Supreme Knight Carl Anderson is no longer allowing new Columbian Squires Circles to be chartered or reactivated. He has also encouraged local Knights of Columbus Councils to support Church youth groups instead of supporting Squires programs.

While many Councils already do this, what seems to be missing the reason why the Columbian Squires program exists to begin with... training young Catholic men to be LEADERS in the Catholic Church! While youth groups in Churches are great for getting youth closer to Christ, they don't allow the kids to be LEADERS in the Church.

While our Supreme Knight is anxious to get young men to join the Knights of Columbus, we neglect the very 'minor leagues' that trains young men to be Knights BEFORE they are 18 years old and eligible for membership.

The Knights of Columbus has a very intensive Youth Protection Training program for its members (Praesideium's Armatus Safe Environment Program Training) under the Office of Youth Protection already in place. http://www.kofc.org/en/members/programs/youth-activities/safe-environment-program.html

Also, many state councils also have any member of the Order that would interact with youth to take the youth protection program of the Diocese that they live.

With these safeguards in place, this "...assures members and their families that we maintain a safe environment, protects members from awkward situations, misunderstandings, and appearances of impropriety, builds trust with arch/dioceses and parishes, and protects the good name of the Knights of Columbus."