Definition of a Young Single Adult

In our stake, there has been some questions about the monthly Young Single Adult report that is sent to CHQ each month. The main question revolves around who to count as a Young Single Adult.

Of course, a YSA is a person who is not married and is 18-30 years old for whom we have a membership record. However, there is some resistance to following this definition when submitting the monthly YSA report that goes to CHQ. Some want to exclude those YSA's who have turned 18 who have not completed high school. Others want to exclude missionaries because they are not living in the ward. And because those who are creating this report have no control over membership records, they want to count YSA's who live in the ward whose membership records have not yet arrived and not count YSA's who have moved from the ward.

From the perspective of many, we should only be filling out the report for the YSA's who actually live in the ward because we have no idea what's going on with those who don't live here. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the Church wants the wards to account for every YSA for whom they have a membership record.

I'm wondering if anyone can tell us what Church policy is on the YSA monthly report.

For records of full-time missionaries they are still members of that ward despite not living there. You count them as having attended priesthood/relief society meetings on your quarterly report and do similar for other reports.

A YSA is a YSA even if still in high school as long as they meet the age requirement. It doesn't mean they have to attend a YSA ward right away or ever for that fact.

Your stake clerk may get answers to other questions from the area office as needed.

faireskind wrote:Some want to exclude those YSA's who have turned 18 who have not completed high school.

I am not familiar with a "YSA monthly report," but I would question if a YSA can also be a member of the YM or YW organization and a YSA at the same time. While MLS may automatically "age progress" youth on their birthdays, a ward can return them to the YM or YW organization until a later date, often after graduation

After checking my listings, "for statistical and reporting purposes," a youth WILL show in the YM or YW organization and in the YSA organization on LDS.org, so perhaps I agree with the literal definition: not married, 18-30 years.

From the perspective of many, we should only be filling out the report for the YSA's who actually live in the ward because we have no idea what's going on with those who don't live here.

Shouldn't they have a watchful leader with stewardship over each of them? If your leaders are not doing this, who will? Maybe that is the question to ask...

rbeede and kissac,

You both illustrate the confusion about this issue. The first question on the report simply asks for the "Number of YSA." Some feel that, as rbeede says, "A YSA is a YSA even if still in high school as long as they meet the age requirement." Others go more with kissac who, "question if a YSA can also be a member of the YM or YW organization and a YSA at the same time."

Our stake clerk thus far has been reluctant to go to the area office for further clarification. By not providing clarification, each ward is left to themselves to determine what to report and each ward does it differently, according to their own individual interpretations. I'm sure that CHQ is not getting the data they want.

I should also add that the ward leaders are looking to this report for guidance as to what should be done to minister to YSA's in the ward. If CHQ is interested in the straight 18-30 non-married statistics, then the local leaders will likely need to tailor their own report. This report would show YSA's who would be best served by the YSA program which has goals of creating opportunities for them to associate together in meaningful service, gospel learning, and social activities with a central purpose of finding a marriage partner to marry in the temple. Those who are still in high school and young men who are preparing to serve missions are really not in this frame of mind and would not be served well by the YSA program. The program is for those who have post-high-school interests (e.g., work, higher-ed schooling) and are preparing for marriage vs. those YSA's who are still living at home with Mom & Dad and participating with the YM/YW programs in the ward.

Because of this perspective, when ward leaders look at this report that is going to CHQ, many look at the more restrictive view of those YSA's that the YSA program is designed to assist and not the broader 18-30 single population. Local leaders are interested in a report that will help them minister to those who are actually there in the ward. It would not include those in high school, those who are away on missions, those who have moved away for whom they don't yet have addresses, and those who may be single but are living in a committed relationship with another partner with or without children in the home.

Are we talking about two different reports? Knowing this would help resolve some of the questions about what is wanted on the report.

Some of us are still puzzled about what report you are referring to. Is it the Quarterly Report? If, so, you'll see that MLS gives you the total number (and I don't see any way of editing it). And if you click on the words "Total young single adults" it will give you a list of individuals. I would tell the wards to use that list to answer how many are attending PH/RS meetings. (and if you click on the question mark, you will see a clearly worded definition of "attending".)

faireskind wrote:I should also add that the ward leaders are looking to this report for guidance as to what should be done to minister to YSA's in the ward.

What you are talking about here and what you posted in the OP are not the same. Once you can identify the report in the OP then you should be able to find the instructions for the required data. Do not confuse local needs with data reported to CHQ. If the data reported to CHQ can be used for local needs then do so. But trying to manipulate data that is sent to CHQ for local needs and to fit local definitions does not provide CHQ the data they need to have.

