New Parent Guide

WE MAKE IT SAFE.

SAFETY GUIDELINES

The safety of your child is a priority for our ministry, so we wanted to get you in the loop on how we plan to care for and protect them.

WE SET BOUNDARIES.

We have set a number of guidelines for our kids ministry staff and volunteers. As a parent, you can help us make sure your child is well-cared for by helping us maintain these boundaries:

No volunteer may ever be alone with kids.
Volunteers may never be in a bathroom alone with kids.
All children 3 years and under be escorted to the bathroom by a parent or guardian. Children ages 4 years and up may escort themselves after receiving permission from the teacher.
All rooms will have the proper ratios of trained volunteers, with a minimum of two volunteers at all times.
All volunteers must maintain appropriate physical boundaries with kids at all times and are trained in appropriate touch.
For children 3 years or younger, you may indicate on the clipboard upon check-in whether or not you would like our kids team to change your child’s diaper. Only females who are 18 and older are permitted to change diapers.
To help keep kids safe and healthy, kids will not be allowed to enter the kids ministry if they have any of the following: Fever of 100 degrees or greater (Children must be fever-free without the use of medications for 24 hours prior to returning to a classroom), vomitting, diarrhea, chills, sore throat, excessive runny nose, bad cough, rash, pink eye, or lice.
Our church policy is to report any signs or suspicions of child abuse or neglect.
Medical personnel are on hand in the event of an accident or emergency. Parents will be immediately contacted if there is a medical incident with their child.

WE HAVE STRICT PICK-UP + DROP-OFF POLICIES.

Kids are under the care and supervision of their parents until they are checked into the kids ministry. We require all kids 4th grade and under be checked in by a parent or guardian and escorted to their class by the parent or guardian.

Kids must be checked in for services by parents, using our check-in system by entering their phone number. If a phone number is not found, please see a check-in attendant to assist you.
Once checked in, an identification tag with your child’s name and age/grade will be printed as well as a parent tag/claim sticker that matches your child’s.
The parent/guardian must wear the parent tag prominently on their person for easy identification by security and volunteers to pick up your child.
A child may not be picked up by anyone under the age of 16 years old.
If you lose your sticker, see a check-in attendant.
Security volunteers are posted at the entryway to our Inspire Kids areas. For the safety of our families, only children and parents with name tag identification are allowed to enter.

WE CONSIDER ALLERGIES.

Due to the risk of allergies, we do not allow outside food/snacks in the classrooms, and we are a peanut free facility. When food and drink are used in our classrooms, an allergy alert sign will be posted. Water is readily available for your child.

WE PAGE PARENTS.

Pagers are given to parents of children age 3 and younger so they can be easily contacted in the sanctuary. For all other children, a parent’s ID number will flash on the sanctuary screen.
We will page parents if children exhibit symptoms of illness, are crying inconsolably for more than 10-15 minutes, or if a child behaves in an inappropriate manner that is distracting to the learning environment to sit with your child in the classroom or pick them up.

CORRECTIVE MEASURES POLICIES:

If a child is behaving inappropriately or inconsolable in such a way that is distracting to the learning environment, the following steps will be taken:

FIRST MEASURE – A volunteer will encourage the inconsolable child to engage with others. As to a child behaving inappropriately, a volunteer will talk with the child about proper behavior and present appropriate behavior to replace it, as the case may be.
SECOND MEASURE – The inconsolable child will continue to receive encouragement from a volunteer. On the other hand, if a child continues to misbehave, a volunteer will assign the child a period of time away from the other children in a way that avoids public humiliation for approximately one minute per year of age, not to exceed five minutes.
THIRD MEASURE – A volunteer will contact the child’s parent/guardian to stay with the child until consoled or the behavior improves, as the case may be. The parent has the option to continue care in our family room.

If it is deemed that a child’s behavior creates a risk of or actually brings harm to himself/herself, other children, or volunteers (ie: hitting, biting, bullying, refusing to breathe, etc.), parents will be contacted immediately to assist and/or care for the child in our family room. If any of the above behaviors persist, the child’s parent/guardian will need to attend the program with the child for two consecutive weeks before the child may attend the program alone.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT / PARENT CO-OP

We believe that the biggest faith influencers in a child’s life are their parents and guardians! From being a classroom assistant to helping families check-in or helping with office work and planning events, we’d love to partner with you. Please sign-up to volunteer by visiting: https://inspirechurch.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/237/responses/new