Growing, healthy teens depend on adults to maintain a safe environment. As an Association of congregations we are constantly finding ways to improve the physical, emotional, and spiritual safety for our youth. Learn the basics here.

Know the Expectations

Know your obligation as a mandatory reporter. Have a conversation with your religious educator or minister about your role in pastoral care for youth. Become familiar with your congregation’s Safe Congregations policy which will outline what you need to do to ensure the safety of the youth you work with. Be familiar with the UUA's recommended practices in youth safety to help keep your congregation's practices up to date.

Covenant for Safe Community

Co-create a covenant with your youth group so people understand and can practice how they aspire to be together. In addition, ask your religious educator or minister for your congregation’s behavioral guidelines and code of ethics to ensure all participants follow rules and understand consequences. (As examples, the UUA uses these participant expectations, adult code of conduct (PDF), and leader code of ethics for their events.)

Presentation: Youth Safety Guidelines

Originally presented March 10, 2020

When we know better, we do better. This presentation came out of the two year process to create UUA wide safety guidelines for all UUA events.

Presentation: Online Youth Safety

Originally presented September 25, 2020

Through the COVID-19 pandemic congregations and the UUA worked to create safer spaces for children and youth online. This presentation covers the major ways to create safer space and ways to consider what platforms to use and how to use them in safer ways.