Working with young people is one of our greatest privileges, and it carries with it the serious responsibility of keeping them safe. One of the most important ways we live out that responsibility is by keeping accurate records of every U.S. volunteer serving in the name of Young Life and ensuring that each has completed the required screening.

Volunteers — Thank you for choosing to make this a priority! We know how busy you are, and we’re especially grateful for how you engage with and care for the adolescents in your community.

Staff — Please review the steps below to help ensure the safety of both kids and adults. Thank you for taking the time to review and for helping keep everyone safe! 

A few updates to note:

• Account renewal step by 10/31 eliminated – Staff no longer need to complete the renewal step for every volunteer. Instead, be sure to expire accounts for those who are no longer serving and add your new volunteers.
• Child Safety training as a group – Our Child Safety course can now be completed in a group setting. (Under-18 version is available for group training starting on 9/24.) For more information, check out the Group Course Completion Knowledge Article.
• Early screening renewal options – When users log in, they can proactively renew screenings that are due to expire within the next nine months. In doing so, this will align the renewal dates for those screenings.

Every fall, we ask each U.S. area to review their volunteer lists and confirm that all screenings are current. Follow the steps below to ensure your roster is up to date by October 31. 

Update Your Volunteer Roster and Review Screening Statuses

1) Navigate to the Roster tab on your mission unit page in YL Connect.

• Expire volunteers who are no longer serving
• Update any volunteer or staff ministry affiliations
• Add new volunteers

2)  Review the Compliance tab

• Reach out to those volunteers directly who have outstanding screening(s) 
• Review the Course Status Explanations Knowledge Article

Additional Resources:

• Screening and Training Overview
• Staff Guide: Volunteer Screenings – Provides visibility to a volunteer’s experience
• Troubleshooting guide – Tips for finding usernames and solving common issues.
• Account recovery link – Volunteers can reset their password quickly using their name, email, and phone number. If matched, they’ll receive a temporary access link by email or text.
• Connections Team for Volunteers and staff
  • 719-381-1929
  • Live Chat during business hours (8-5 MST, Mon.–Fri.)