CHILDCARE RULES - Fall 2008

Organizing Childcare for Your Meeting or Event

It is our commitment to the families of this church to be accessible to all by offering childcare at all church sponsored events and meetings whenever possible. This creates a fully participating community, allowing parents to be involved in the life of our church.

That said, our budgetted funds are quickly dwindling. We are asking committees who need childcare to consider meeting on Mondays (except for 1st Mondays) or Wednesdays when childcare is already offered. The committee or group leader should call Regina Boker at 686-6688 to let her know if you are going to meet those nights so she can get your meeting on her calendar.

Calling Procedure for Group or Committee Leaders:

1. Ask your group or potential audience to reserve ahead for childcare. Collect names and ages of children.

2. Contact the Childcare Lead, Regina Boker, at least TWO weeks or more, prior to your event to allow her enough time to make calls to providers. 686-6688

Childcare funds are ONLY for church events, not for events organized by an outside entity that is renting/borrowing our space (even if the organizer is a church member). Approximately 10 hours per month are allocated for church meetings and parties.

If it is possible, scheduling your meeting when other committees are present and need childcare is the best use of childcare hours and funds. A calendar of events already set with childcare staff will be posted in the upstairs hallway and in room 4, so groups can try to coordinate with other meetings and use our childcare funds more efficiently.

It is policy that we have two childcare providers available at all times, even if there are only one or two children. This keeps the children and the providers safe. However, this is not always possible, so if only one childcare provider is available, the provider and child must be in the adjoining room with the door open/cracked. If the door cannot remain open, a frequent visual check-in must be made from another adult during the meeting/event. The provider may be required to interrupt your meeting to ask for help with bathroom breaks or other emergencies.

In-charge childcare providers must be age 18 or older. Providers under 18 may not be left alone with the children. The exception to this is if the childcare is being held in the next room (with the door open or a frequent check-in) and all parents are made aware that the provider is under 18. In any case, a provider under 18 may not be left alone with more than 2 children. Two providers under age 18 may work with a group of 6 if there is not more than one infant in the group.

If no children have shown up to a meeting within 25 minutes of the start time, the provider may leave and clock in for 1 hour. They are requested to let your event leader know that they are leaving the premises.

Keys: Not all providers have a key to the classrooms. The event leader should unlock room 4, or the room being used for childcare, and a restroom. If their providers do not have a key, the event leader is responsible for locking the space at the end of the event.

If the Childcare Lead cannot find an available provider for your event, you may hire a provider on your own. If you can find a church volunteer, we will need to run just a background check on them. Contact the Director of Religious Education for this form.

If you hire someone for the event that will be paid, they will need to meet with the Director for a quick orientation and paperwork. If you hire a one-time worker who is working for free or pay, as long as they are working with one trained staff, may bi-pass the orientation and paperwork, and just fill out a time sheet. Be sure to communicate with the Director or Childcare lead about this. Also, let the trained staff know that this person is temporary and has not gone through safety checks.

If someone is being hired for a longer period of time or frequent jobs, they must schedule a time with the DRE to fill out paperwork, including bringing in their I.D. and SS card or a passport. They must also have an orientation (1 hour) with the DRE or the Childcare Lead. The orientation includes behavior management policies, snack and allergy information, location of First Aid supplies, etc…