Life Teen is committed to keeping the health and safety of our event participants and staff a top priority. We are grateful for your patience, flexibility, and compliance as we ensure all safety protocols are being met. All groups will be expected to comply with the safety plans and any additional updates to the plan that are made between now and the event.

Please read the Life Teen COVID-19 Safety Plans for the details on what to expect and be sure to communicate this important information to all members of your group.

Our safety plans are subject to change based on government guidelines in place at the actual time of the event. All state and CDC requirements at the time of the event will be met. Further information and adjustments to policies will be communicated as new information becomes available.

Yes, we will have reduced capacity at the event to accommodate for social distancing and the size of the new venue. Right now, we expect to be able to admit approximately 30% of normal attendance. Because of this the conference may sell out more quickly than in prior years.

Yes, face masks must be worn inside all public areas of buildings, except when actively eating or drinking.

We’re excited to welcome as many people as you’re able to bring to the event! For parishes that register more than 25 people, the Group Leader will divide their group into pods totaling no more than 25 people each. Each pod must meet required chaperone to youth ratios (1 chaperone for up to every 8 youth of the same gender).

Groups are encouraged to maintain these pods for transportation and housing. If intermingling of pods has occurred during transportation and/or housing and an individual tests positive, the entire parish will be required to depart the event.

A pod is a group of people totaling no more than 25 people. For groups that register more than 25 people, the Group Leader will divide their group into pods totaling no more than 25 people each. Each pod must meet required chaperone to youth ratios (1 chaperone for up to every 8 youth of the same gender).

Your pods can be gender-specific or mixed gender. However, it is important to keep in mind that the conference schedule has separate men’s and women’s sessions. For this reason, if a pod is mixed gender, it must have both a male and a female chaperone.

Groups are encouraged to maintain these pods for transportation and housing. If intermingling of pods has occurred during transportation and/or housing and an individual tests positive, the entire parish will be required to depart the event.

Pods of 25 people or less will be socially distanced from all other pods throughout the event. Participants within each pod will not be socially distanced from each other. Each pod will have an assigned seating block, session entrance time, meal/free time space, and confession time to ensure that social distancing is followed. Seating assignments will not rotate throughout the event.

Meals will be pre-packaged with food distribution methods in place that avoid congestion and crowding.

We are still working through the logistics, but expect that groups will receive an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation at a specifically assigned time block. We encourage you to offer an opportunity for the sacrament at your parish prior to arrival at the conference if possible since confession opportunities may be more limited than usual.

Life Teen will not require negative test results from participants upon arrival, but group leaders are encouraged to collect negative test results from all members of their group prior to traveling to the event.

No. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, has tested positive for COVID-19 within 10 days of the start of the event, or has recently been exposed to COVID-19 should not attend the event. Individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 but are showing no symptoms may attend the event only if they have either previously tested positive and recovered from COVID-19 within the last three months or have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the last three months.

We will have a designated space on site to quarantine any potentially ill person so that they are comfortable and cared for and to protect the health of all other guests. Anyone exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 during the event will be taken to this designated space and evaluated. This individual will be required to have a rapid COVID-19 test taken.

If the result is positive, that individual along with the other members of their pod will be required to depart the event. If intermingling of pods has occurred during transportation and/or housing and an individual tests positive, the entire parish will be required to depart the event. It will be the responsibility of the Group Leader to arrange transportation and departure of their pod/group from the event.

If the result is negative, first aid and event staff will work with the individual and Group Leader to determine the best course of action.

Since the conference is not taking place at a college campus, we aren’t able to provide dorm housing as we have historically done with this conference site. Several of our other Steubenville Conferences do not have housing included, so we are confident the conference will still be a great blessing for your teens. Keeping housing separate from the conference registration enables groups to have the most flexibility. You have the option to commute to the conference each day or to book rooms on site for your group at the discounted room rates of $79/room/night. It is completely up to you how many rooms you book, how many people you assign to each room, and whether or not you stay on site. Please be sure to keep in mind all Safe Environment requirements when booking and assigning rooms.

