The Solution
Regardless of if you don’t have a large budget or the latest technology options, you can take steps to keep safety prioritized. Consider the following actions.
-Comprehensively screen all volunteers working directly with kids. Keep records up to date and make sure to continue background checks for those working directly with kids every 12-24 months. Have a waiting period for those new to your ministry and always follow up on references.
-Secure your data. If parents provide information, make sure it is on a secure platform and not connected to your church’s public Wi-Fi. If possible, have accounts that a parent can maintain. This ensures the data is always up to date and offers additional security.
-Children’s name tags are essential. If they are handwritten, include allergy information and have volunteers and staff check the tags regularly in case of the details have changed.
-If you are short on volunteers and staff to run assigned classrooms, consider combining no more than two grades at a time. If classrooms are not an option, try to designate an area or space for combined classes. This helps establish boundaries and can be communicated to parents so they know where their kids are located.
-Have an emergency plan that reflects what your organization can support at this time. Train staff and volunteers on the new protocol and regularly communicate the change in process to families, staff, and leadership. The last thing you want to do is try to pull something together when there’s an incident.
-Have a well-defined children’s check-in and check-out process. If your organization cannot use an electronic solution, make sure you capture the process in written form, train volunteers and staff, and communicate it to parents.
-If you have a custody situation where a parent should not have access to a child or multiple kids are not granted to a parent, you will need to have photos of who can retrieve them. If a check-in system or other technology is not available to store and access the images, purchase a polaroid camera, and keep the pictures in a 3-ring binder, under a protective cover for each age group with the family information written on the back of the picture. Volunteers can pull the binders for check out, and they can be stored in a secured place when they are not being used.
Safety doesn’t happen by accident. Regardless of what resources you have available, a lot can be done to prioritize protection and safety. As a parent, I would rather see manual safety protocols in place than none.
