Youth Commission Handbook

By David L. Srebnick
September 2004

• Who is this guide for?
• What is a Youth Commission?
• Appendix – Useful Information
• Staff Behavior Guidelines
• Glossary

Who is this guide for?

This is a guide for the synagogue Youth Commission, both members and chairs. We hope that it will provide information that will help you:

• form a Youth Commission, if you don’t have one,
• orient new members and new chairs to their job responsibilities, and
• hire and manage youth advisors and youth director.

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What is a Youth Commission?

In a United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) congregation, a Youth Commission is a committee of lay people, frequently chartered by a synagogue’s constitution or board of directors, tasked with overseeing the operation of the USY and Kadima programs. It ensures that the youth program is funded, staffed and supported. Specific priorities and responsibilities vary from congregation to congregation and may include:

• setting vision, mission, goals and direction for the youth program,
• hiring, supervising and evaluating staff (advisors, youth director),
• representing the interests of the youth program at synagogue board meetings, to other arms of the synagogue, and to the synagogue membership,
• securing funding for salaries and programs,
• supporting the youth staff by raising money or providing volunteer or chaperon support,
• and establishing and enforcing policies for the youth program.

The chair of the Youth Commission is usually appointed by the synagogue’s president, and usually serves on the synagogue’s board of directors.

In some communities, a Youth Commission is called a “Youth Committee.” For this guide, we’ll assume that these terms are synonymous, and we’ll use “Youth Commission” throughout.

Structure – Chapter, Region, International

USY chapters are grouped into regions. As of this writing there are 17 regions encompassing the US and Canada. Each region has a Regional Youth Commission Chair (or two co-chairs), and a Regional Youth Commission. The Regional Youth Commission is composed of the chapter youth chairs, and other members that the chairs may appoint. The role of the Regional Youth Commission is to guide the Regional USY program, set and enforce regional policy, and serve as a resource to youth chairs in their region.

Each of the Regional Youth Commission Chairs serves on the Council of Regional Youth Commission Chairs. The Council serves as a steering committee for the International Youth Commission. The International Youth Commission members are all the Regional Youth Commission Chairs, plus lay leaders dedicated to Jewish youth. The International Youth Commission is responsible for guiding programming, and setting policy for all of USY at international events and, to a lesser extent, regional events.

Who’s on the Youth Commission?

The members of the Youth Commission are appointed by the Youth Commission Chair(s). They may have a variety of skills and backgrounds, but share a commitment to provide the informal, experiential, social and religious Jewish experience that teens can only have in USY/Kadima.

It is a good idea to have a few parents of USY and Kadima members on the Youth Commission, and some without children in the programs. Those with children in USY/Kadima have first-hand information about the effectiveness of the program. Those without children can provide different perspectives and add a level of objectivity in decision-making. Other people to seek out are:

• professional educators and youth workers who have experience in dealing with these age groups
• parents whose children have already been through the youth program
• those with interest in youth programming
• those with skills, such as publicity, public relations, finance, sports, drama/music, etc.
• USY alumni

The USYer who is president of the USY board should be a member of the Youth Commission.

It is helpful to have representatives from other committees, such as Men’s Club, Sisterhood, School/Education or Family Education.

The youth professional(s) should attend and participate in meetings, but do not have a vote on the Youth Commission, that is, they are ex officio. You may also include your synagogue’s rabbi, cantor, and education director on the Youth Commission (ex officio) as well.

More about the specific responsibilities

Vision, Mission, Goals and Direction

Arguably one of the most important jobs of the Youth Commission is the setting of the direction for the youth program. On a certain level, each youth program is different, and each Youth Commission should have goals and priorities tailored to its specific needs. At a minimum, the Youth Commission should have guidelines for programming to ensure that it is well balanced, containing, for example, religious, education, social action, fund-raising, athletic, cultural and social components.

The Youth Commission should develop and agree on a vision, mission and goals for the youth program.

• Vision: What do you want the future to be? A good vision statement describes what you want the youth program to look like or be like when it’s running well. It is a long-term statement, forward looking and, if well-written, should be valid for years to come. You should be able to express your vision in a short sentence, ten words or less. Some possible vision statements:
  • Youth experiencing Conservative Judaism. This demonstrates a clear focus on “experiential” learning.
  • Connecting Jewish youth. This shows that what is most important is building social connections between Jewish teens.
  • Integrating Jewish youth into our community. A youth program with this vision will find ways to include its teens in the activities of the synagogue.
• Mission: What is the purpose of the Youth Program? This answers the questions, what do we do, for whom do we do it. In this case, “we” refers to the Youth Commission and the Youth Staff. Again, the shorter the mission statement, the better. Some possible mission statements:
  • Congregation (name) USY/Kadima will provide a variety of programs that enable each of our teens to find a comfortable affiliation point to USY. This mission stresses variety of programs and a d esire to have everyone find something to participate in. Programs might include study, community service, sports, or arts.
  • Temple (name) USY/Kadima will provide a way for teens to learn about and experience different mitzvot, and incorporate them into their daily lives. This mission stresses Jewish content in all (or most) activities. Here, the focus might be on things like study, worship, social action, tzedakah, and even Judaic arts, rather than on purely social or secular activities.
• Goals: What is the Youth Program trying to accomplish? This is stated in broad terms, and is more timeless than specific objectives. Unlike the vision and mission statement, you will probably have several different goals. Some possible goals:
  • Focus Kadima activities on post-B’nai Mitzvah retention.
  • Ensure that leadership training for potential leaders takes place each year.
  • Increase attendance at weekly and Shabbat worship by creating a strong teen community.
  • Incorporate USY/Kadima activities into synagogue-wide events.

What vs. How

Notice that the vision, mission and goals focus on “what” needs to be done. The “what” (that is the long-term goals) is the responsibility of the Youth Commission. The job of the youth staff is to figure out “how” to do what needs to be done, and then to do it. The youth staff develops the strategy and tactics for achieving the broad goals, and sets shortterm objectives for achieving those goals.

As an example, consider the goal above “Focus... on post-B’nai Mitzvah retention.” That goal describes what needs to be done: keep kids involved. It is the Youth Commission’s job to set the goal and make it a priority for the youth staff. The youth staff will figure out how to keep kids involved, and will implement programs to do it.

The vision/mission/goal content and the amount of time you spend on developing it depend on the size and level of experience of your Youth Commission, as well as the state of the youth program itself. Here are some examples of different ways to approach this effort.

Just getting started.

I am the Youth Commission chair at Temple Hadash, a small, growing synagogue of about 150 family members. We have a number of families with USY- and Kadimaage children, and we want to start a youth program to help keep them engaged.

The president of the synagogue asked me to provide the lay leadership necessary to get a youth program started. I was able to find two other congregants who were willing to help me out, and together we formed the first Youth Commission. I scheduled a meeting to talk about what we wanted to do, and figure out how to get started.

After talking for a while, we determined that our priority was to create a community. We wanted our kids to be able to meet each other and wanted to find a way to keep them interested in being Jewish. Having been in USY ourselves, we knew that connecting the kids to regional events was important, too. It was at those events that our best memories were created.

Next, we talked about what we need to do and what is most important. We knew that we would have limited resources, and that getting someone to staff the youth program wouldn’t be easy. And we knew that if we didn’t focus our efforts carefully, we were likely to fail. We talked about many different ways to get things going, but didn’t have enough time to agree on what we needed to do.

When the meeting was over, at home, I tried to capture our thoughts in a few key statements to give us something to focus on for the next meeting. I think that what we were most interested in is building a youth community (vision) at Temple Hadash.

Most of the time at the meeting was spent talking about how to get started. We lamented the fact that it would not be easy to get staff, and that getting funding to pay advisors a meaningful salary would be difficult. And there were some in the synagogue who didn’t see the value of doing this at all.

