Commentary
Consent forms not only are a means of protecting the diocese and the adult leaders, they are also a sign of the Church’s care and concern for the young people. While giving parents and guardians a sense of security about the safety of their children, they also provide valuable information in an emergency situation. Consent forms will not ward off lawsuits, but they will and do shift the burden of proof in a legal proceeding.
Consent forms can be altered by parishes to include information necessary for a particular event, so long as the wording regarding consent and liability remains unchanged. In other words, you can add to the form but never subtract.
The resumption of more regular activities in the fall of each year is one time when Annual Consent and Release Forms may be distributed, signed and returned with a minimum of work. They also may be included in any information mailed prior to the beginning of a new program year. Another opportune moment for obtaining these forms is at the time of re-registration. There should be an understanding that youth are not registered for any programming or classes until these forms are on file.
Consent forms should be copied and a copy of all forms should remain in the possession of another cleared adult that does not attend a particular trip or event. This allows a cleared adult not attending the event to contact parents in the event of an emergency and frees the cleared adults on the trip or event to tend to the emergency at hand.
Annual and Event Specific consent and release forms include a provision for the collection of email addresses and cell phone numbers, as required by the Acceptable Use Guidelines, found later in this section. This provision implies parental permission is given for adults to contact young people using those email addresses and/or cell phone numbers collected on the forms.
It should be noted, however, that this permission does not extend to catechists or other cleared adult leaders in ministry. If it is a coordinator’s intention to share young people’s personal information (email address, home address, cell phones numbers, etc.) with catechists or other adult leaders in ministry, it is incumbent upon the primary contact person in a parish or school to alert parents of that intention and to give them the option of opting out of having that information shared.
Related Policies
5.10 Event Specific Forms must be used for events held off site (taking a group ice skating, for instance) AND for all events (even on-site events like Lock-ins) lasting more than six hours. 1957
5.11 All Consent and Release Forms must be kept on file for two years (the standard statute of limitations for personal injury cases) after which they are to be destroyed. 1958
5.27 Removing the back seat of a 15-passenger van does not render it acceptable. 1979
5.8 Obtain written consent from parents/guardians for all participants in one of the following ways: 1953
5.8.1 Annual consent: required yearly and kept on file for all on-site events less than 6 hours long (see Form A) 1954
5.8.2 Event specific consent: required for all events off site, and for all events overnight or day-long, that are more than 6 hours in length (see Form B) 1955
5.9 The Annual Consent and Release Form must be on file for every young person who is active in any youth ministry programming, including religious education, and must be renewed each year.