You have the option to commute to the conference each day or to book rooms on site for your group at the discounted room rates of $79/room/night.

Since we cannot have individual teens on site unattended and because of the social distancing requirements, it is preferable if you choose to commute, that your entire group arrives and departs all together each day. However, if this will not be possible for your group, we will work with you to arrange a designated drop off/pick up point specific to your group. Your entire group will need to gather at the designated spot before entering the conference space each day. Please contact Mary Zitelli at mzitelli@lifeteen.com no later than June 15th if your group will need these arrangements made.

The expiration date on all existing credits from previously cancelled events has been extended to December 31, 2022. This means you can use your existing credit for any Life Teen event, camp, resource, or subscription until the end of 2022. As a reminder your credit is equivalent to the amount of money paid and is not specific to the event you were registered for or the number of spots you had registered for. If you are unsure whether or not you have remaining credit or the amount of your credit, please contact Mary Zitelli at mzitelli@lifeteen.com.

To provide more flexibility and help alleviate financial concerns related to any potential COVID-19 cancellations, we have implemented revised cancellation policies. View the full details in our Summer 2021 Cancellation Policies.

Deposit payments are non-refundable, but may be eligible to become credit. If your entire group is unable to attend the event, your deposit payment will become credit with Life Teen that can be used until the end of 2022. If individual members of your group are unable to attend the event, we are unable to offer a refund or credit. You are welcome to bring a substitute in place of the individual(s) who can no longer attend.

After final balance deadlines have passed, the same policies will apply to your final balance payment. The final balance payment deadline for this event is June 15th.

You are welcome to use existing credit to cover deposit or final balance payments. The above policies apply whether you use existing credit or pay new money for your registrations.

If, due to unforeseen circumstances, Life Teen cancels the event, any deposits paid will become credit and any final balances paid will be eligible for a refund.

We strongly encourage you to register your group as soon as possible in case the conference sells out and so that we can best prepare for your arrival. Please be aware that we have a more limited registration capacity than usual this year to accommodate social distancing, so the conference may sell out more quickly than in prior years. We will not be able to accept registrations or additions to groups after July 6th. Please refer to the registration section of the website for additional information about registration.

We love having priests attend the conference with their parishes! The registration fee for priests is waived in gratitude for their willingness to hear confessions, concelebrate mass, and be present to the teens during the conference. Registration for priests is being handled separately from group registration this year. All priests must register via Priest Registration. Do not include your priest in the numbers reserved for your group. If you have a priest that would like to attend the conference with your group, please visit the Priest Registration section of the conference website to read about the required priest paperwork and to fill out the form to get him registered.

Yes. If you have a deacon attending with your group who would like to assist at the conference liturgies, he must bring the following with him to the conference: alb, stole, and Letter of Good Standing (download here). Upon arrival at the conference, he should check-in at the priest check-in table with his Letter of Good Standing.

Yes. In your digital paperwork platform, you’ll need to delete the form of the person no longer attending and have the person replacing them fill out the form using your group’s code. If the replacement is an adult, make sure that they are included on your group’s Safe Environment form.

We have to hold all groups to the cancellation policies that were agreed to during registration. Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferrable to the final balance. Parishes may drop unneeded spots until June 15th. The $50 deposit will be forfeited, but the remaining balance will not be owed if spots are dropped before June 15th. Spots may be dropped by emailing Mary Zitelli at mzitelli@lifeteen.com. Parishes will be held responsible for payment in full for all spots not dropped by June 15th. Be sure to pay attention to these deadlines. The best thing you can do is to find teens to attend! You may want to consider inviting a neighboring parish who is not yet registered to join your group.

