Editing Youth Guard (section)

===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" />