I decided that our priority (goal) for the first year should be to focus on getting a Kadima program (7th to 8th grade) up and running. I think that we could probably get $1,000 or $2,000 from the synagogue to hire an advisor who is willing to plan four events this year, and start a bi-annual retreat program for 7th-8th graders within the next year or two years (objectives).

After sharing these at the next meeting, we agreed on how we would move forward. Then, we talked about how the new Youth Commission would support the advisor, when we found him or her. I suggested that our role in this process should be to advertise the program in the adult community to build support for it, secure funding from the board, and provide a youth staff as our primary mission at this point.

Summary: This Youth Commission doesn’t really have a vision yet, but has a mission (get the youth program started) and a goal (start with Kadima).

Ongoing program:

Temple Atid had a successful USY/Kadima program for many years. Recently, participation has dropped. As Youth Commission Chair, I believe that we need to refocus our efforts in youth programming to revitalize the chapter.

A friend of mine is a business consultant who specializes in group facilitation. She agreed to help me facilitate a few meetings to discuss our vision, mission and goals.

We scheduled the first of these Youth Commission meetings at a time when we knew that the rabbi would be able to attend.

The first thing we did was ask people to think individually about how they picture a successful USY/Kadima program. We had people discuss their thoughts in small groups, and then share them with the whole Youth Commission.

Next, we did an exercise that helped us figure out what we felt was important in our Youth Program. We wrestled with issues such as:

• the importance of numbers (membership and participation rate)
• Judaic and educational content vs. social content
• chapter vs. region, that is, is it more important to build strong participation in regional events at the expense of local programming, or do we want to do more local programming at the expense of participation in regional events?
• parental involvement and commitment

After that meeting, I reviewed my notes and, together with my business consultant friend, wrote a vision statement and mission statement that we thought reflected our discussion. I asked our youth director to brainstorm a list of goals relating to our discussions that we could implement over the next few years.

At the next meeting, we were able to agree on a vision and mission statement. We reviewed the list of goals that our youth director wrote and picked the three or four that we thought were most important.

Next, I sat down with our youth director and talked about how the Youth Commission could help achieve these goals.

Staff – Hiring

The Youth Commission is responsible for staffing the youth program. This means deciding what staff is needed, and participating in the hiring process.

How you staff your youth program depends on many factors that will be discussed in the Staffing Models and Supervision section below. Here are some scenarios that illustrate the Youth Commission’s role in the hiring process. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

Scenario 1: The youth program is staffed by two part-time advisors. The Youth Commission is directly responsible for interviewing and hiring these advisors.

Scenario 2: The youth program is staffed by a full-time youth director and one part-time advisor. The youth director’s job is to oversee the USY/Kadima program, serve as USY advisor, and hire and supervise a part-time person as Kadima advisor. The Youth Commission participates in the hiring process for the youth director together with the synagogue’s personnel committee, and possibly the education director. The youth director hires the Kadima advisor with Youth Commission approval.

Scenario 3: The youth program is staffed by a full-time person (youth educator), and two part-time advisors. The youth educator splits her time between teaching in the Hebrew school and being USY/Kadima youth director. The youth educator is formally supervised by the education director. The youth director portion of the job involves supervising a part-time USYadvisor and part-time Kadima advisor. The Youth Commission and the School Committee (and possibly the personnel committee, the education director, and the rabbi) collaborate in hiring the youth director. The youth director hires the USY and Kadima advisors with Youth Commission approval.

The Youth Commission maintains a job description for each position so that each staff member knows what is expected. The Youth Commission should also be involved in evaluating the performance of the youth staff based on the job description and goals, and in communicating the results of the evaluation.

Finding Candidates

Where you look for staff when you need to hire is dependent on where your synagogue is located. Some synagogues have many resources nearby, and others are more isolated. Here are some ideas for recruiting staff:

• Place an ad in local Jewish newspapers.
• Contact the Hillel at nearby colleges
• Take out an ad in a local college newspaper
• Ask your regional director to contact other regional directors to see if they know of people who will be relocating to your area.
• Contact the Jewish Youth Directors Association (JYDA)

Staffing Models and Supervision

There are many different staffing models that can be used for a USY/Kadima program. Yours will depend on a number of factors, including funding, size of congregation, size of youth community, and availability of appropriate staff. It is useful to think about staff first in terms of what the roles are, then how they might be filled.

1. Youth Director: This person is responsible for hiring, training and managing advisors and for directing the USY/Kadima programs. She may be responsible for managing the youth budget and for supporting the advisors by taking on some administrative responsibility.
2. Advisor: This person is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a USY chapter or a Kadima chapter. This involves planning and running programs and working directly with kids.
3. Youth Educator: As of this writing the concept of a youth educator is new, and is gaining visibility in some of the larger Jewish communities. A youth educator has the responsibilities of a youth director, but also brings skills that expand that role. See “The Youth Educator” below for more information.

Some synagogues have a full-time youth director or youth educator, and one or more fullor part-time staff to serve as advisors to run the USY/Kadima chapters. For a variety of reasons such as budget, size of the youth program or availability of qualified staff, other synagogues distribute responsibility among available professional and lay staff in different ways.

The chart below illustrates some of the alternatives. The first row summarizes the roles of the Youth Commission, youth director and advisor based on the general descriptions above. Each row below that shows how those responsibilities might be distributed among existing volunteer and paid staff.

	Youth Commission Role	Youth Director/Educator Role	Advisor Role
Roles & Responsibilities	Vision/mission/goals Hiring youth director Represent youth to synagogue Funding Establish/enforce policy	Hiring and supervising advisors Managing youth budget Program administration	Day-to-day running of one chapter (USY or Kadima) Direct contact with youth Planning and running programs
Start-up	One or more volunteers may serve as Youth Commission, youth director, and perhaps even share the advisor role with a part-time person. Youth Commission is responsible for building a new USY/Kadima program		Part-time advisor.
Small program	Youth Commission fills Youth Commission Role, as well as youth director role.		Two part-time advisors (Kadima and USY) run program day-to-day.
Medium program	Youth Commission	Part-time youth director also serves as USY advisor	Part-time Kadima Advisor
Large program	Youth Commission	Full-time youth director also serves as USY advisor	Two full-time employees of synagogue run Kadima and pre-Kadima programs
Large program (2)	Youth Commission	Youth director supervises chapter advisors.	Two of synagogue’s full-time staff run a USY and Kadima chapter.

Here are three scenarios selected from the table above to help you understand possible models for staffing your youth program.

Small program. Temple Mishkan Katan is a small congregation, about 150 families. We have about 15 Kadima kids and about 20 USY kids total. We have two part-time advisors, both of whom are attending a college nearby. The USY advisor runs one program and one board meeting per month, and must chaperon the kids to several regional events. The Kadima advisor runs one event per month, and must chaperon the kids to the two regional events per year.

The Youth Commission supervises the advisors and manages the budget. One Youth Commission member serves as an interface to the synagogue, arranging for rooms, doing calendar clearance, and occasionally making telephone calls to help solicit chaperons and drivers for local events.

Medium-sized program. Congregation Midi-Um has about 300 families. We have about 25 Kadima kids and 45 potential USY members. We were able to find a part-time (about 15 hours per week) person who could serve as youth director and USY advisor. The youth director hired and supervises a very part-time Kadima advisor. In addition to planning and running USY events, conducting board meetings, and chaperoning regional events, the youth director provides some administrative help to the Kadima advisor.

Large program. Temple Gadol is located in a metropolitan area with a strong Jewish population. We have a Senior USY for grades 9-12, a Kadima program for grades 7-8 and a pre-Kadima program for grades 5-6. There are about 50 pre-Kadima-age kids, 50in Kadima, and over 100 potential USYers.

