a Different Outcome

USA Gymnastics (USAG) offers a useful counterpoint to the BSA story, and it’s important for survivors to understand the difference.

USAG filed for bankruptcy in 2018 in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal. In December 2021, USAG and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee agreed to a $380 million settlement covering more than 500 survivors of Nassar’s abuse, including Olympic gold medalists and dozens of other athletes. Combined with Michigan State University’s earlier $500 million settlement, total compensation reached approximately $880 million. This became at the time the largest sex abuse settlement involving a single perpetrator in U.S. history.

The case did not, however, end accountability. In December 2025, two former gymnasts filed civil lawsuits in Iowa against USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport (the body Congress created to oversee misconduct in Olympic sports). The suits allege both organizations failed to act on reports filed in December 2017 about coach Sean Gardner, who is now facing federal child pornography charges. The cases are pending.

The lesson is worth holding onto, noting that institutional bankruptcies and settlements resolve specific claims at specific moments. They do not cleanse organizations of duty going forward. New abuse, new cover-ups, and new failures of oversight can still produce liability. Survivors of more recent youth program abuse are not shielded by what happened in older cases.

How to Know If Your Case Is Worth Evaluating

A few factors that tend to indicate a youth program abuse case merits evaluation:

• The abuse occurred while you participated in any organized youth program, such as sports, camps, religious, after–school, or otherwise
• The perpetrator was in a position of authority, supervision, or trust over you
• The institution had reason to be on notice given prior complaints, transfers, internal investigations, rumors that didn’t go anywhere
• Records likely exist somewhere that an attorney could subpoena, including personnel files, complaint records, internal emails, prior incident reports
• The abuse occurred in a state with an active revival window or extended discovery rule
• The case has any cross-jurisdictional dimension if, for example, a perpetrator who moved between programs, states, or institutions

None of these is a guarantee. All of them are reasons to talk to experienced attorneys before assuming the case is dead.
Constant Legal Group represents survivors of sexual abuse and human trafficking nationally, holding institutions accountable. Conversations are confidential and the consultation is free.