Editing Youth Guard (section)

==Modus operandi==
The Youth Guard is the third largest peripheral organization around the PRT, and can actively work with or against the PRT to achieve its goals. The organization's primary purpose is to ensure the safety and well-being of child parahumans, which includes but is not limited to the Wards. They also have a focus on PR, similar to the PRT, acting as a charity, keeping up a good image, and staying relevant in the public eye.<ref name=":4" /> 

The Youth Guard's operations can utilize both legal means and public sentiment. They can reach out with their legal arm to impose fines, leverage judicial rulings to constrain the PRT, force certain actions, or temporarily pull a Ward off the team. When legal means aren’t available, they can use the media to apply pressure and influence public opinion.<ref name=":5" /> They have the ability to reach out to politicians and larger bodies, giving them a degree of political pull. Beyond the PRT, the Youth Guard collaborates heavily with child protective services, police, media, schools, and cape moms/dads.<ref>'''Allies:''' The Youth Guard ''sometimes'' work with the PRT and the aforementioned hotlines may lead to new heroes being referred back to the PRT, often with YG officers heavily involved in their cases from the outset.  Most often they are a force in opposition to the PRT, especially as challengers, critics or investigating bodies for any new Wards programs and efforts that aren’t explicitly and entirely for the sake of the young heroes.  Beyond the PRT, they collaborate heavily with child protective services, police, media, schools, ‘cape moms’, and ‘cape dads’. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bFLkNlycuTmRJIECK2K5od_3nyPp0koTGmKyzg_CQVM/edit Organization: Youth Guard]</ref>

===Wards===
As the initial reason for their conception, the Wards program has numerous systems put into place for Youth Guard intervention. The Youth Guard is automatically brought into the picture if Wards receive lower than average grades. Repeated hospitalizations, reports from teachers or parents, or reports from the Wards themselves may also kick off the automatic integration of Youth Guard resource officers or automatic enactment of other penalties. The Youth Guard can also use their legal branch to keep the PRT in check. When the PRT cannot or will not protect a Ward from outside forces like media antagonism, the Youth Guard can step in to defend them. In cases where a Ward is trying to sue someone, the Youth Guard may assist when the PRT refuses to. Outside of legal methods, the Youth Guard can also appeal to the public, using the media to achieve results.<ref name=":5">The Youth Guard is automatically brought into the picture if Wards receive grades lower than their average grade prior to becoming Wards, which leads many departments to scramble to improve their new Wards’ grades.<br><br>Repeated hospitalizations, reports from teachers or parents, or reports from the Wards themselves may also kick off the automatic integration of Youth Guard resource officers or automatic enactment of other penalties.  These measures may also apply to non-PRT heroic teams (where the grades do not, unless they are very bad), and lead to the Youth Guard getting involved.  These automatic processes don’t require lawyers, judges, or anything beyond the wrong info getting entered into files, and once underway are an uphill battle for the PRT to undo or prevent.<br><br>The Youth Guard can also reach out with their legal arm to impose fines, leverage judicial rulings to constrain the PRT, force certain actions, temporarily pull a Ward off the team, or seek bigger amounts.  They sometimes can and will act legally in situations where the PRT cannot or will not, to protect Wards from outside forces, such as media antagonism.  Wards may also reach out to the Youth Guard to get help suing someone in scenarios where the PRT has said they won’t, often because they don’t want to draw attention to something or they are taking action but the bureaucratic process is slow.<br><br>When legal means aren’t available, the Youth Guard can turn to public sentiment instead, using media to apply pressure.  Newsworthy scenarios and cases and a sympathetic Ward can lead to protests, school events, and calling campaigns.  The Youth Guard is a popular charity with the soccer mom demo, and this is a demo with a fair amount of clout and voting power, so they tend to get results.<br><br>Youth Guard employees are rarely combat-ready and are primarily bystanders.  When relevant crises emerge, there may be a small number of zealots (Believer specific, combat-ready forces) among the rallied volunteers, but this is rare and necessitates an excess of outrage and a situation that has gone badly out of control, and it is rare for the Youth Guard to not have a voice and for riots to happen. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bFLkNlycuTmRJIECK2K5od_3nyPp0koTGmKyzg_CQVM/edit Organization: Youth Guard]</ref>

In terms of priorities, the Youth Guard emphasizes safety, essential and tertiary needs, education, and identity. Deploying Wards into excessively dangerous situations, placing Wards in the way of parahumans with an undeniable ability to cause mental or emotional trauma, and knowingly thrusting a Ward into a situation where their traumas are exacerbated are all greatly discouraged. Wards must be given adequate amounts of time to fulfill their physical and emotional needs, restricting the extent to which a Ward can be put into action. The PRT cannot be overly authoritarian, and must give Wards the ability to make their own decisions, keep in contact with loved ones, and enjoy entertainment.<ref name=":3" />