We are fortunate to have been able to partner with the Hebrew school to create some fulltime and nearly full-time positions for our advisors. One of our full-time employees serves as youth director and USY advisor. The Kadima advisor is also full time, spending about 25% of his time as advisor, and the other 75% teaching in the Hebrew school. The pre-Kadima advisor is a part-time person who also teaches one class in the Hebrew school.

The youth director manages the entire youth program. She manages the Kadima and pre-Kadima advisors in connection with USY/Kadima programming. She manages the youth budget and finances (except for salaries). She meets regularly with the advisors to discuss program ideas and coordinate calendars. She also attends synagogue staff meetings (with the rabbi, education director and family educator) to integrate youth programming into the general synagogue community.

The Youth Educator

Jewish communal workers and Jewish federations now see the need to expand and professionalize the role of youth worker. Youth educators, as they are called, are professionals learning to serve Jewish teens in new ways.

Graduate-level degrees in informal Jewish education are now available to train youth educators for an expanded role in synagogue life. Coursework and training includes leadership and organizational skills, child/teen development, and Judaic content. In addition to the traditional youth director responsibilities, a youth educator may:

• develop new and innovative informal education activities to strengthen Jewish identity and attachment to Israel,
• create exciting learning opportunities that teens will want fit into their already busy lives,
• counsel teens on how to prepare for Jewish life after high school, helping them learn about Jewish life on the college campus and select colleges that fit their Jewish, as well as academic, needs,
• help pre-teens and teens learn about educational opportunities and encourage them to participate in activities such as Hebrew high schools, drama and arts programs, school-year programs (such as USY High and Hechalutzim Seminar), summer programs (such as USY Pilgrimage and USY on Wheels), and summer camps, and
• be a point of contact for teens needing spiritual or emotional guidance.

Staff Orientation, Development and Retention

The Youth Commission should ensure that these needs are taken care of:

• Welcome: If your youth staff is new, make sure that they are properly welcomed into the community and have help settling in. Arrange for a Shabbat meal; introduce them to professional leaders, lay leaders, and the congregation; link them with contacts for housing; tell them where to shop for groceries. These are examples of things you can do to make the transition easier.
• Orientation: The staff should receive appropriate training on synagogue processes, contacts, important activities and meetings, etc. Arranging to have the youth staff meet with the synagogue’s executive director or administrator is a good idea.
• Development: Encourage youth staff to participate in career development activities, to take classes, and to join professional organizations such as the Jewish Youth Directors Association (JYDA). Identify opportunities for career growth within the synagogue if possible, and support preparing them for added responsibility.
• Retention: Basically, make sure that your staff is happy. They should be fairly paid. They should feel valued and recognized for their contributions. They should have the support they need from the Youth Commission and from the synagogue staff to do their jobs effectively. Help them avoid burnout, and allow them to have a personal life outside of work.

Representing Youth to the Synagogue Community

Getting the Word Out. One important aspect of ensuring continued support for your youth program is to publicize it. In the adult community, it is the Youth Commission’s responsibility to do that.

Keep the synagogue’s board of directors informed as to the plans, programs and successes of your USY and Kadima chapters. Make sure that you get a few minutes at each board meeting to report. The report doesn’t have to be long or detailed; a few minutes should be enough to talk about the highlights. Here are some things that boards might like to hear about:

• increase in membership
• successful program or fund-raiser
• exciting or new program that’s coming up; future plans
• awards, a member elected to regional office or regional board
• thank-you for support (financial, time)

To ensure that the board continues to support the youth program from year to year with funding, staff and use of facilities, make sure that you are involved in or represented in the annual budgeting process, and that requests for additional funds are presented and well justified.

If your Youth Commission or USY/Kadima chapters conduct fund-raisers, especially if they are synagogue-wide, be sure to coordinate timing and content of those events with other synagogue constituencies to help avoid conflicts. Mention these types of events at board meetings or to key committee chairs.

In some synagogues, the Sisterhood or Men’s Club contributes funds to the youth program. If so, try to communicate with them regularly as you would to the board. Get a member of the Sisterhood or Men’s Club board to serve on your Youth Commission, or assign a liaison to attend meetings.

It is also important to have a link to the general membership. A monthly youth calendar or article in the synagogue’s bulletin, or pulpit announcements read at Shabbat services (perhaps by the USY president) are good ways of communicating. The Youth Commission should ensure that this type of communication happens, and should help set up the infrastructure for doing it if needed. The youth staff or USYers should supply content as needed.

You may wish to consider calling parents directly, or holding an “open Youth Commission meeting” during which you answer questions about the youth program, have presentations about local, regional and international programs, and sell your product. Your agenda might include the following:

• An overview of regional programs such as Spring Convention, Encampment
• A talk by a USYer about his/her experience at a regional event, possibly including pictures.
• Descriptions of USY summer programs that are available. Have a parent who sent a child on one of these programs talk about the impact it had.
• A video on summer programs or International Convention (available from the International USY office).
• A visit by your regional director to your meeting to talk and answer questions.

If you are going to have a USYer talk about an event, try to schedule the parents’ meeting as soon after the event as possible. That way, the USYer’s level of enthusiasm will still be very high and will surely enhance the presentation.

Another effective way of getting the word out is to solicit adult volunteers to help at USY/Kadima events. Your youth staff may do this already by asking parents to drive or chaperon. As a Youth Commission, try to extend that by ensuring that key board members visit, attend or chaperon events too.

Getting Feedback. With all that “getting the word out,” you’ve got to expect some words coming back in. Some will want to tell you what a wonderful time their daughter had at the last USY event, but there are also those who have problems or complaints. It is part of the Youth Commission’s job to receive feedback and act on it as necessary.

For more information, see the chapter “Dealing with Feedback.”

Advocating for Youth Professionals. In synagogues with full-time youth staff, the Youth Commission needs to ensure that youth directors or youth educators are treated as professionals in their own right. They should be recognized as members of the synagogue’s staff on a par with, for example, the education director or family educator. They should be eligible for participation in career growth activities such as development seminars and professional organizations.

Funding and Fund-raising

It goes without saying that youth programs need funding. You need to pay staff, mail flyers, run programs. It is also highly desirable to provide subsidies for regional and international programs which are important, but can be costly. Funds may come from one or more of these sources:

• Synagogue operating budget
• Sisterhood, Men’s Club, or other arms of the synagogue
• Youth commission fund-raisers
• Donations to the youth program by congregants for a simcha or commemoration
• Grants from the Federation or other charitable organizations
• Youth dues
• Program fees
• Youth fund-raisers

The congregational budget should have the youth program as a line-item. The youth program will have a more detailed budget that supports this line-item, and is used to plan for and manage day-to-day operations. Information on putting a youth budget together can be found in the chapter entitled “Putting Together a Budget.”

Ideally, the Youth Commission is responsible for setting the youth budget and securing funds from the synagogue. The youth staff is responsible for setting and managing chapter dues and program fees, and managing the budget. In practice, responsibilities of Youth Commission and youth staff vary based on the capabilities of the staff and the size of the budget.

Salaries should be paid directly by the synagogue to ensure proper tracking and accounting.

In communities where federations or other charitable organizations make grants available to youth programs, the Youth Commission, youth staff and professional staff of the synagogue should partner to identify and apply for them.

Youth scholarships and subsidies can come from the youth operating budget, but the Youth Commission can also work with the synagogue board to create specific scholarship funds and endowments.

USY chapters usually have a separate bank account. The Youth Commission is responsible for this account. Income from the USY program is deposited directly into this account, and checks are written from it for program expenses. The youth staff may be authorized to sign checks from this account. If the USY chapter has a treasurer, that USYer may take some responsibility for the account under appropriate adult supervision.

