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.

To ensure our volunteer rosters are up to date, we are making some important updates to the YL Connect screening and training system. On January 12, 2026, the auto-expiration feature for volunteers and the new Child Safety Training for high school–age volunteers will go live in YL Connect. 

What this means: 

• Volunteers who are more than 45 days past their due date with certain courses will be expired and removed from the area’s volunteer roster to ensure that only active volunteers are on our lists. Review these guidelines about the courses volunteers must complete to serve with Young Life.
• We will send volunteers reminders about their screenings before they are removed.
• For high school-aged volunteers, we have an updated Child Safety course designed specifically for them. Volunteers who are under 18 will be assigned this new training and asked to complete it. 

To help you see who needs to complete screening, we have a new U.S. field screening report available on the mission unit Compliance tab in YL Connect or you can use the Area Screening quick action report to review all screening and training courses. For more details about these changes, review this recent memo.  

Thank you for your leadership and for helping ensure our volunteers are equipped to serve with Young Life!