If you’re organizing a youth retreat, lock-in or some other kind of trip, you’ll need to create a youth group permission slip. This should then be completed by the parent or guardian of each young person who’s taking part in the activity or trip.

This completed youth group permission slip gives you, as the name suggests, permission to take their child on the trip and provides you with any important information that you’ll need.

The extensiveness of information gathered on the permission slip will vary depending on what you have planned – if you’re taking young people away for the weekend on a youth retreat, you’ll need more information than if you were to take them ice-skating.

There are three steps to creating a youth group permission slip:

1) Youth information

Here are 12 pieces of information you may need about each young person

• Young person’s name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Parent’s name
• Phone number for parent(s)
• Other emergency contact name and phone number
• Medical information (e.g. any medications they’re on, allergies, whether they have epilepsy, etc)
• Dietary requirements (vegetarian, gluten free, lactose intolerant, etc)
• Health insurance company they’re covered with
• Policy number
• Family physician
• Family physician phone number

This list covers important information you need to know, but there’s another element you need on the youth group permission slip……..

2) Parental Permission

At the bottom of the slip, include some further wording such as the following:

I give permission for my child to take part in (whatever the activity or trip is) and agree that the leadership team (or youth work organization) will not be held responsible for any injuries or illnesses that my child sustains during the (activity or trip).

I hereby authorize an adult leader of the (activity or trip), as an agent of myself, to provide routine health care (including over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen), administer prescribed medications and seek emergency medical treatment, if deemed necessary by said adult leader.

In the event that I cannot be contacted in an emergency, I authorize the physician or hospital selected by the leader to provide treatment, including hospitalization, for my child.

3) Signature

Finally, the permission slip needs to have a section at the bottom that the parent signs, states their name and provides the date they did this.

If you’re planning a youth retreat, we have a youth retreat permission slip template to download (along with more than a dozen other documents) with a copy of our book. Find out more about How To Plan A Youth Retreat or buy from Amazon using the link to the right.

Question: What other information do you include on a youth group permission slip? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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