WSM Volunteer Packet

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Please read our Children's, Youth, and Big House Ministry Safety Policy

WEBSTER BAPTIST CHURCH
Children's, Youth, and Big House Ministry Safety Policy

Safe Church Child Protection Policies and Procedures

** FOR REFERENCE, A “CHILD” IS ANYONE UNDER 18 YEARS OLD** 
Please request a copy of this policy for your reference.

Child Protection Policies

1. Screening and Verification: All volunteers will be screened, background checked, and verified prior to serving.
● Each volunteer in our ministries is required to complete an application process,
which includes a volunteer packet with questions relevant to serving in children’s ministry and a background check. No volunteer will be considered for any position involving contact with minors until he/she has been involved with WBC for a minimum of six months. College students should be involved for one semester (4-5 months).
● Youth must be at least 4th grade to volunteer in the Youth Volunteer Program. Only high school students in the Youth Volunteer Program or 4th-8th grade students (with their parent) can volunteer in the nursery.
● In the event that there are last minute volunteers who have not been screened, they will be approved by the Ministry Director and placed with a volunteer or staff member who has had a background check and safe church training.
● BIG HOUSE: Families are encouraged to serve together in the BIG HOUSE MINISTRY. All adults 18 and over must go through the screening and verification process. Children of volunteers age Kindergarten and up are allowed to serve with their parent.

2. Regular required teacher/volunteer trainings: This will include review of policies, abuse and child neglect awareness, classroom management, and information on child evangelism. They are held twice per school year and volunteers should attend in either the fall or the spring.
● Volunteers should adhere to all policies and procedures.
● Volunteers are entrusted to teach the children of WBC about the Gospel. We ask that volunteers commit themselves to loving the children as Christ loves them and set an example for proper Christian conduct in the way we live our lives.
● Volunteers are required to attend an annual, comprehensive teacher training to ensure our volunteers understand and follow our policies and to enable them to nurture our children/youth. ● Volunteers who do not attend these trainings will not be allowed to continue serving.

3.Two-Adult Rule: There should always be two adults, at least one of whom is a woman, present while children are there. This is to protect the children from the possibility of abuse and to protect adults from false accusations. If there is a situation in which there is only one adult, the door to the room should be open and the hall monitor should be made aware of the situation, so that they can walk by frequently to provide visibility for the teacher.
  
3a. YOUTH: In gender specific small groups, youth do not have to have a woman in each group, but there should always be at least two male leaders with a group of male students.

3b. BIG HOUSE: An individual in the Big House Ministry has one buddy assigned to them. The Buddy will spend time with the child in areas that contain other adults (i.e. shared classroom, hallway, lobby.)_

4. Visibility: There should always be unobstructed visibility into all the children's classrooms. Children's classrooms and activities should be in a well contained area that protects them by design.

4a. YOUTH: If meeting one-on-one with a youth, make sure there is unobstructed visibility to the room/area. Let another staff member or youth worker know about the meeting.

4b. BIG HOUSE: If taking the individual on a walk or to another area, make sure there is unobstructed visibility to the room/area. Let another staff member or volunteer know about the meeting.

5. Safe Check In/Out Procedures: All children in any children's classes and/or children's church, should be checked in/out by a parent or guardian at the children's desk. All infants/toddlers should also be checked in/out to the nursery by a parent or guardian. All children will wear name tags with relevant information.

5a. YOUTH: Youth do not have to wear name tags, but should be electronically checked in/checked out to approved adults until the student is driving. Youth should remain with youth workers until picked up by parents/approved adult.

5b. BIG HOUSE: Big House participants should all be checked in electronically, however those over 5th grade do not have to wear a name tag.