Policy

Policy-making is a very important part of the responsibility of a Youth Commission. Policies:

• set norms for eligibility and participation,
• determine who is eligible for and who may receive scholarships and subsidies,
• ensure safety of youth and staff at events,
• define consequences for breaches of policy, discipline problems,
• define behavioral and religious norms,
• protect the synagogue and staff by defining and managing liability.

Most mature USY programs have developed ad hoc policies and norms over the years. Ideally they should be written down, but in some cases they’re not. It’s likely that they are known among the youth community because they have been in use for so long.

USY chapters have developed policies and norms for many issues, including:

• For what events is a permission slip required? What happens if a USYer doesn’t have one?
• How should the permission slip be worded?
• May USYers drive to/from local events? Can the USY staff drive USYers to/from local events? Can USYers drive other USYers?
• How will scholarship/subsidy money be divided among those who need it?
• What is the refund policy?
• Must a child’s family join the synagogue in order for the child to join USY/Kadima?
• What happens if a USYer brings drugs or alcohol to an event?
• How is inappropriate or unsafe behavior handled at an event?

Even when policies are well-defined, there are unforeseen circumstances. When there are, the youth chair or Youth Commission must decide what to do.

When determining policy for legal and insurance issues, it is recommended that you do so together with the synagogue’s legal counsel.

Youth programs typically use a variety of forms to collect emergency information and obtain consent for participation. These include:

• A USY/Kadima membership application, filled out when the USYer joins the chapter. Information to solicit: name, address, phone number, e-mail, AOL Instant Messenger name, parents’ names, emergency contacts and phone numbers, special needs (diet, medical), parental consent and signature.
• Permission slips for off-site events. Information to include/solicit: description of the event, including its location; USYer’s name, address, phone number(s), parental consent and signature.
• Special applications and medical consent forms for overnight events. Information to include/solicit: all information on permission slip, medical information, insurance numbers, medical release form, emergency contacts, signatures.

Samples of these forms can be obtained through your USY regional director. He/she can share forms in use by the region, or direct you to a chapter in your region that can help you out.

Regional and International Activities

Local Youth Commission Responsibilities

Participation in regional and international USY and Kadima programs and activities is a critical part of every local USY/Kadima program.

Regional and international activities are very exciting to teenagers because they get to meet new people, make new friends, and be with a peer group that they have lots in common with. They find out what other chapters and regions are doing, and get ideas for things they can do locally to draw in more members. Friends are the people that motivate a teenager’s continued participation in USY/Kadima.

There are other benefits to attending regional and international activities:

• Chapter officers can meet their counterparts on the regional board and in other chapters and learn how to do their jobs.
• There are study sessions on topics of interest to Jewish teens, and opportunities to experience Jewish living in a unique, fun and supportive way.
• USYers can learn about the exciting USY summer programs available.
• Advisors who attend get to network with other advisors and exchange programs and ideas.

In order for a region to be able to run programs it needs the support of the chapters. Well in advance of events, regional directors send out information and applications to youth staff. Youth staff needs to create flyers (or modify samples that some directors provide), send them to the chapter, and publicize the event. USYers often register for programs through their advisors who must sign their applications and forward them along with checks to the region. Youth staff is also expected to follow up and encourage chapter members to enroll and pay on time, and to forward checks and registration information to the regional office within deadlines.

For many events, the region requires that the local chapter send sufficient staff to serve as chaperons. The regions often specify a staff to USYer ratio that must be maintained, often 1:8 or 1:10. The chapter is expected to solicit appropriate staff, cover registration fees (if any) and provide transportation to and from the event if necessary.

Youth directors and advisors need to fill out membership forms and send them to the region on a timely basis along with regional and international dues. Only registered members may attend events such as regional conventions, dances, encampments, and International Convention. USY/Kadima members receive a subscription to an internationally published magazine specifically for USY or Kadima.

Many regions offer scholarships or subsidies for regional and international programs. The region will periodically send out notices about these scholarships, along with requirements and deadlines. Youth staff is expected to publicize these, and sometimes to recommend specific USYers for certain programs or scholarships.

The youth staff is also expected to publicize and encourage participation in International USY programs, such as USY on Wheels, USY Pilgrimage, Nativ, and USY High. They can learn about these programs through mailings from their regions, at the USY web site, or from their regions. Youth staff can be the key to encouraging participation in these events. USYers who attend these programs usually come back energized and committed to USY. There are few better ways to inspire dedicated USYers in your chapters.

The Youth Commission needs to ensure that the youth staff fulfills its responsibility to the region. If not, you may receive a call or note from the Regional Youth Director or Youth Commission Chair to ask for follow-up.

Regional Responsibilities

As mentioned earlier, each region has a Regional Youth Commission chair, and a Regional Youth Director. In addition to running programs, these people are there to help local chapters. They can help solve problems in your chapter, give advice in dealing with situations that arise. They can help make decisions about writing and enforcing policies and give you information about norms and activities in other chapters in the region.

View your Regional Youth Commission and Regional Youth Director as resources to your congregation, and keep in touch with them.

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Appendix – Useful Information

Meeting Agenda

Here is a sample agenda for a Youth Commission meeting.

1. Welcome/Introductions (new members)
2. D’var Torah
3. Review and approve minutes from previous meeting
4. USY/Kadima Reports (past events, future plans)
   1. USY (by USY board member, or staff)
   2. Kadima
5. Review Youth Commission planning calendar – look forward 3-6 months to see what events will require Youth Commission planning.
   1. Do you need to begin planning for an event?
   2. Will you need volunteers?
6. Old Business (items that you discussed at the last meeting that need more discussion).
7. New business
8. Good & Welfare

Putting together a budget

This section describes what a detailed youth budget might contain. This budget supports the line item on the synagogue’s budget.

Income

Here is a list of income items that may appear on your budget:

1. Synagogue: This is the money that the synagogue allocates for USY/Kadima
2. Men’s Club/Sisterhood: Money donated by Men’s Club/Sisterhood
3. Dues: This includes all local, regional and international dues collected by the chapter. Local dues are set by the chapter, whereas regional and international dues are set by the Regional and International Youth Commissions. Total chapter dues should include all three amounts. Money collected for regional and international USY/Kadima dues is sent to the Regional Office and appears as an expense. As of this writing, international dues for USY are $12/year, and Kadima $6/year. Regional dues are set by the individual regions and may vary.
4. Program fees: Fees charged directly to USYers for programs
5. Auxiliary program fees: Some regions have a sports program in which chapters sponsor teams that compete in a regional league. Participants are often charged a special fee to offset program-specific costs.
6. Youth fund-raisers: An estimate of how much will be raised at specific youth fund-raisers. Funds may be used directly by the chapter, or may be donated to the International USY Tikun Olam tzedakah fund.
7. Youth Commission fund-raisers: Funds raised directly by the Youth Commission.
8. Grants: from federations or other outside organizations
9. Interest on checking/savings account

Expenses

1. Salaries/taxes/benefits: May be anything from a stipend for part-time staff to a full-time salary with a benefits package.
2. Professional development: Conference fee and travel expenses for youth staff to attend JYDA (Jewish Youth Directors Association) or other professional conferences. May also be used to subsidize courses at local universities.
3. Professional memberships: Dues for organizations such as JYDA.
4. Transportation (buses for events): Some synagogues separately track costs for transportation to and from local and regional events.
5. Program: Cost directly connected to USY/Kadima programs. This may include entrance fees to attractions, materials/supplies, honoraria, etc.
6. Office: postage, telephone, copy
7. Auxiliary program expenses: See “Auxiliary program fees” above.
8. Scholarships/subsidies: Funds distributed to subsidize the cost of programs. Often, this is used to help with the more expensive regional conventions and USY summer programs and International Convention.
9. Regional/international dues: Money collected with dues (see above) for regional and international USY dues.
10. Tikun Olam: Optional donation to the Tikun Olam tzedakah fund.
11. Bank fees: Fees associated with USY bank account.

