STAFF AND VOLUNTEER EXPECTATIONS

All children’s ministry staff and volunteers share a particular responsibility for:

• Loving the children as Christ loves them.

• Setting an example of proper Christian conduct in the way we live our lives.

• Ministering to the children.

• Understanding that the care of children is not a right, but a privilege; and this privilege embodies responsibilities to God for ministering to and caring for the children.

CHILD PROTECTION

Our first concern is that children be safe while they are in our care. To this end we:

• Perform background checks on all children’s ministry volunteers.

• Ensure that all children’s ministry volunteers are members at Citizens Church.

• Perform background checks on all full-time church staff, regardless of whether or not they have direct contact with children.

• Require training for all children’s ministry volunteers.

• Use a parent authentication identification system.

• Employ scheduling procedures and volunteer/child ratios that optimize safety.

• Equip each room with a first aid kit.

• Educate our staff and volunteers to recognize suspected child abuse, require them to understand and follow any applicable reporting laws, and encourage them to report suspected abuse to church leadership.

• Adhere to a healthy child policy for admittance to children’s ministry.

• Adhere to a two-volunteer room policy whenever possible.

• Equip our volunteers to know how to evacuate children safely in case of an emergency.

CHECK-IN PROCEDURES

• Volunteers should be ready to accept children 15 minutes prior to the start of any gathering so that parents have enough time to transition their children before the gathering begins.

• Registration will be completed for each child the first time that child attends Citizens Kids.

• When a child is registered, the volunteer at the desk will ask about any allergies their child may have.

• Children will receive a security tag with their name, allergy alerts, and an alphanumeric code on it. Parents will also receive a sticker with that code.

• A volunteer at the desk in the nursery will escort the child to his or her classroom unless the child’s parent requests otherwise.

• As children enter their classrooms, note that they have a check-in sticker to ensure that the child has come through the check-in process.

• Parents must remain on the church premises while their child is checked-in to childcare.

CHECK-OUT PROCEDURES

• All security tags have a security number on it, and each tag must match in order to pick up a child and his or her belongings.

• Parents must have their security tag. If someone else will be picking up their child, they must have the security tag and their name must have been given to a volunteer at check-in as an authorized pick-up person. The volunteer must match the alphanumeric code on the child’s name tag to the sticker returned by the parent.

• As the child is leaving, a volunteer should take the child’s sticker and keep it as a signal that the child is no longer checked in and is released from our care.

• In the event that a parent loses their security tag, they will be asked to show their driver’s license and the volunteer will match this to the child using the computer system. The children’s safety is our first priority, even if it requires extra time.

• Parents are encouraged to pick up their children immediately after the conclusion of the gathering. In the event that a child is not picked up within 15 minutes of the end of the gathering, one of the volunteers will go to locate the parents.

GENERAL CLASSROOM SECURITY

• Citizens Kids volunteers will wear lanyards at all times.

• All classrooms are staffed by a team of two or more volunteers. Under no circumstances is a child to be left in a classroom or anywhere unattended. A parent must stay with a child until a teacher arrives.

• Classroom doors are to remain open while children and volunteers are present.

• One adult should never be alone with a child in a classroom. Children should always be in the presence of two adults.

• Head counts of all children should be made whenever the class or portion of the class leaves the classroom for any reason (including restroom trips).

• Ministry volunteers should never take photographs of children in Citizens Kids and post them online.

SICKNESS POLICY

Parents are asked not to bring their child to a Citizens Kids class if one of the following conditions exists:

• Temperature of 100 degrees or higher within the last 24 hours

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Severe Coughing

• Colored nasal drainage

• Pink eye

• Head lice

• Undiagnosed rash

• Open skin lesions

• Any infectious disease

• If a child shows signs of sickness (including but not limited to, all of the listed above, service coordinators should contact the parents and ask that the child be removed from the kids ministry area).

FOOD POLICIES

• A snack of water and goldfish/animal crackers will be served to children aged 12+ months.

◦ At check-in and drop-off, parents should let volunteers know if their child is potty training. In the event that a child needs to use the restroom, 2 volunteers (at least 1 female volunteer) will take all children to the women’s restroom (regardless of their gender). Prop the main restroom door open and have any male volunteers wait outside the restroom door.

SANITATION & HYGIENE

• Wash hands/Use hand sanitizer before and after any contact with bodily fluids, including wiping noses, changing diapers, cleaning vomit, and treating a blood spill.

• Try to wear disposable gloves when dealing with any bodily fluids.

• Treat all soiled clothing as potential infectious agents (place in ziplock bag).

• Remove toys that children have mouthed from the general play area. Set aside to be sanitized.

• All children’s ministry volunteers are responsible for providing a loving, respectful, and orderly atmosphere in which children can learn, play, and interact with others. This atmosphere should be maintained by preparing beforehand, proactively directing children towards acceptable activities, verbally encouraging positive behavior, and, when necessary, correcting or redirecting inappropriate behavior.

• Acceptable means of redirecting inappropriate behavior may include correcting the child verbally, withholding a certain privilege or activity for a brief time, or separating a child from the situation or problem for a brief time (particularly if his behavior is endangering or upsetting other children). During the correction, a child should never be removed from the classroom. Correction should be discrete; in the classroom (not in the hallway); and never outside of the sight of others.

• Steps of correction might include (depending on the age of the child):

◦ Removing the child from the situation or problem;

◦ Pointing out the problematic behavior;

◦ Talking to the child about his/her sin and need for Christ;

◦ Praying for the child and redirecting to a new activity;

◦ Helping the child to reconcile with the offended children when appropriate. Volunteers should view misbehavior as an opportunity to introduce children to the gospel.

• Children’s ministry volunteers and staff members are strictly prohibited from using any form of corporal punishment such as slapping, kicking, punching, spanking, or hitting. They should never speak harsh words, insults, belittling comments, threatening words, or any other verbal humiliation to children.

◦ If a child’s behavior is uncontrollable or the child does not respond to the acceptable means of discipline indicated above, a volunteer should call the parents. If the child assaults, harasses or bullies other children, misbehaves beyond minor correction, or has a pattern of misbehavior, the parents should be immediately called so the child can be removed. Volunteers are allowed to physically restrain a child if he/she is physically endangering other children. Please report any of these problems (as well as the appropriate response taken to deal with the behavior) to the Children’s Ministry Director. Once a child is removed from children’s ministry, reinstatement is possible at the determination of the Children’s Ministry Director. A child may be reinstated if the risk of re-offense has been adequately reduced.