To The UUA Board Of Trustees:

Recommendation: That the UUA Board of Trustees recognize YRUU as a “sponsored organization” and that YRUU be represented in the UUA Directory as such.

Recommendation: That the UUA Board of Trustees place the LRY endowment income, currently integrated in the Youth Office budget, under the direct control of YRUU with the understanding that that amount will be replaced in the youth program budget from General Fund monies; that the Steering Committee of YRUU be the executors of the LRY endowment income at the will of the Youth Council.

Recommendation: That individual members of the UUA Board of Trustees take a mentoring interest in the Youth Council Representative(s) from their district(s) in order to help nurture the leadership skills required to be an effective district representative.

Recommendation: That the UUA Board of Trustees establish a task force to examine and make recommendations on youth advisor training and support for the purpose of reinforcing adult involvement in youth programming (especially on the local level); that this task force consider: advisor training (especially in regard to fostering youth leadership, adolescent development, healthy personal boundaries, and junior high advising), the development of clinical pastoral consultancy and the creation of an advisor networking and advocacy organization.

Recommendation: That the UUA Board of Trustees make the 1997 Youth Programs Review Committee report readily available to all parties who are named in its recommendations, in addition to UUA staff, including YRUU Youth Council, YRUU Steering Committee, district youth governing bodies, district presidents, district executives, UUA field staff, district religious education committees, the UU Ministers Association, the Liberal Religious Educators Association, the Starr King and Meadville-Lombard UU seminaries, the Young Adult Ministries Office, the Continental UU Young Adult Network, the General Assembly Planning Committee and, not least, youth and youth advisors; that the publication of this report be announced on UU-related on-line mailing lists with information on its availability; and that this report be distributed through UU web sites.

Recommendation: That the UUA Board of Trustees appoint future continental youth programs review committees every seven to eight years.

Recommendation: That the UUA Board of Trustees place the LRY endowment income, currently integrated in the Youth Office budget, under the direct control of YRUU and that the Steering Committee of YRUU be the executors of that money at the will of the Youth Council.

Recommendation: That the Steering Committee, with input from the Youth Office, create an updated job description for the position of YRUU Programs Specialist.

Recommendation: That the Steering Committee, the Youth Programs Director and the Director of the Department of Religious Education together establish formal evaluation processes, including: an exit interview between the YRUU Programs Specialist and the Religious Education Director; an opportunity at the last Steering Committee meeting prior to their departure, for each YPS to give an evaluation of their experience; and an opportunity for Steering Committee to have input into the annual employee evaluation of the Youth Programs Director.

Recommendation: That Steering Committee consider implementing specific role differentiations among members, such as someone to set each meeting’s agenda, someone to convene the meeting, etc.

Recommendation: That the Steering Committee include in Continental Conference programming each year an opportunity for formal leadership training.

Recommendation: That the General Assembly Planning Committee, the Youth Office, the Steering Committee and the Youth Caucus Business Manager cooperate in a task force to address youth participation and activities at General Assembly.

Recommendation: That Steering Committee examine the Synapse distribution systems and mailing list, and consider new funding sources for an additional issue if desired.

Recommendation: That Steering Committee serve as the editorial board for Synapse for the purpose of advising the editors on questions of appropriateness of specific content items.

Recommendation: That the General Assembly Planning Committee, the Youth Office, the Steering Committee and the Youth Caucus Business Manager cooperate in a task force to address youth participation and activities at General Assembly.

Recommendation: That each district board encourage its local congregations to provide their youth advisors with a designated resource person for clinical/pastoral consultation; that the Youth Office and Department of Religious Education include this recommendation in advisor training and Ministry With Youth curriculum.

Recommendation: That the Youth Programs Director establish a schedule for reviewing and updating the published resources of the Youth Office.

Recommendation: That the Youth Office consider putting the Youth Advisors’ Handbook and other publications and resources on-line.

Recommendation: That each district board encourage its local congregations to provide their youth advisors with a designated resource person for clinical/pastoral consultation; that the Youth Office and Department of Religious Education include this recommendation in advisor training and Ministry With Youth curriculum.

Recommendation: That the Religious Education Department create, as well as invite the creation of, short-format (up to six sessions) curriculum modules for youth which may be youth led; that one such module specifically provide a model for developing short-format youth-led curricula.

Recommendation: That each district board make a thorough review of its mechanism for supporting youth advisors.

Recommendation: That district boards appoint their own youth programs review committees to evaluate and give recommendations on all aspects of the quality and quantity of youth programming within their district.