Budget Worksheet

The following worksheet lists the major budget items and will help get your planning started. It is designed to be used by the Youth Commission and to the youth staff to plan and manage the youth budget. Following this worksheet is a summary budget designed to be submitted to a synagogue finance committee.

Income
Synagogue
	Youth budget		_____________________
	Men's club		_____________________
	Sisterhood		_____________________
	Syn. total	_____________________
Dues
	Local		_____________________
	Reg/Int		_____________________
	Dues total	_____________________
Program Fee		_____________________
Aux. Program Fee		_____________________
Youth Fundraising		_____________________
Y/Comm Fundraising		_____________________
Grants		_____________________
	Total Income	_____________________

Expense
Salaries/Benefits
	Youth Dir.		_____________________
	USY Adv.		_____________________
	Jr. USY Adv.		_____________________
	Kadima Adv.		_____________________
	Sal/Ben total	_____________________
Professional
	Memberships		_____________________
	Development		_____________________
	Total Prof.	_____________________
Reg/Int Dues		_____________________
Programming
	Office		_____________________
	Transportation		_____________________
	Materials		_____________________
	Food		_____________________
	Other		_____________________
	Prog. total	_____________________
Aux. Program		_____________________
	Total Expense	_____________________

Summary Budget

Income
Synagogue
	Youth budget		_____________________
	Men's club		_____________________
	Sisterhood		_____________________
	Syn. total	_____________________
Dues		_____________________
Program income		_____________________
Fundraising		_____________________
Grants		_____________________
	Total Income	_____________________
Expense
Salaries/Benefits		_____________________
Professional Dev/Memb		_____________________
Program Expense		_____________________
Reg/Int. Dues		_____________________
	Total Expense	_____________________

Youth Commission Fund Raisers

Some ideas for Youth Commission fund-raisers:

• Car wash
• Direct mail solicitation
• Donations for specific events or needs (such as a special program, furniture for a youth lounge)
• Serve and sell food at synagogue Purim carnival
• Sell gift cards or certificates for local grocery stores. Some stores will sell you “gift” certificates at a discount off of face value. You sell them at full value, and the buyer can redeem them at face value at the store.
• Sell “Entertainment Books” (they contain discount coupons for local establishments)
• Bagel sale (especially at Sunday morning Hebrew school or other events)

Direct Billing for USY/Kadima Membership

It has long been the practice for USY/Kadima chapters to have their own membership and collections process. Potential members are solicited directly by the youth staff. Each year there are mailings (with advertisements and membership applications) and programs designed to attract new members and retain existing ones.

Many congregations have found that “direct billing” can increase membership and dues collection.

Ideally, direct billing is integrated into the synagogue’s membership process. The synagogue’s membership form has a place to list eligible children’s names. USY/Kadima dues are automatically added to the family’s dues commitment and paid along with regular dues and fees to the synagogue, and then transferred to the USY account. In this way, every single eligible child can be identified and signed up, and then contacted to encourage participation in events.

Where this is not possible, there are alternatives. Some synagogues leave space on the membership application for optionally listing names and committing to dues. Others enclose a separate USY/Kadima bill with the membership forms. Still others mail a USY/Kadima membership form and bill directly to parents.

No matter how it’s done, it has the potential of improving the USY program. Dues collection will be higher. The money will come in sooner, and will require little if any effort from the youth staff to collect. The increased revenue can be used to increase participation by funding outreach programs, or reducing the cost of programs. Parents who pay dues for their kids might encourage their participation more.

One of the most common objections to direct billing is that you’re really only increasing membership on paper. Perhaps. But, do synagogues only accept membership dues from families who will be active? Do they refuse dues money from inactive members?

How to implement direct billing

The USY International Board and your USY Regional Board all have heard about direct billing and may approach the Youth Commission about implementing it in their synagogue. There is a wonderful USY Direct Billing Handbook available on the USY web site. The information is exceptionally well presented and will tell you all you need to know.

Your USYers, though, will need some support from the Youth Commission before making their board presentation (as described in the handbook). You’ll need to help them by doing some homework and getting information and approval from several people in the synagogue. The more information you have, the more questions you can answer, and the more people you have on your side going into the board meeting, the better the chances of implementing direct billing.

Use the direct billing guide to familiarize yourself with direct billing. Prepare your answers to the questions and especially the objections that people might have. Then, do your homework:

• Talk to the bookkeeper. Find out if direct USY membership billing can be integrated with synagogue’s accounting process. From your standpoint as a Youth Commission, you need to make sure that dues money will get into the USY account as soon as it’s paid. In some synagogues, money paid to a congregant’s bill gets applied first to synagogue dues, then to other commitments.
• Talk to the executive director and the membership committee. Solicit their support.
• Get a copy of the synagogue application and design some changes that will be simple to use.
• Talk to the synagogue president and solicit his/her support.

In the process of talking to these folks, you may find that you don’t even need board approval to do this.

If you need board approval, prepare a presentation based on the information in the USY Direct Billing guide. By this point you should have the support of the president, the membership committee, the executive director and the bookkeeper. That will send a powerful message in conjunction with your presentation.

Good luck!

Job Descriptions

This chapter provides a comprehensive list of tasks and responsibilities that could be part of the job descriptions of your youth staff. These lists are quite detailed. They provide an outline of what needs to be done, along with insight as to how things should be done. The detail is here to help the Youth Commission member understand the tasks.

In practice, the job descriptions that you present to a youth advisor or director are much shorter and simpler. They focus primarily on what needs to be done. The rest can be discussed at hiring time and with the youth staff during the course of the year.

General standards – the details

All personnel who work with the USY/Kadima organization are role models to our youth. United Synagogue requires that youth personnel:

• be Jewish according to Conservative standards,
• must not conduct synagogue business on Shabbat or Jewish holidays,
• must not date non-Jews, and
• may not be intermarried.

The staff we hire should serve as positive Jewish role models. At a minimum the staff should observe the same religious standards and standards of behavior expected of youth. Ideally, a youth professional will:

• observe kashrut (keep kosher), both at work and in personal life,
• be shomer Shabbat (Sabbath observant) and observe Jewish holidays, both at USY events and in personal life,
• worship regularly,
• do mitzvot and encourage observance through personal action and teaching,
• speak appropriately, refraining from l’shon harah (gossip, slander) and nivul peh (foul language), and
• be personally involved in Jewish education and enrichment on a formal or informal basis.

The youth staff is also expected to have appropriate professional skills, such as:

• the ability to work effectively with youth, adults and professional staff,
• familiarity with dealing with teen issues such as suicide, substance abuse, sexuality, and family problems, knowing what resources are available in the community, and knowing when referrals are necessary, and
• knowing how to take confidences appropriately, knowing when confidences cannot be kept, and reporting problems such as drug/substance abuse, sexual or physical abuse, or pregnancy to a parent or synagogue official.

Finally, the staff is expected to behave in an appropriate way at all times when at work. This includes things such as:

• being ethical in all dealings with the synagogue and the youth program,
• not using drugs, alcohol or tobacco at events or at any time in the presence of youth, and not attending events when under the influence,
• refraining from inappropriate physical contact,
• refraining from inappropriate relationships, and
• dressing and conducting themselves appropriately.

A copy of the USCJ Staff Behavior Guidelines is included below. These policies apply at all regional and international events. This is a comprehensive policy and may be useful in setting policies in your local community.

Youth Director Job Description – the details

A youth director is a staff member who oversees youth programming in the congregation. A youth director may be part-time or full-time, depending on the size of the congregation and youth program.

