Tech Forum

What do you do with your primary Children / youth that spend time in two wards?

A thread dealt with this discussion here, but it contained discussions about leadership as well, and never really had much discussion on children. But I'd like some feedback from other clerks, on a ward or stake level.

When you have families with children that spend time regularly in two wards, such as in the case of shared custody of the children, how do you handle the records to make sure that both wards share in the shepherding of the child when they attend? This, of course can extend into YM and YW as well. It has the potential to allow these children / youth to "fall through the cracks" as both wards think the other one is watching over them, or allow them to slip into in-activity when residing at the "other" ward because nobody there will know about them as their records are not there. In reality, shouldn't both sets of leaders in both wards work together for the benefit of the member? This becomes even more important depending on the activity level of one or both parents/guardians.

Problem: The record "is to be kept in the ward" where they youth or child lives (ses CHI bk 1, 13.6) This can only be one ward, but they actually "live" in the two wards they spend their time in!
Solutions: What have you found that works? Obviously, a bishopric level discussion amongst the parents/guardians and the two sets of leaders really should occur, to make sure the home record is in the right location.

• Has anyone tried the "out-of-unit" record method for a child or youth that spends part time in your unit but you will not get the record because you are not the "home unit?" Does it put them in classes correctly if you are the "out-of-unit" ward? Does it even work?
• What about creating a simple "non-member" record (without a birthdate it can't put them in classes automatically, but you could do it manually.) At least the child/youth will show on the rolls so they are not forgotten. We've done this with non-member children that attend regularly, an it works ok in that case.

any ideas?

kisaac wrote:What do you do with your primary Children / youth that spend time in two wards?

As you have pointed out, one ward gets the record. The other ward has to deal with the "visitor".

kisaac wrote:

• Has anyone tried the "out-of-unit" record method for a child or youth that spends part time in your unit but you will not get the record because you are not the "home unit?" Does it put them in classes correctly if you are the "out-of-unit" ward? Does it even work?
• What about creating a simple "non-member" record (without a birthdate it can't put them in classes automatically, but you could do it manually.) At least the child/youth will show on the rolls so they are not forgotten. We've done this with non-member children that attend regularly, an it works ok in that case.

We have used the "non-member" method. And yes, it requires a lot or manual intervention. We had not thought to use the "out-of-unit" method, but I would be interested in hearing from someone who is using it, and knowing if it works better that the first method. Of particular interest would be that the member shows up on directories and rolls, and moves automatically from class to class each year.

We've used the "non-member"" and manually put them in their primary class. They then will show on the roll, and any class lists so the teachers won't forget them, but not on the birthday list and I saw it bring tears when it was forgotten. I asked SLC HQ why we can't have a non-member record with a birthdate, and the "unofficial response" was that it was a privacy concern, and more of an issue in Europe than the U.S.

I was hoping somebody had tried the "out-of-unit" for a child in a case such as this.

I think one thing that should be brought up is how long is the child spending in each ward? Is this alternate weeks or months at a stretch?

I'm not in front of the MLS manual right now, but I remember the guideline saying that if someone was going to be there for 3 months or longer, the record should be moved. But that guideline came from the days of mailing records. With the currently membership system, one has to wonder if a shorter time frame is reasonable.

lajackson wrote:We have used the "non-member" method. And yes, it requires a lot or manual intervention. We had not thought to use the "out-of-unit" method, but I would be interested in hearing from someone who is using it, and knowing if it works better that the first method. Of particular interest would be that the member shows up on directories and rolls, and moves automatically from class to class each year.

We recently used the 'out-of-unit' method with a young women who was called into a young women's class presidency. For various reasons her records were in the other ward but she was more active in ours. We were able to put her into the young women's presidency and she did show up in her young women's class automatically. Her parent moved out of the ward, however, before she transitioned to the next class so I don't know whether that would have happened automatically. We did have to remember to remove the out-of-unit record separately when she moved.

RussellHltn wrote:I think one thing that should be brought up is how long is the child spending in each ward? Is this alternate weeks or months at a stretch?

For the situation I'm thinking of, it is alternating weeks on a more or less permanent basis, but you are right about the length of time being a consideration. If it's spending the summer with a grandparent, I'd probably leave the the record in their home ward. I just can't see a great way to make sure they are watched after if they aren't available to attend a "home" ward regularly.

RussellHltn wrote:I think one thing that should be brought up is how long is the child spending in each ward? Is this alternate weeks or months at a stretch?

We have a unit where a number of the youth alternate weeks. During the summer, they are sometimes gone up to four weeks, but during the school year it is every other week.

Through private counseling and suggestion, the very enterprising branch president has actually managed to synchronize the weeks, to the point where he has AP/YW one week, and does not have it the following week.

lajackson wrote:We have a unit where a number of the youth alternate weeks. During the summer, they are sometimes gone up to four weeks, but during the school year it is every other week.

Through private counseling and suggestion, the very enterprising branch president has actually managed to synchronize the weeks, to the point where he has AP/YW one week, and does not have it the following week.

That certainly is another idea for the problem....thank you for sharing...