The exchanging of spots between parishes is not allowed. You may choose to bring participants from other parishes to fill spots you purchased; however, by doing so, you assume all responsibility for them as they are considered part of your group. They will be seated with your group, you must have enough chaperones to meet the required ratios, and their paperwork must be completed using your group’s code.

The bus driver is not permitted into the conference unless they are a fully paid participant with the proper paperwork submitted.

The University of Arizona was unable to host our group this summer. In order to move forward with the conference this year we had to move to a new venue. We searched for many replacement venues and the DoubleTree Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona was the one that was able to host our group this summer, enabling us to move forward with having the conference.

Since we cannot have individual teens on site unattended and because of the social distancing requirements, it is preferable if you choose to commute, that your entire group arrives and departs all together each day. However, if this will not be possible for your group, we will work with you to arrange a designated drop off/pick up point specific to your group. Your entire group will need to gather at the designated spot before entering the conference space each day. Please contact Mary Zitelli at mzitelli@lifeteen.com no later than June 15th if your group will need these arrangements made.

Youth participants must be age 18 or younger and incoming freshman through just graduated seniors. All chaperones must be 21 years of age or older. Since it is a high school youth conference, young adults ages 19 & 20 who wish to attend the conference should apply to volunteer at the conference as they cannot be registered with a group. All participants must be registered as part of a group with a group leader taking responsibility for adhering to the payment, cancellation, and paperwork policies.

Click here to preorder Steubenville t-shirts for your group. Shirts are $20 and must be ordered by April 30th in order to receive them in time for the conference. If you do not choose to preorder, a limited supply will be available for sale at the conference.

No, infants and children are not allowed at Steubenville Conferences. Although we strongly support Catholic family life, our staffing, facility constraints, and insurance regulations at these conferences do not allow us to provide childcare. Meeting rooms are not designed for the care of young children. In addition, the focus of the group leaders & adult chaperones needs to be on the youth participants. If these adults bring their own children, their focus will be split. With the best care of the youth in mind, this is not allowed.

No, because of safety, security, liability, and safe environment requirements, we aren’t able to have visitors who aren’t registered participants attend any part of the conference.

We will be working with the site to determine the best place for buses, vans and cars to park. Please check back soon for more details. We will also include this in your welcome email prior to the conference.

Please inform Mary Zitelli (mzitelli@lifeteen.com) as soon as possible of any special needs an individual in your group may have so that we can accommodate to the best of our ability. For example, we can arrange to have an interpreter for someone who is hearing impaired during parts of the conference, but we need to know this in advance in order to meet specific needs.

Food allergy information is collected via the online digital liability form. Participants with food allergies must fill out that online form prior to June 15th in order for their allergy to be accommodated at the conference.

Please watch this instructional video that will walk you through how to access your group’s digital paperwork. If you are still having difficulty after watching the video, contact Mary Zitelli (mzitelli@lifeteen.com).

All participants attending the conference must complete a digital liability form. To fill out the digital paperwork for your child, you will need to get your group’s code or direct link from your group leader. This instructional video will walk you through the steps for completing the paperwork.

Yes, you have two options to get your teen registered for the conference. You can form and register a small group comprised of yourself, your teen, and some of his or her friends. In that case you would be the group leader. We require a minimum group size of 3 and all groups must comply with the chaperone requirements. The other option is to find out if there is a parish in your area attending the conference and then you can contact the youth minister at that parish to see if they’d be willing to take your teen as a part of their group. Contact Mary Zitelli (mzitelli@lifeteen.com) to see if any groups from your area are registered.

The Franciscan LEAD weeks that typically take place the week prior to each Steubenville Conference will not be held in 2021. If you have leadership teens that were hoping to attend LEAD, consider bringing a group to the Life Teen Leadership Conference instead!

Our volunteer needs look different this year than they have in previous years. Because of this we will not be opening volunteer registration on a specific date. To inquire about volunteer opportunities, please email steubenvillewest@lifeteen.com.