In some congregations, the youth director may also serve as an advisor. The responsibilities below relate specifically to the “youth director” part of such a job.

This is meant to be a list of things that could be included in a youth director job description, and not a list of things that all youth directors must do. In creating a job description for your youth director, select the tasks and responsibilities that are most important to your congregation and chapter, and that can be accomplished during reasonable work hours.

• General. The youth director should do the following:
  • Be accessible to youth and youth staff by phone, e-mail or in person during mutually convenient times on a daily basis. Calls and e-mails should be answered promptly.
  • Be on-site at those times when youth are most likely to be in the building, such as during Hebrew school hours, during regular activities or lounges.
  • Publish a monthly column in the synagogue bulletin (which may be coauthored by advisors or youth).
  • Maintain a chapter web site that may include contacts, flyers, calendars, etc.
  • Maintain a youth bulletin board.
  • Attend synagogue professional staff meetings.
• Staff. Responsible for interviewing, hiring and supervision of youth staff. This may also include the following:
  • Writing and maintaining job descriptions.
  • Setting goals and expectations, ongoing communication about performance, and taking disciplinary action if necessary.
  • Periodic meetings with advisors. Agenda should include:
    • review of plans for upcoming programs to ensure that appropriate decisions are being made, and that there is adequate detail planning, supervision, and that applicable policies are followed,
    • looking ahead two to three months on the calendar to start program planning, as needed,
    • general concerns, problem solving, etc.
  • Training advisors.
• Administration. Responsible for the following:
  • Collecting, tracking and submitting, in a timely manner, all membership forms, release forms, regional event applications, and insurance information as necessary for local, regional and international events.
  • Ensuring that each youth group member is properly registered and has a membership form and medical release on file.
  • Ensuring that policies such as permission slip requirements and release forms are followed by advisors for each event.
  • Overseeing transportation to and from each event, including bus transportation, car pools, etc.
  • All synagogue contact; e.g., finance (checks, accounting), filling out forms, arranging for facilities, dealing with the Rabbi and professional staff in the synagogue, questions/issues from parents, disciplinary issues, etc.
  • Calendar clearance with the synagogue, the region and community.
  • Supporting advisors administratively, especially when contracts or commitments for the synagogue are involved. Examples: bus contracts, DJs, caterers.
• Programs and Events. Although events may be planned and run by advisors, the youth director needs to provide some level of supervision.
  • Administratively, this includes:
    • ensuring that events do not conflict with other synagogue events, regional events, or community events whenever possible,
    • tracking attendance at events,
    • tracking income and expense for each event,
    • ensuring that chapter communication (e-mail, phone, flyers) is taking place and is effective.
  • For event planning, this includes the following:
    • Attending youth board meetings, and some number of other USY/Kadima events. The specific commitment may vary based on the size of the program.
    • Ensuring that programming is balanced, including religious, education, social action, fund-raising, athletic, cultural and social components.
    • Ensuring that content is age-appropriate and consistent with Jewish values.
    • Developing and implementing long-range plans for the youth program that will ensure its continued success and growth.
• Finance. The youth director manages the youth budget and the youth checkbook or petty cash fund. The youth director is also responsible to ensure that all business controls in the synagogue are followed, and should keep receipts, letters of agreement or other documentation to support all expenditures and income.
• Youth Commission. The youth director is the primary point of contact with the Youth Commission. The youth director:
  • attends and participates in all Youth Commission meetings,
  • reviews the program, both past events (number of attendees, level of success, problems), and upcoming events,
  • reviews finances on a regular basis so that the Youth Commission can monitor the budget.
• Miscellaneous. The youth director may also be responsible for:
  • maintaining ties with former USYers who are in college, perhaps with mailings, gift packages,
  • participating in synagogue-wide programs such as the Purim carnival, a Chanukah party, or sukkah building and decorating,
  • programs such as Shabbat junior congregation,
  • assisting with leadership training for youth board members.

Sample job description for a Youth Director

Administration. The Youth Director is responsible for the operation and administration of the synagogue’s youth program. This includes:

• Directing and overseeing the Youth program
• Hiring and supervising the Junior USY and Kadima Advisors
• Managing the Youth budget and chapter finances
• Tracking membership and participation in the program
• Serving on the Youth Commission (ex-officio)

Programming. The Youth Director is responsible for all of the synagogue’s Youth programming. Together with the chapter advisors, the Youth Director will plan and implement a calendar of activities that:

• Is balanced including educational, religious and social content
• Integrates with the synagogue’s Planning Committee program calendar
• Integrates with Regional activities
• Facilitates the continued growth of the Youth program
• Reaches out and creates a sense of community with Youth who are unaffiliated with USY

Role Model. The Youth Director is expected to be a dugma (r ole model) to our Youth and Advisors. This includes:

• Being a committed and knowledgeable Conservative Jew
• Being accessible to the Youth and Advisors in the program
• Being ethical in all dealings with the Youth program
• Attending Shabbat and holiday services
• Supporting behavioral religious standards which USY members and staff are expected to follow

Long Range Planning. The Youth Director, together with the Education Director and the Youth Commission will develop and implement long-range plans for the Youth program that will ensure its continued growth and success.

Tasks. The specific tasks associated with each area of responsibility shall be as outlined by the Education Director and the Youth Commission.

Advisor Job Description – the details

An advisor is the hands-on person responsible for day-to-day operation of a USY or Kadima chapter. The advisor will be directly responsible to the youth director if there is one. If not, the advisor is responsible to the Youth Commission and may take on some of the responsibilities of the youth director.

The advisor provides leadership and direction to the USY/Kadima chapter president and board, empowering them to take on as much responsibility running the chapter as they can.

Keep in mind that this is meant to be a list of things that could be included in an advisor’s job description, and not a list of things that all advisors must do. In creating a job description for your advisor, select the tasks and responsibilities that are most important to your congregation and chapter, and that can be accomplished during reasonable work hours.

• Administration.
  • Follow all appropriate business controls.
  • Assist youth director with membership and medical forms, signing regional event applications, if required.
• Events.
  • Work with USY board to develop a youth calendar.
    • Programming should be balanced, including religious, education, social action, fund-raising, athletic, cultural and social components. Programs should support the goals of the USY/Kadima program as specified by the youth director.
    • Events should not conflict with synagogue, regional or community calendars whenever possible.
  • Hold a minimum of one chapter meeting/event each month. Ensure that event is properly planned and supervised. (Note: the frequency of meetings or the minimum number of meetings per month varies from chapter to chapter.)
  • For USY: hold a minimum of one board meeting per month.
  • For Kadima: board meetings may not be required, or may be less frequent, depending on how the chapter is run.
  • Communicate effectively with the chapter, including e-mail, phone and flyers.
  • Track attendance and participation in events.
  • Coordinate transportation to and from events. When buses are used, ensure that there are at least two adults on each bus.
  • Understand, observe and enforce all policies and religious standards at each event, including: supervision, safety, driving, dress code, kashrut, Shabbat.
• Youth Commission.
  • Attend Youth Commission meetings as required by youth director.
  • Meet with youth director on a regular basis. Be prepared to discuss
    • calendar of events
    • past programs
    • plans for upcoming events
    • finances
    • membership
• Miscellaneous.
  • Support the youth director by contributing information for synagogue bulletin (especially an up-to-date calendar).
  • Contribute to a youth bulletin board.
  • Participate in synagogue-wide events such as the Purim carnival, Chanukah party or sukkah building and decorating

Sample job description for an advisor

• Conduct one event per month, and one board meeting per month. Calendar is to be planned in conjunction with the Youth Director. Detail planning should be reviewed with Youth Director at least two weeks in advance of the event.
• Assist youth director with administrative tasks as required, which may include collection of dues, and collection of membership and release forms.
• Track attendance at events. Track income and expense for events.
• Ensure proper communication with chapter members and their parents through email, phone, mail, and in-person. Ensure that web site is kept up-to-date with calendar and contact information. Provide content for monthly calendar in synagogue bulletin.
• Attend all staff meetings and Youth Commission meetings.
• Accompany youth to all regional events in which we participate.
• Follow all applicable business controls and policies as specified by the Youth Director and Youth Commission.
• Understand, enforce and observe all behavioral and religious guidelines and policies.