The Youth Guard also ensures that a Ward's identity is respected. Wards are given a degree of involvement with the creation of their costumed identities, and those identities should conform to particular standards. Costumes cannot be overtly sexual, requiring 65% coverage of the body from the jawline down at minimum. Taking action that suppresses or interferes with the Ward’s gender identity and/or sexual identity is strictly prohibited; departments must strive to create a costume that matches the Ward's gender identity. Finally, name and brand changes are limited to prevent exacerbating a Ward's identity issues.<ref name=":3">'''Safety'''<br>In circumstances where risks to the Ward are viewed as above and beyond the call of duty and not solely the fault of the Ward, the Youth Guard may call for penalties.<br><br>These concerns and subsequent penalties typically follow events where the Ward themselves feel they were thrust into a situation they were not comfortable with, where PRT staff raises questions, or footage finds its way to television or the internet, with the Ward facing obvious undue risk and, in rulings where the penalties were assigned, ensuing harm.<br><br>Mental and emotional risk are harder to assess, but specific cases may be made for putting Wards in the way of parahumans with an undeniable ability to cause mental or emotional trauma, including specific Masters or Shakers.<br><br>All Wards have their particular needs, relating to the circumstances of their trigger events, and knowingly thrusting a Ward into a situation where their traumas are exacerbated can raise questions.<br><br>'''Essential Needs'''<br>Wards should not be placed in action for prolonged periods of time if they would be denied the ability to eat, hydrate themselves or use bathroom facilities.  Repeated interruption of the Ward’s sleep schedule may raise questions.  These problems are usually symptomatic of a greater issue, and the Youth Guard typically steps in at the behest of the parent or youth.<br><br>'''Tertiary Needs'''<br>Rarely a standalone point, but oft raised as context to support other rulings.  Overly authoritarian discipline, disallowing the Ward the ability to make their own decisions, cutting them off from loved ones, and denying any entertainment in the off-hours where the youth remains on duty may raise questions.<br><br>Frequently a concern for Directors - the head office would like to stress that the concern lies primarily with situations where the Ward is given no choices at all.  The essential point to take away is that they are youths, not robots.<br><br>'''Education'''<br>Perhaps one of the most frequently raised concerns, given that it comes to pass twice a year at a minimum for any Ward, measures currently require that a youth maintain at least the same average grade that they had prior to becoming a parahuman.  However, maintaining the same grades for a prolonged time may still be cause for concern.  The objective, the Youth Guard would argue, is for the PRT to be a positive influence, giving structure and mentorship to the Wards, with a corresponding increase in grades.  The drop of a letter grade with a report card may warrant Youth Guard attention.  Mid-year grades or report cards in multi-semester programs remain one of the rare cases where a warning is warranted instead.<br><br>A lack of attendance can be considered a zero grade, with all the consequences this might entail.<br><br>'''Identity'''<br>Related in part to tertiary needs, the Youth Guard works to ensure that the Ward program conforms to particular standards and will have the opportunity to check in on any policy changes that might allow the Ward program, training or peripheral rules to compromise the Ward’s identities.  Wards are given a degree of involvement with the creation of their costumed identities, and those identities should conform to particular standards.<br><br>Costumes should maintain 65% coverage of the body from the jawline down at a minimum.  Cleavage should not be demonstrated, and with a young woman standing straight, arms at her sides, dresses and skirts should not be so short that she can touch her bare thigh, unless she wears monocolor tights beneath.  Costumes should not emphasize sexual characteristics, unless it is to mask the apparent age of the Ward.<br><br>Taking action that suppresses or interferes with the Ward’s gender identity and/or sexual identity is strictly prohibited.  Should a Ward self-identify as one gender, the department should strive to assist in creating a costumed identity to match that gender.<br><br>Name and brand changes should be limited.  Adolescents in particular face sufficient identity issues without frequent rebranding.  In some cases, the Youth Guard has stepped in to support Wards who wanted to keep names, even those of questionable taste.  The PRT head office would strongly recommend that the name be chosen carefully and privately, with all relevant parties in attendance. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bFLkNlycuTmRJIECK2K5od_3nyPp0koTGmKyzg_CQVM/edit Organization: Youth Guard]</ref>

