The century-old youth organization has hired the law firm Sidley Austin LLP to assist with a potential chapter 11 process, Fox Business reports, a move that would give the BSA breathing room to negotiate with people who've brought sexual harassment suits for alleged "inappropriate conduct" from employees and volunteers dating all the way back to the 1960s.

In 2012, the Oregon Supreme Court ordered the release of 20,000 pages of confidential files the BSA kept on suspected abusers within the organization from 1965 to 1985, though battles continued over abuse lawsuits and the release of post-1985 files. According to public filings, the BSA's legal bills to outside law firms amounted to $7.6 million in 2017, $3.5 million in 2016, and $859,347 in 2015.

The move is part of the organization's plan to "explore all options available to ensure that the local and national programming of the Boy Scouts of America continues uninterrupted," the BSA explained in a letter to employees Wednesday.

The Boy Scouts have simultaneously experienced a steady decline in both memberships and donations, with Nonprofit Quarterly reporting in May that the organization ran deficits of $45 million in FY 2016, $18 million in 2015, and almost $34 million in 2013. The BSA's memberships were "2.3 million, down from 2.6 million five years ago and 4 million at its peak," the report continues. "Even its volunteer base is declining, according to the organization's form 990"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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