Girl Scouts Join Congressman James Clyburn to Discuss The State of Girls

Mary Winter Teaster, Board Member, Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands, Congressman James Clyburn, and Loretta Graham, CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina, met in his Columbia office to discuss issues that impact the health and well-being of girls in our state

COLUMBIA,  SC – As part of a coordinated national effort, Mary Winter Teaster, Board Member, Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands, Susan Schneider, Director, PR & Advocacy, Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands, and Loretta Graham, CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina, met with Congressman James Clyburn to share groundbreaking data compiled by the Girl Scout Research Institute on how girls are faring in our state as compared to other states across the country.

They shared specific findings from The State of Girls: Unfinished Business, the first of its kind report that illustrates steep socioeconomic challenges faced by African American and Hispanic girls.  National findings from The State of Girls were released last year, and a full public launch of state-by-state data is set for this fall.

Also reviewed was the bipartisan, no-cost Child Protection Improvements Act (S. 1362/H.R. 3902) which would create a one-stop, nationally-accessible criminal background database system that would be made available to all youth-serving organizations.  Girl Scouts conducts background checks for volunteers and new employees, but there is no single, universal database available that includes Federal and State records.

States Teaster, “No other organization provides solutions to the overall health and well-being of girls in our state like Girl Scouts. We appreciate the time Congressman Clyburn made for us to provide local examples of our programs in healthy living, financial literacy, STEM and leadership to give all girls the skills they need to succeed in life.”