When rules regarding any of the previous issues are broken, the Youth Guard may enforce penalties upon the department. It is the Youth Guard’s prerogative to decide what penalty best fits the situation, serves the interests of the Ward(s) in question and is most likely to change the department’s behavior. The Youth Guard can offer a warning instead, but are not liable to without notable outside pressures. A full list of penalties can be found [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Swjz8BZZNE4bq6lTkHanTK4sJ-K_xVlFudxA16mYjH4/edit#bookmark=id.nhk177m1w9ga here].<ref name="PRT">[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Swjz8BZZNE4bq6lTkHanTK4sJ-K_xVlFudxA16mYjH4/edit#bookmark=id.nhk177m1w9ga PRT Document] for [[PRT: Department Sixty-Four]]</ref>

===Non-PRT Teams===
Although the Youth Guard tends to focus on the [[Wards]] program, they are not limited to the PRT, also working with heroic teams that contain underage parahumans.<ref name="II2.5e2">They’d reached out to my parents at one point, because they weren’t limited to the PRT.  They were a guillotine that had hung over the heads of any team with under-eighteen heroes or heroines.<br /><br />“I’ve heard the horror stories,” I said. - [[Flare 2.5]]</ref> However, the mechanisms through which the Youth Guard gets involved are much more constrained and limited than with the PRT, making it harder for them to reach out.<ref name="red1" /> Most non-PRT involvement happens through family court and child welfare services, and because many of the automatic processes aren’t in place for these cases, intervention often doesn't occur until things are already bad.<ref name=":1" /> 

Because most of the Youth Guard’s actions have to go through the court, legal actions and consequences tend to be blunter and higher stakes. Due to their comparatively infrequent intervention, the Youth Guard acts with much more impact when they do intervene, and can enact more extreme measures such as taking a youth away from a family team entirely, or large fines that cripple a fledgling corporate team with a lot of young members. They can also launch large PR blitzes against a given team, which can be devastating if the team's actions are seen as reprehensible.<ref name=":1">'''Sidenote, Non-PRT Teams:'''<br>The mechanisms for the Youth Guard getting involved in non-PRT teams are a little more constrained and limited, and there may be cases where the Youth Guard emphasizes their activities and expenses here because it’s far less visible and there are higher bars for confidentiality, leaks to the media, and judicial action.<br><br>Most non-PRT involvement has to happen through family court and child welfare services, and because many of the automatic processes aren’t in place for these cases, intervention doesn’t tend to happen until things are already bad.  Court, law, the young heroes or heroines themselves or hospitals may reach out to the Youth Guard for help.  Some work in this department may involve finding the cape in question, then carefully reaching out in a way that doesn’t violate the law or the rights the PRT waives.  Because most of the Youth Guard’s actions have to go through the court, legal actions and consequences tend to be blunter and higher stakes.<br><br>In short, arrive later, act less frequently and less on the small things, but act with much more impact when they do, to make efforts worthwhile.  These big actions could include taking a youth away from a family team entirely, or large fines that cripple a fledgling corporate team with a lot of young members.<br><br>PR blitzes tend to be similarly weighted; if the actions are reprehensible, the PR blitz is liable to be massive and devastating.  If more nuanced, the PR blitz may be impossible.  Beating up on a small team can reflect badly.  Because the Youth Guard has the ability to reach out to politicians and larger bodies, and because a city, county and/or state’s government have the ability to either give permission to a team or influence whether law enforcement (the PRT included) works with or against that team, they maintain some ability to utilize the nuclear option and go over everyone’s heads to the mayor, governor, or other overseeing entities.<br><br>Non-PRT teams may consequently be more brazen or less beholden to rules about things like maintaining grades, costuming, payment, working hours, etc.  As a team gets larger, the Youth Guard may start taking more action and imposing more rules. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bFLkNlycuTmRJIECK2K5od_3nyPp0koTGmKyzg_CQVM/edit Organization: Youth Guard]</ref>

Despite this, non-PRT teams still tend to be more lax in the way of things like maintaining grades, costuming, payment, and working hours. Small teams often fly under the radar, especially if they are just starting out. However, as a team becomes more prominent and grows, the Youth Guard usually makes an effort to reach out, and as scrutiny increases the Youth Guard may begin taking more action and imposing more rules.<ref name="red1">Yep. Worth saying they work with other teams that aren't the PRT, but the PRT stuff is higher visibility. Those other teams tend to get some slack, especially before 'taking off', but the Y.G. will act on reports and requests (often with a delay). After a team takes off, the Y.G. will often poke their head in and ask some questions, often inadvertently acting as a big hassle around the point in time a team really wants to focus on riding the cresting wave.<br />[...]<br />[Panacea] wasn't high profile, really.  Y.G. would really only be stepping in if you have a team rising to a prominence where, if they're west coast, people on the east coast know about them, and vice versa.<br><br>With the PRT they have an established agenda, focus, and mechanisms for reaching out.  With anyone else... not so much. - [https://old.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/cshab2/_/exgcel8/?context=3 Tell me about the youth guard]</ref><ref name=":1" />