The specific tasks associated with each area of responsibility shall be as outlined by the Youth Director and the Youth Commission.

“What I Want from the Youth Commission” – by a Youth Director

In order to be successful, the youth staff requires support from the Youth Commission. The following is a restatement of things that have been identified elsewhere in this handbook as Youth Commission responsibilities. It is written from the youth director’s point of view, as if the youth director were giving a job description to the Youth Commission. It tells the Youth Commission what support the youth director needs to make the youth program successful.

As youth director, I need the Youth Commission to do the following:

• Provide a vision statement that describes what you want the youth program to be.
• Have a mission statement that describes the purpose of the youth program in the synagogue, and gives guidance as to how we fulfill the vision and mission.
• Give me clear, specific direction on priorities for the youth program. When I need to make decisions about how to spend my time, priorities should tell me what is most important.
• Provide for the funding and staff to implement my priorities.
• Give me a job description that matches the work that I do.
• Help me understand the culture and norms of the synagogue members, the staff, and how best to get things done. Support me when difficult decisions need to be made.
• Make and fulfill commitments to help me achieve my goals. These may include providing volunteer help to drive to or chaperon events; buying, preparing and serving food at an event; or making telephone calls to publicize events or get volunteers.
• Allow me to work with teens on an individual basis to connect them with Jewish programs in USY or in our community that match their needs and interests. Measure success not by membership numbers alone, but also on the number of teens who actively participate in Jewish activities.

Dealing with Feedback

When the feedback requires a response or action, usually negative feedback, it is important to handle it in a way that doesn’t complicate the situation any further. One recommended process is: listen, get the other side of the story, make an action plan, and close the loop.

• Listen: Just get the details. Find out what the problem is. Find out what happened. Are you being asked to do something about it, or is this just an FYI? Avoid making any decisions or commitments at this stage – just try to understand. Once you feel that you understand, close the discussion by committing to get back to this person after you’ve looked into it. Then...
• Get the other side of the story: When someone complains about something that happened at an event, or complains about something the advisor did, it is best to talk it over with the advisor before you do anything else. Get the other side of the story, and then...
• Plan Action: Decide together with the advisor what will happen next, and who will do what. Most important, decide who will get back to the person who made the initial contact. Then...
• Close the loop: Get back to the person who made the initial contact. Let them know what you discussed, and what, if anything, will happen.

Important: As with all sensitive situations, experience teaches that the fewer people who are involved, the better. As more people are involved, communication takes longer, resolution takes longer, and the likelihood of potentially destructive gossip spreading through the community increases.

The tough stuff

Disciplinary issues – major infraction

Most disciplinary issues involving youth in connection with a local USY/Kadima program are dealt with directly by the youth staff. They are often minor, involving things such as inappropriate dress or language, or disruptive behavior. It is the job of the youth staff to work with the child to help resolve the issue or mediate the problem.

Less often (thankfully!), a child will violate a major policy. Suspension from the program may be required. Major violations at an event may involve behavior such as: possession of drugs, alcohol or tobacco, being drunk or high, violent behavior, shoplifting, smoking, or having inappropriate sexual relations. It is important for the Youth Commission to support the youth staff in dealing with the child and the parents.

At a Regional or International Event

When a child violates a conduct policy at a regional or international event, the course of action and consequences are usually clear. There are policies in place for the most serious behavior, and the consequences involve being sent home from the event (at their parents’ expense) and suspension from all regional and international events for up to a year.

In these cases, the regional or international staff works with the child and the parents to inform them about what happened and what the consequences are. As a follow-up to the initial event, letters may be sent to the child, his/her parent, the congregation’s rabbi, youth director, or Youth Commission Chair.

Suspensions imposed by the region or international are not binding on the chapter. At the chapter’s option, a child who is suspended from regional or international events may still attend chapter events. It is up to the youth director and Youth Commission to decide if additional consequences are necessary at the local level. These decisions will be easier if the chapter has a policy or process in place to deal with them.

At a Local Event

When there is a serious disciplinary problem at a local event (that is, one run by a local chapter), the youth staff and Youth Commission Chair should be directly involved in dealing with it. These issues can be tough for a number of reasons.

• Details are sometimes not clear. You may not find out about the incident firsthand. You may have to question staff and youth who are unwilling to provide details.
• You may find out about the incident after the event has concluded. You may not have easy access to those involved, as you would if you were all still at the event.
• Those who violate these rules are often the ones who could benefit most by contact with positive role models (both youth and adult); taking them out of the youth group sometimes seems like the wrong thing to do.
• Reaction of parents varies. Some will be very understanding, both of the seriousness of their child’s behavior and the necessity for consequences. Others minimize the seriousness of the behavior, or believe that an apology is all that is required.

These situations will be much easier to handle if you have policies in place. The policies should be well-known by the youth community, the youth staff, and parents. They need to be enforced. As a Youth Commission, you should take time to review policies in your region and at the international level. Consider which policies might apply in your synagogue, and how these policies may be tailored to your congregation.

You may also want to think about what you will do if your decision is questioned, or if someone wants a second opinion. Who might be the logical people to help with the decision? The rabbi? The education director?

As individuals who are deeply committed to youth we are often drawn to help kids who need it most. USYers who get into trouble can benefit from being involved in constructive activities with positive role models. We want to reduce their pain. We want to keep them out of trouble. For some, USY could help.

Because of this, it can be extraordinarily difficult to exclude someone from a USY or Kadima chapter. It is important that you know your priorities as a Youth Commission in these situations, and use them to drive your decisions. These priorities are:

• Safety. If a child’s behavior at an event presents a threat to his or her own safety or the safety of anyone at the event, he or she should be isolated with a chaperon or removed from the event as soon as possible. USYers and Kadimaniks should always feel that USY/Kadima events are safe.
• Liability. If a child’s behavior is illegal, or has the possibility of incurring injury or damage, you must deal with the situation quickly and decisively, and make every effort to reduce this liability in the future.
• Integrity and reputation of program. Hotels, bus companies, entertainment venues and other vendors should be able to count on USY/Kadima groups being well behaved and low risk from their point of view. Kids should also have a positive view of the program.
• Credibility. If you have policies, you need to follow them. Do what you say you’re going to do. If you make exceptions, word will get around in the youth community and enforcing rules will become more difficult. When kids know that you are serious about your policies, they will take them seriously too.

