2 Adults needed for car travel to Stake Dances or other events?

[jgoggan]

Good to have confirmation of what I was told by Risk Management in 2019 (see above).

I am curious -- was there something else referenced before that? I am curious what they are referring to by "here is an excerpt from a Q&A that may be helpful"? I'd like to see that original Q&A -- to have something written somewhere from the Church that states that (outside of responses to individual inquiries). I'd really like to be able to point people to something written by the church (such as the Q&A that they are referring to in their response to you). Do you know what it was? Or did they give a link, by chance?

Thanks!

[BrianEdwards]

I won't suggest that different principles or policies should apply, but the reality is that for those living in areas outside the western States, the issue with travel and rides can be a severe ongoing challenge. As members are often spread out many miles from each other, getting consistent attendance to activities is part of the fun of being a leader. I 100% agree with the Church's emphasis on children and leader safety, and it's our job to be proactive in planning and follow-up. It's just good for everyone to always keep in mind how this impacts the Church "out in the mission field", even if that doesn't change things.

[dmtm1976]

What about when doing ministering assignments.
I have always felt strongly that adults should not be assigned in a companionship with a youth in ministering assignments unless they are family.

[BrianEdwards]

I have always felt strongly that adults should not be assigned in a companionship with a youth in ministering assignments unless they are family.

For reference, the current Handbook 21.2.2 has specific guidance for youth ministering assignments. Reading that entire section, my understanding is that (as appropriate) the Church recognizes the blessings for youth to be assigned to non-parent adults as ministering companions. And that this should be done carefully with full input from the parents, youth, and Bishop. And extra care should always be exercised in any one-on-one situations.

While I understand your perspective and the real concerns we all share, I would consider if there are appropriate ways to follow the guidance in GHB 21.2.2, that might be a blessing in many youth's lives.

[tbishop11]

I was suprised this wasn't added to the mix yet with a handbook reference? So here it is, as of 29 Jun 2022 subject to change...

"A man and a woman should not travel alone together for Church activities, meetings, or assignments unless they are married to each other or are both single."

20. Activities

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... g=eng#p289

[terrysackett]

And I think that is especially true because they include YSAs in that. We have YSAs that drive themselves to events all the time -- or drive together in groups. We've never felt that we needed to have two adults in the car with the YSAs while traveling to a Church event -- only that there would be two adults to supervise once they got there.

YSAs are adults, so the policy doesn’t apply to them (“young single adults”).

[jgoggan]

And I think that is especially true because they include YSAs in that. We have YSAs that drive themselves to events all the time -- or drive together in groups. We've never felt that we needed to have two adults in the car with the YSAs while traveling to a Church event -- only that there would be two adults to supervise once they got there.

YSAs are adults, so the policy doesn’t apply to them.

Ok, so, first, this thread is quite old. The last reply was over a year ago. The reply you are referencing that I made was from over 4 years ago.

Second, I think you lost some context in the discussion here. To be clear, I was actually quoting from Handbook 2 at the time. It said:

"At least two adult supervisors must be present at all Church-sponsored activities attended by children, youth, and young single adults"

It was THE HANDBOOK that said that adults were required for YSAs. So, to just say "they are adults, so the policy doesn't apply to them" when the Handbook literally mentions them specifically seems a bit odd.

I think the context that was lost was that we were talking about something else in that moment. This discussion was originally about driving TO an event and what adults were required. But, along the way, we also started talking about driving while AT an event. So, everything I said above was accurate: when driving TO an event, YSAs don't need an adult because they are adults. That is what I said -- that we have YSAs drive to events all the time or drive together in groups and we've never felt the need to have adults with them, of course.

However, while AT the event, the Handbook was different and specifically says that even YSAs needed supervision by two adults.

Now, all that being said, it is interesting that the Handbook has changed since then. And some references by the Church haven't been updated to line up to it. For example, the "Protecting Children and Youth" training still contains this quote:

"At least two adult supervisors must be present at all Church-sponsored activities attended by children, youth, and young single adults"

And they have updated the reference for that quote to point to the new General Handbook section 20.7.1 instead of the old Handbook 2 reference that actually had that quote. What is interesting to me is that the new Handbook doesn't actually contain that quote any more! It actually says this:

"At least two adults must be present at all Church activities attended by children and youth."

The new Handbook has REMOVED the reference to YSAs in that section.

So, NOW, maybe even the Church agrees that YSAs do not require two other adults to be present. Or maybe they just realized that there already always were adults present at a YSA event. In any case, the old Handbook -- which was current when I wrote that in 2019 -- did include YSAs in the statement. The current one now does not.

[iangfelton]

My query is very specific. I am taking youth to a dance but am struggling to find another adult. However one of the youth is a close family member (also male,16)

Could I still take them to said dance

[BrianEdwards]

Your specific question seems identical to the original question. As you can see from the discussion, nobody has found (even with the new Handbook) any fully-defined policy regarding driving to activities. That said, one of the posts from July 2021, did include this response from the Church (not official, but it did come from a church employee):
"Are we allowed to drive children and youth to and from an activity?
Yes, as long as you have multiple youth or children in your car and you are not in a one on one situation. This may take some extra planning to avoid situations where you have one youth or child left to drop off."

My best suggestion is to do what the Handbook suggests when a specific answer is not provided in the written Handbook, which is to counsel with your immediate presiding authority.