Explains How The Program Is Impacted By Association's New Policy

The EAA has released a document that is designed to help members understand how Young Eagles (YE) is impacted (or not impacted) by the new policy at EAA.

According to the document, All pilots, YE coordinators, and YE field representatives are required to do the online training and background check. This is probably the most significant change, and takes about 15 minutes. The training and background check need to be renewed after three years. There are no exceptions for this group.

Ground crew of all sorts are encouraged to do the training and background check. They would be required to do it if they help out at four or more youth activities in any one calendar year, and/or if any of those activities lasts four or more hours. Typically the four or more times with a particular youth portion of the rule will not be a factor for your rally situation. The policy applies to any ground crew who has potential contact with kids at the rally.

While the policy calls out parents who regularly attend youth activities to participate in the training and background checks, this is not true for a parent who is simply bringing their children to YE rallies. A parent who regularly attends a youth ground school or day camp may need to participate in the training and background check, but rallies are a unique activity.

Two Deep Leadership

Two deep leadership is not required in any of the aircraft typically used for YE flights. In a rally situation you should follow two deep leadership practices. This simply means two people on the ground should have the background check and training completed. Young Eagles pilots who are on the ground are going to be eligible to be part of the two approved adults who need to be present and circulating during the event. This makes having eligible people fairly easy because there are generally pilots on the ground during a rally. If you have a situation where all of the pilots are in the air you would of course want to have other ground personnel approved through the EAA training and background check.

Keep in mind that the total number of kids present at a rally will usually not have an impact on the number of approved adults you need. The ratios of two approved adults for every 10 kids under age 13 and two approved adults for every 24 kids age 14-plus are for events like an aviation day camp your chapter may host without parents present. Very few rallies will be affected because parents are typically there. If for some reason parents are not present at your rally, then of course the ratios would need to be adhered to.

Waivers, Permission Slips and Record Keeping

The only waiver necessary for a YE rally or flight is the standard YE form, which is sent back to Oshkosh after the flight. Chapters have no responsibility to retain any records from YE activities. Parents also do not need to receive any more information than the regular YE flight registration. Further, there is no need for a sign-in sheet for YE rallies. The policy section that refers to additional notifications and record keeping is referencing other youth activities a chapter might do, such as a building project.

Contact with Youth

While EAA would love to see you mentor a young person, common sense practice in today’s climate is to initiate all communications through parents, not directly with the youth. The policy reflects this approach. Misunderstandings are common when using electronic communications with young people, so it is best to contact parents with any information you may need to share. The added benefit is that it is a great way to encourage the parent to get involved with aviation too!

Photography

Taking photos of youth at a rally to share with parents and for chapter use is still encouraged. Taking photos of other people’s children strictly for personal use is not permitted. If you are taking photos for the chapter, please shoot away; if you are taking them only for yourself, please only take photos of your own children.

(Source: EAA. Image from file)

FMI: Source Document