This is a general outline of how to handle a situation involving serious breach of policy:

• Take notes. Be sure that you keep detailed notes of the incident, how you handled it, and who was involved. As you work through this process, document all discussions and correspondence.
• Involve as few people as possible. Although stated elsewhere in this guide, it bears repeating here. The fewer people who are involved with such situations, the better. As more people are involved, communication takes longer, resolution takes longer, and the likelihood of potentially destructive gossip spreading through the community increases.
• Meet with youth advisor/director. The very first thing you should do is to meet with the youth advisor or youth director to find out what happened. The fewer people you involve, the better. Plan a course of action. Talk about what you know, and what you don’t. Think about who could be contacted to confirm details or get more information. Decide who will speak to the child, and who will speak to the parent(s). Confirm that there will be at most two people who make decisions: the youth director/advisor and the Youth Commission Chair.
• Listen to the USYer’s side of the story. The youth director and/or Youth Commission Chair should speak directly with the child involved. Find out what he or she has to say about the situation. You may talk about what you know or believe to be true. This is a critical step for a number of reasons:
  • The child may not have done what he or she is accused of.
  • There may be extenuating circumstances.
  • There may be others involved.
  • It gives the child the time to process what’s going on.
  • It gives you insight as to how the child may react when you speak to his/her parents.
• Decide how to proceed. Speak with the youth advisor/director again. If the child admits what he or she has done, or if the course of action is clear, then proceed. If not, then talk through the alternatives. Seek advice, if necessary, from the regional Youth Commission Chair or Regional Director, your congregation’s rabbi, or other lay leaders or professionals. Consider keeping the name of the USYers private unless it has a direct bearing on the decision process.
• Have a communication plan. It is best to at least give a “heads-up” to those most likely to be contacted for a second opinion. It is also important to be sensitive to privacy for those involved and limit the number of people you speak to and the amount of information you share.
  • Within your community it is probably best to speak with the rabbi and/or education director.
  • If you feel that those involved may contact others outside your community, such as the Regional Youth Commission Chair, tell them so. Request that if contacted, they should get in touch with you before making any commitments or decisions. Make sure that those outside the community will reinforce the fact that this is a local decision and not subject to review by the Region.
• Contact the parent in person, or on the phone. It is best to have the child present at this conversation, and to give him the option of telling his or her parents first, or selecting which parent you should speak with. You should talk about what happened, what the policy is, how and when the policy was communicated, and what the consequences will be. They should know what to expect. Will there be follow up? Who will be informed?
• Follow up with a letter that states that the child violated a policy, and lists the consequences. The letter should be received by the parents, the child (a separate copy), the youth director and Youth Commission Chair. Depending on the situation, you may also need to copy your rabbi. Keep the cc list as short as possible, but no shorter.
  • If the local action involves being barred from regional events, send a short letter informing the Regional Youth Director of this, list the time of the ban, and give no other details about the incident.

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Staff Behavior Guidelines

Note: These guidelines were written specifically for USY International Convention. Similar guidelines apply at other International programs and at regional events. However, the general principles can be applied to local activities as well.

USY International Convention strives to be a program where Jewish values underlie all that we do. Our actions during the program constantly send messages to the USYers and influence them in their decisions both during and after the programs as they make choices for their own behavior.

Jewish values of tzniut (modesty), discretion and privacy are of utmost importance.

Please conduct yourself according to these values and let discretion guide your actions at all times.

Specific Guidelines Are:

• Relationships Between Staff. We are in a unique position to help program participants learn to make wise decisions about sex-based topics based on emotional maturity and ethical principles, beyond hormonal desire. However, we are capable of helping USYers only if we ourselves behave in ways consistent with the ethics we wish to teach.
  • Relationships Between Staff should be mutually agreeable, private and discreet.
  • Public Displays of Affection are not appropriate in the USY setting. Relationships among staff members should be kept private. The who, what, and where of people’s private lives should be considered off limits to USYers and is unacceptable among staff as casual conversation or gossip.
• Relationships Between Staff and USYers. The USY International Convention environment provides the setting for close 24 hour a day contact between USYers and staff members. The closeness this ongoing contact brings is one of the more special aspects of our programs. These friendships are encouraged, nurtured and often form the backbone of the USY International Convention experience. With such closeness, special care must be taken and sound judgment used to avoid even the slightest appearance of improper conduct.

Staff Behavior Guidelines – APPENDIX A

Prohibited conduct includes:

1. Any sexual relationship or sexual conduct, whether verbal or physical.
2. Violation of USCJ’s policy against sexual or other forms of harassment.
3. Unnecessary physical conduct such as horseplay, noogies, or like conduct.
4. Using profanity or abusive language at, or in the presence of, USYers.
5. Threatening or intimidating USYers.
6. Use, possession, or being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs or narcotics.
7. Cigarette Smoking at any time except during free time, away from the group and out of doors. Smoking is absolutely prohibited under the following circumstances:
   1. On Shabbat
   2. Anywhere within a hotel or motel
   3. On the bus
   4. During any group activity or program, indoors or outdoors
   5. Anywhere or anytime during a home hospitality situation.
8. Gambling.
9. Possessing weapons or dangerous tools or implements.
10. Possession of body piercings or tattoos, except for ear piercings.
11. Falsifying any record or report.
12. Stealing, destroying, defacing or misusing property of the USCJ, a USYer or others.
13. Disclosing confidential personal or medical information about a USYer, except as permitted by the terms of applicable law.
14. Failure to abide by any of USY’s rules.

In order to assist you in complying with these behavior guidelines, we require adherence to the following:

• Travel In Pairs: Two Deep Leadership: Excepting emergencies and brief room checks at Kima (wake-up) and curfew, no staff member should be in any USYer’s room unless another advisor is also present.
• Excepting life-threatening emergencies, under no circumstances should males be in female rooms or vice versa. This rule applies to staff members as well as USYers.
• No one-on-one contact: One-on-one contact between staff members and USYers is not permitted in private. A staff member should never be in a room with any USYer with the door closed. In situations that require personal conferences or discussions, these should be conducted in a separate section of a public area (i.e. the hotel lobby away from the rest of the group).
• Respect Of Privacy: Staff members must respect the privacy of USYers in situations such as changing clothes and showering, and intrude only to the extent that health and safety require. Staff members must protect their own privacy in similar situations.
• Separate Accommodations: Staff members are not permitted to sleep in USYers’ rooms or vice versa.
• Proper preparation for high-adventure activities: Activities with elements of risk should never be undertaken without proper preparation, equipment, clothing, supervision and safety measures.
• Appropriate Attire: Proper clothing for activities is required.
• Constructive Discipline: Discipline at the USY International Convention should be constructive, appropriate to the offense and reflect the values of United Synagogue Youth. Corporal punishment is never permitted.
• Staff Training and Supervision: Regional Youth Directors must monitor and guide the leadership techniques used by staff members and ensure that USY policies are followed.

Failure to abide by these Guidelines will result in your immediate dismissal from the USY International Convention.

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Glossary

Abraham Joshua Heschel Society: A club for USYers who are committed to Jewish observance and education. There is a small membership fee. Members must commit to regular Jewish study, to pray regularly, and to do community service on a monthly basis.

Education director: This refers primarily to the religious school principal in a synagogue. In some synagogues, the role of education director might include supervisory responsibility for pre-school, family education or youth.

Hechalutzim: This is a USY club for USYers who want to know more about Israel. There is a small membership fee. USYers who join receive a newsletter and other mailings, and can participate in special seminars at regional and international events.

International: The designation “international” refers to programs of the International USY Office, and generally applies to USYers in the United States and Canada. For instance, the International Convention is a convention for all USYers in all regions, and is planned primarily by the Central Office. There is an International Board composed of USYers and elected at International Convention. The International Youth Commission oversees youth programming at the international level.

JYDA: Jewish Youth Directors Association.

Kadima: The pre-USY youth group.

Region/Regional: USY chapters are grouped in regions. Each region has a regional director. Regional activities are planned, run and/or overseen by the regional director. As of this writing there are 17 regions: CHUSY (Chicago), CRUSY (Central Region), ECRUSY (Eastern Canada), Emtza, EPA (Eastern Pennsylvania), Far West, Hagalil, Hagesher, Hanefesh, Hanegev, METNY (Metropolitan New York), NERUSY (New England Region), New Frontier, Pinwheel, Seaboard, SWUSY (Southwest), Tzafon.

Tikun Olam: The tzedakah fund, or charity of USY. USY chapters and regions raise money for Tikun Olam throughout the year. The funds are allocated by USYers (regional and international level) to worthwhile causes in the US, Canada and Israel, and for scholarships and subsidies to regional and international events.

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