If there is a report that is needed for local purposes and the data sent to CHQ does not fit that need then create your own local report.

As a statistician, I find it very troubling when anyone suggests using a "local definition" that differs from the definition required by the report. If every unit reports on their members with a different definition, the aggregated data is meaningless and useless. Doing so just wastes everyone's time.

Plain and simple, base your report on the people that appear in your records. If a YSA has moved from your ward, you report that they are not attending until you can move their record out of your ward (with the exception of missionaries). If a YSA has moved into your and you do not have their record, you do not get to count them.

If you want to report anything differently based on local needs, feel free to make your own report. But adding extraneous criteria to the report passed up to the Church nullifies the effort required to collect the data.

RussellHltn wrote:Some of us are still puzzled about what report you are referring to. Is it the Quarterly Report?

This report is not the Quarterly Report. There is a special report entitled YSA Monthly Report that is to be sent both to the stake and to a Church-wide email address. This monthly report asks about total number of YSA members, number of YSA actives and less actives, number of YSA members married that month, and so forth.

nutterb wrote:As a statistician, I find it very troubling when anyone suggests using a "local definition" that differs from the definition required by the report. If every unit reports on their members with a different definition, the aggregated data is meaningless and useless. Doing so just wastes everyone's time.

Although the Church certainly has some concern about aggregate data, unless a report is compiled entirely by properly trained individuals, most data in the Church will have some "local definition" influence. Basing YSA information on just membership records presents a problem for areas in Utah, especially if the individual has a home nearby.

One student in my YSA ward has a home nearby, but he attends our ward. His membership record remained in his home ward for missionary preparation reasons, but for all intents and purposes he belongs to our ward. The point of the YSA Monthly Report is to track all YSA members, and if we were to not include him in our report, the other ward would list him as not attending, and he would "disappear" to the Church. I think that is contrary to the intent of the report.

dwsmith2 wrote:This report is not the Quarterly Report. There is a special report entitled YSA Monthly Report that is to be sent both to the stake and to a Church-wide email address. This monthly report asks about total number of YSA members, number of YSA actives and less actives, number of YSA members married that month, and so forth.

In that case I'd look for instructions related to that report.

dwsmith2 wrote:One student in my YSA ward has a home nearby, but he attends our ward. His membership record remained in his home ward for missionary preparation reasons, but for all intents and purposes he belongs to our ward.

Can you justify that by anything in the Handbook? There isn't anything I know of.

RussellHltn wrote:In that case I'd look for instructions related to that report.

As far as I am aware, there are no instructions. At least, the stake clerk never forwarded any on to me.

RussellHltn wrote:Can you justify that by anything in the Handbook? There isn't anything I know of.

Handbook 2 Section 16.6.6: "The membership records of young single adults should be in the wards where they are members. Leaders and clerks take special care to keep records current. To avoid delays and to avoid losing track of records or people, clerks may also keep an unofficial record for young single adults who move frequently." Because the situation of this YSA member was somewhat unique (beyond what was previously posted), and based on this section, I think it's justifiable.

dwsmith2 wrote:This report is not the Quarterly Report. There is a special report entitled YSA Monthly Report that is to be sent both to the stake and to a Church-wide email address. This monthly report asks about total number of YSA members, number of YSA actives and less actives, number of YSA members married that month, and so forth.

That still leaves me wondering what this report is. Is it a report that is unique to YSA wards or YSA stakes? I know that our regular stake has never received any instructions to fill out such a report.

dwsmith2 wrote:Handbook 2 Section 16.6.6: "The membership records of young single adults should be in the wards where they are members.

I don't see that as changing anything. Other then in the situation where the member will not be there in 3 months, the membership record should be in the same ward as he's attending.

aebrown wrote:That still leaves me wondering what this report is. Is it a report that is unique to YSA wards or YSA stakes? I know that our regular stake has never received any instructions to fill out such a report.

I'm guessing that the report is indeed unique to YSA units, but I have no official confirmation.

If the form is being filled out by a YSA ward, then it seems straightforward - all members are YSA. The only time I know of that someone is "counted" whose records are not in the ward is for sacrament attendance.

In the case of someone attending somewhere else (setting aside the question of where the records should be), I'd think the ward who holds the records does the accounting. And if they know they are attending their meetings, then they count them as "attending".

