Facing a wave of lawsuits and decades-old allegations of sexual abuse, the Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday, complicating the path to justice for the thousands of former Scouts who say they were abused during their time in the storied American institution.

The organization filed just after midnight in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, ending months of speculation that it would take such an action. The filing covers the national organization but excludes its local councils. These entities operate troops and hold about 70% of the organization’s wealth, a Wall Street Journal analysis found.

The Boy Scouts have experienced over a decade of tumult from declining membership, the dissolution of key partnerships, controversy over their decision to allow gay and female members, and scrutiny over the extent to which child predators operated within their ranks.

The Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s oldest and largest youth organizations, filed for bankruptcy protection late Monday as former Scouts’ legal claims of past sexual abuse continue to mount.

The Scouts’ Chapter 11 petition, filed in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, comes amid declining membership and a wave of new sex-abuse lawsuits after several states, including California, New York and New Jersey, recently expanded legal options for childhood victims to sue.

California’s law, AB 218, took effect in January and, among other provisions, opens a three-year “lookback window” for victims to sue for damages on claims previously barred by statutes of limitation. It also relaxes age restrictions on filing claims, giving victims until age 40 or five years after they become aware of injury caused by abuse.

The Northern Star Council said it doesn’t receive money from the national organization for its $21 million budget and is “separately incorporated,” a spokesman said.

Boy Scout leaders in Minnesota say they’ve implemented new child safety policies in the years since sexual abuse allegations surfaced and are moving forward after the national Boy Scouts of America (BSA) filed for bankruptcy Monday in the wake of misconduct settlements across the U.S.

New guidelines established last year require any adult troop or pack leader to complete two hours of online instruction and have a background check every year as part of the Scouts’ mandatory youth protection training.

The national organization doubled its fees for leaders to cover the extra expenses, and volunteers with the Northern Star Council that serves about 54,000 Scouts in Minnesota and Wisconsin said those efforts make the organization stronger.

Facing a wave of lawsuits over allegations of sexual abuse, the Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy.

The long-anticipated Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will allow the Boy Scouts to keep operating as it reorganizes its finances and handles claims from hundreds of potential victims. It will also give alleged victims a limited amount of time to come forward before being barred indefinitely from seeking compensation. “The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children,” Roger Mosby, the president and CEO of the Boy Scouts of America, said in a statement released around 1 a.m. Tuesday. “While we know nothing can undo the tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process — with the proposed Trust structure — will provide equitable compensation to all victims while maintaining the BSA’s important mission.”

Barraged by hundreds of sex-abuse lawsuits, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in hopes of working out a potentially mammoth victim compensation plan that will allow the hallowed, 110-year-old organization to carry on.

The Chapter 11 filing in federal bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware, sets in motion what could be one of the biggest, most complex bankruptcies ever seen. Scores of lawyers are seeking settlements on behalf of several thousand men who say they were molested as scouts by scoutmasters or other leaders decades ago but are only now eligible to sue because of recent changes in their states’ statute-of-limitations laws.

The Boy Scouts of America, rocked by scandal and steadily declining membership, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early Tuesday morning.

The move had been rumored for months, with the BSA facing roughly 300 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by adult volunteers. Still, in a country largely shaped by Boy Scouts, it’s a storyline few would have predicted. Five former U.S. presidents were members. So were the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Its ranks also included tens of thousands of boys sexually abused by adult volunteers, according to an internal review by the organization. But those perpetrators were rarely held responsible.