6. APPROPRIATE PHYSICAL CONTACT: Physical contact should be appropriate for the age and temperaments of the child or youth. Touching should be initiated by the child or youth and should never be based on the need of the adult. Touching behavior must always be above reproach and should never be forced upon a reluctant child or youth.
Appropriate touching is as follows: ·
● Volunteers are encouraged to give children or youth a high five, hand shake, pat on the back, or use gentle touches to shoulder, arms, and the upper back . ·
● Hugs: Children and Youth workers can respond warmly to hugs that are child/youth initiated but should never ask for hugs or kisses...regardless of age. A brief, casual hug is the only appropriate response to a child-initiated hug.
● Sitting a child on your lap is inappropriate EXCEPT with children under kindergarten.
● Touching between an adult and a youth/child shall only occur in the presence of other adults.
● A youth or child’s preference not to be touched should be respected by adults and others. This includes youth to youth and child to child.
● Volunteers and staff shall not abuse children including but not limited to:
○ (1) physical abuse - e.g. strike, spank, shake, slap
○ (2) verbal abuse - e.g. humiliate, degrade, threaten
○ (3) sexual abuse of any kind, including inappropriate touching and exposure

 ● Workers are responsible for protecting the children/youth in their care from inappropriate touching by others and all questionable behavior must be promptly reported.

7. Restroom and Diapering:
● Parents are encouraged to take toilet-trained children to the restroom prior to coming to class.
● Once checked in, children should only use the children’s bathrooms down the children’s hallway, not the bathrooms in the CLC lobby.
● Only women 18 and older are allowed to take children to the restroom if under 5 years of age. Teenage helpers from 14 – 17 should not take children to the bathroom or change diapers. This should be done by women over 17.
● When assisting a child in the bathroom, use clear communication to ask/tell the child what you are helping them with. Let the child do as much as possible on their own.
● At 5 years of age, they are allowed to use the restroom alone, provided Hall Monitor is there to check bathroom and maintain supervision. Hall Monitor is available to provide two-person rule for child using restroom under 5 years of age.
● Adults must wash hands, and those of child after bathrooming.
● Babies must never be left unattended on changing table.
● The children’s church rooms are not equipped with the same diaper changing equipment as the nursery, therefore, parents may be paged to assist children in the children’s church classes who are not yet toilet-trained.

8. Wellness Guidelines: To provide a safe and healthy environment, children with the following symptoms should not be dropped off:
● Fever, vomiting or diarrhea within the last 48 hours.
● Green or yellow runny nose.
● Eye or skin infections.
● Other symptoms of communicable disease.
● If a child develops any of these symptoms while in class, the parent will be paged to pick up the child. If a parent cannot be reached via cell phone or our paging system, the child will stay outside of the class with the hall monitor.
● Security tags for children with allergies will be marked. Parents should also discuss allergies with teachers at drop off.
9. First Aid:
● First Aid kits are located in all children areas. We can only provide band-aids and ice packs.
● If an epi-pin is needed, this needs to be discussed and planned with the Directors and Hall Monitors.
● Any injury should be reported to the directors and to the parents, and an injury report filled out.

10. Evacuation:
● At the beginning of every class, please take a paper attendance and place that roster in the folder next to the light switch. In the event on an emergency, you should grab this roster to know how many children you have in your class and to take roll once you reach safety.
● In the event of an emergency in the CLC building, children, toddlers, and infants should be exited through the outside doors in their classrooms, to the playground to await their parents’ arrival. Hall Monitors should assist and have attendance to ensure all are accounted for. Parents should not try to come through Children's wing, but should exit from where they are, and report to the playground to retrieve their child.
● Any children/youth in the basement of the church, will exit through the stairs, out to the parking lot, and congregate under the porch of the Fellowship Hall. Their teacher will bring their attendance as well.

11. Reporting Abuse and/or Neglect:
According to NC state law, everyone has a duty to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect by parents, custodians, or caregivers. Reported allegations will be given to the children's coordinator who will notify the correct authorities immediately. When reporting abuse, include the following information: name and address of the juvenile/disabled adult; the name and address of the juvenile/disabled adult’s care-taker; the age of the juvenile/disabled adult; the names and ages of other juveniles/disabled adults in the home; the present whereabouts of the juvenile/disabled adult; the nature and extent of any injury or condition resulting from abuse, neglect, or dependency and; any other information which the person making the report believes might be helpful.

12. Transportation: Transporting children/youth is a big responsibility and WBC takes the safety of our children very seriously. If you plan on transporting any children/youth, please fill out the provided Private Vehicle Driving Form and turn in with your other documents.
Please keep the policies and procedure document for your future reference. Put the following documents back in the envelope provided and turn in to Caleb, Jordan or put in the office box right outside the office door.
● Application
● Background Check
● Policy Procedure Signature Page
● Private Vehicle Driving Form

I have read all of the WBC Children's, Youth, and Big House Safety Policy

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