At least that would seem to me to be harmony as to how the other numbers on the quarterly report are handled.

dwsmith2 wrote:I'm guessing that the report is indeed unique to YSA units, but I have no official confirmation.

But the original post certainly doesn't seem to be talking about a YSA ward. So I'm still wondering....

dwsmith2 wrote:This report is not the Quarterly Report. There is a special report entitled YSA Monthly Report that is to be sent both to the stake and to a Church-wide email address. This monthly report asks about total number of YSA members, number of YSA actives and less actives, number of YSA members married that month, and so forth.

This description is very similar to, but not quite the same as, a report that a member of the Presidency of the Seventy asked all stake presidents in the area of his responsibility to complete and return. It was a one-time report. The assignment came through the Area Seventy to stake presidents and came with instructions and a spreadsheet to complete and return.

If you have received such a request and have questions on how to complete the report, return to the person who made the request and ask for clarification.

RussellHltn wrote:In the case of someone attending somewhere else (setting aside the question of where the records should be), I'd think the ward who holds the records does the accounting. And if they know they are attending their meetings, then they count them as "attending".

At least that would seem to me to be harmony as to how the other numbers on the quarterly report are handled.

I agree, count ONLY those whose record you hold, period. While I haven't seen which report your are referring to, I can't imagine the data would be useful to anyone, either in your ward or at church headquarters if you just counted who-ever you wanted. I also look to the quarterly report, line 13:

Record the number of young single adults with a membership record in your unit (indicated on line 12) who attended at least one priesthood meeting or Sunday Relief Society meeting during the last month of the quarter.

and is similar to wording for other attendance figures in RS and PR. A member with a record gets an attendance check-mark if they attend once in the quarterly reporting month. Visitors (those without records in your unit) are not counted AT ALL in the case of RS and PR attendance. Those on missions or otherwise fulfilling other assignments during class time do get credit for attending as per the wording on the rolls, if they have a record in your unit. This gives the incentive for wards to really find their members, and transfer those in or out as needed, and for the correct bishop and qourum/group/rs pres. to be a steward over their YSA. One record, one count.

As mentioned above, only the sacrament count on a quarterly is a "headcount" that will allow a visitor to be counted.

You wrote: "One student in my YSA ward has a home nearby, but he attends our ward. His membership record remained in his home ward for missionary preparation reasons, but for all intents and purposes he belongs to our ward. The point of the YSA Monthly Report is to track all YSA members, and if we were to not include him in our report, the other ward would list him as not attending, and he would "disappear" to the Church. I think that is contrary to the intent of the report."

I strongly disagree. If you do not have his records, then he does not belong to your ward, and you should not count his attendance. Reporting his attendance as if he is a member of your ward hides the fact that one of your members did not attend. Is that what this is about...trying to make the attendance of the members for which you do have records to look better than it is? If so, why? Reporting correctly puts appropriate pressure on wards to request records & send records where they belong, and signals to the Church where there are issues that may need to be addressed. People that change the definition of reported numbers to satisfy their own opinions about "all intents and purposes" make the numbers meaningless; fudging statistics is what is contrary to the intent of the report.

You wrote "a YSA is a person who is not married and is 18-30 years old for whom we have a membership record."

Thank you for posting this definition! I urge Church programmers to add that definition to the help window that pops up when MLS users click on the "?" button when they are rushing to fill out the Quarterly Report form.

russellhltn wrote:If the form is being filled out by a YSA ward, then it seems straightforward - all members are YSA.

This is somewhat tangential, but there are frequently 17-year-old college students living in student housing, particularly at church schools, who are members of the YSA ward but are reported as young men or young women on the quarterly report.

sbradshaw wrote:This is somewhat tangential, but there are frequently 17-year-old college students living in student housing, particularly at church schools, who are members of the YSA ward but are reported as young men or young women on the quarterly report.

The OP referred to a "YSA monthly report". I'm not sure what the definition is for that report.

But yes, the quarterly report may work as you say. Likewise, a YSA ward may contain some "aged out YSA" that no longer meet the Handbook definition of YSA.

I'm a senior in high school and will graduate on June 15. My 18th birthday is September 22,2000. I will still be 17 when I graduate. Would I be considered a YSA after I graduate?

winniethephoo1234 wrote:I'm a senior in high school and will graduate on June 15. My 18th birthday is September 22,2000. I will still be 17 when I graduate. Would I be considered a YSA after I graduate?

No. YSA starts at 18.