Youth Serving on Team — Do's & Don'ts

For Team Leads, Coaches & Onboarders · Youth Serve Program

Never alone · Always visible · Parent in the loop

📄 Youth Serve Program Policy 🎬 Training Video link coming

Do

Follow the Rule of 2's — be in group settings, or if in a smaller room have at least 2 adults if youth are present. Never just one adult and one youth in a room together
Keep youth in sight of others at all times — open doors, public spaces
Use group chats only, with the parent or an adult Youth Team Member included
Include the parent/guardian in all onboarding comms
Give youth a clear task and keep them included the whole shift
Team Lead confirms each youth leaves safely — back to their parent or on to Youth
Keep contact to side hugs (same gender), high fives and fist bumps
Report any sensitive disclosure to a Coach immediately

Don't

Be 1-on-1 with a youth — breaks the Rule of 2's, no exceptions
Text a youth directly — no one-on-one messages
Send a youth somewhere alone
Drive a youth without confirming parent consent has been provided
Let a Plan to Protect breach slide — fix it on the spot
Count youth in leader-to-kids ratios (Kids/Youth teams)

Onboarding: the same online team signup as everyone else — the form just adds a youth checkbox with parent/guardian contact details, so onboarders include the parent in all onboarding communication.

Under 18 yrs of age

Encouraged to come serve with their parent
Only need to serve 1 service — can go to Youth in the 2nd service
Consent completed over the phone in the initial onboard call: parent approval to serve + photography consent

Kids/Youth teams: application + references · No parent? Youth Leader steps in

Terms: Youth Lead = leader on the Youth Team · Youth Team Member = adult serving on the Youth Team · Youth Serving on Team = youth-age person serving on any team

The Youth Experience

How a youth joining team differs from an adult joining team

Adult

Youth

Signs up via the online team form.

📝1

Same form — just an extra under-18 tick box and dropdown for parent/guardian details (or Youth Leader if no parent).

Form populates a card in the team's workflow in Planning Center.

🗂️2

The Youth Lead is notified a youth has signed up. The Onboarder notices the flag and sees this is a youth-age person signing up to team.

Initial call with the new team member.

📞3

The Onboarder reaches out in a group text — including the kid if they have a phone — for written consent from the parent: approval to serve + photography consent.

Rostered into their team position.

🗓️4

Rostered into a dedicated Youth Position under each team.

Typically serves more than one service.

🤝5

Youth are expected to serve 1 service and attend the Sunday youth group gathering.

🎓 Training: 📋 Do's & Don'ts + 🎬 Training Video + 📱 QR link to confirm they've seen the do's and don'ts — included in all Leader Training.

Onboarding Section

For Kids Department & Inroads workflow builders · youth block added to every team's signup form

Added to the bottom of each team's existing signup form

✓ I am under 18 (youth signup)

Appears only when checked ↑

Date of birth

DD / MM / YYYY

Parent / Guardian name

Enter parent or guardian name

Parent / Guardian phone & email

Enter contact details

✓ I don't have a parent/guardian who can be contacted

Appears only when checked ↑ — parent fields hide

Your Youth Leader's name

e.g. the leader of your youth group

Workflow logic on submission

Youth checkbox ticked → mark as youth in Planning Center and start the onboarding group chat (parent + youth + onboarder + team lead).
Flag caught → the Inroad Lead makes sure the card is assigned to the designated Youth Onboarder at that location — the Youth Onboarder completes the initial call and all remaining steps.
DOB under 16 → parent included in all comms; consent approved over the phone in the initial onboard call with the parent.
No-parent option ticked → onboarder verifies with the named Youth Leader first, then the Youth Leader joins the group chat in the parent's place.
Team member confirmation → every team member completes the Read & Agree form confirming they've read the Youth Serve Program Policy.
Update needed → parent consent is given at the Initial Call step of the workflow. The Initial Call step description must be updated on all initial call steps to reflect this.

Action Plan

Who's doing what to launch youth onboarding

Ajibola

Update the Initial Call step description on all team workflows, including a note about calling for consent:

Parent approves to serve
Photography consent

Wura

Test and update all flows so a youth signing up is flagged clearly — checkbox and extra fields added to team signups.

All trainings

Training Video + Do's & Don'ts one-pager + link to the Read & Agree form to be included in all leader, onboarder and coach trainings.

Ajibola to include in the Onboarder training slides

Tania

Update the name of the Support position in Services to Support/Youth Support. Talk to Jeff about updating the templates.

Sarah Hardy

Create the video training.

Write the group text template for the initial call step

Note

Can a designated Youth Lead at each location be notified when a youth signs up?

Comms

Put the Do's & Don'ts youth one-pager training slide through our branding, and the same with Sarah's policy.