Youth Policy Procedure FAQs

As chapter and district leaders, you have several key responsibilities to the members that you encounter; responsibilities that the Barbershop Harmony Society acknowledges and shares. One such important responsibility is to our youth members, and especially members under 18 years of age. BHS has a Youth Policy which can be found here. Over the last several years, we have been taking steps to better support this policy with procedures that strive to meet these standards.

Here are a few frequently asked questions (FAQs) that will help work through this transition.

Why do we have Youth Protection Training and what is it?

Youth Protection Training is an awareness training required by our insurance company to help mitigate risk associated with youth activities.
It will require roughly an hour of your time to watch the video and complete the quiz.
Once complete, you will receive a certificate of completion that you can provide your chapter, event coordinator, or other leaders.
The training is assigned and managed through Abuse Prevention Systems.

When will our chapter leaders be assigned the youth protection training from Abuse Prevention Systems?

Chapter leaders will be assigned the Youth Protection Training once assigned to an officer position through the Member Center.
Although this process may not be immediate, it will be completed weekly.
If someone does not receive the training within 10 days, please email customerservice@barbershop.org, and they will be assigned manually.
All training assignments can be viewed here. This list is updated throughout the week, and when a training is completed the list displays the expiration date of the training.

We have leaders in our chapter who are not listed in the Member Center (section leaders, committee chairmen, etc). How should we go about requesting their training assignments?

Please send an email to customerservice@barbershop.org with a .csv attachment of the names and emails of those who need to complete the training, but do not show up on your chapter’s roster.
The Customer Service Team will manually assign those parties training.

Who keeps track of the members who have completed the awareness training?

Customer Service maintains a list of everyone who completes the training.
A chapter president or other officer may access this list of training assignments. This will include everyone who has been assigned the training (including chapter officers, as well as volunteers for youth events).

What is a voluntary disclosure statement?

A voluntary disclosure statement is a statement signed by the chaperone, member, or other such party attesting, at the minimum, that they have not been convicted of any violent crimes or crimes against children. This statement is legally binding and will be used in lieu of a background check.

Do I need to send the Youth Membership Form for all of our current youth members?

No. Right now, all current youth members should receive a form to complete their renewal.
Your chapter may already have their form on file if they filled it out at the time they joined. They will still receive a new form to complete their renewal to ensure the information is up to date.

I see on the Youth Membership Form that a member of our chapter should act as supervisor. Should that be the same person for all the youth in our chapter?

The purpose of assigning a supervisor to a youth is to give that youth a guardian while away from their primary caregiver. The Society prescribes no set number of youth per supervisor, but you shouldn’t assign a supervisor so many youths as to overwhelm them. While having just one or two youth per supervisor is best, we recognize that might not be possible in your chapter (especially where multiple related youths/parents are in the same chapter). So, we invite you to choose the best options for your chapter that will enable the supervisor to still perform their job.

Are there best practices for assigning a supervisor role to certain members within the chapter?

Should be an active member of the chapter.
Should be someone of the same gender.
Should be someone of at least 21 years of age.
Should be someone willing to accept the role and responsibilities outlined in the supervisor agreement
May be a member of the chapter Board of Directors or music leadership.
If a parent/guardian of the young person also participates in the chapter, it is recommended that they be properly designated as the supervisor of the youth in question.
- This rule may void the same gender qualification if the parent/guardian is of a different gender than the youth in question.

What is the guarantee of confidentiality on the information on the Youth Membership Form and Voluntary Disclosure Statement?

All membership-related documents, including the Youth Membership Form, are accessible to BHS staff only, and sensitive information contained therein is never shared without the permission of the party or parties indicated in the document. Signature of the document does not constitute this permission.

We have leaders in our chapter who are not listed in the Member Center (section leaders, committee chairmen, etc). How should we go about requesting their training assignments?

Please send an email to customerservice@barbershop.org with a .csv attachment of the names and emails of those who need to complete the training, but do not show up on your chapter’s roster.
The Customer Service Team will manually assign those parties training.

My grant application was declined for my event, why do I still need to take the Youth Protection Training?

As a best practice for mitigating risk, all youth events will require that leaders and volunteers take the youth protection training before the event. Although not required in the past, this now falls under chapter activities that require youth protection training.

What forms do I need to complete in order to participate in a Next Generation Barbershop event?

For participants UNDER 18, you will need:
- Medical Release Form, Youth Participation Form, Parent/Guardian Permission Form
For participants OVER 18, you will need:
- Medical Release Form and a Youth Participation Form.
All forms will be provided upon confirmation of your attendance to the Next Generation Barbershop event.

I am a chaperone for a Next Generation Barbershop Event. What forms do I need to complete?

You will need to complete the Chaperone form that includes a voluntary disclosure statement.

We have a youth event this year, do we need to take the Youth Protection Training?

Yes. All camp leaders, section leaders, and clinicians will be required to take the training.
You may also have your entire volunteer staff take the training as well, although not required.

We have two youth events this year, do we need to take the Youth Protection Training twice?

The youth protection training certificate is good for one calendar year. If anyone from your team has taken the training within the last 364 calendar days, they may show you their valid certificate.
All certificates are contained online through Abuse Prevention Systems. They can access their certificates at any time by logging into Abuse Prevention Systems’ website.

What is the governing Society document controlling this process and procedure?

The only official document governing these changes is our Youth Policy. The rest of these processes are related to procedures the Society is improving to express our commitment to the Youth Policy and may be subject to change as time goes by.