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Youth Commission Handbook

By David L. Srebnick
September 2004

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:

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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:

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:

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.

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:

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:

Staff Orientation, Development and Retention

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

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

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

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.

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:

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:

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

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.

Sample job description for an advisor

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:

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.

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.

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:

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

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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:

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:

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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