General Requierments
<prev next>
Adult Oversight of Infants, Children and Youth It is the intent of Aldersgate United Methodist Church (AUMC) to assure that infants, children and youth will be supervised by two people at all times while participating in AUMC sponsored activities.
One adult (minimum) shall have the direct responsibility for supervision of infants, children, youth and, as needed, where developmental disabilities exist, with the exception that for those evening activities which are held in the church building, there will be two responsible sitters from the youth nursery sitting staff.
1. An "Adult" is defined, for the purposes of this document, as any person over the age of 18.
2. The adult responsible for any group shall be a minimum of 4 years older than the oldest child for which he or she is responsible.
3. Unless otherwise specified, volunteer and/or paid staff may provide additional help for all of AUMC ministries. The minimum age for these helpers is 14 years.
4. The adult responsible for any AUMC ministry has the authority and responsibility to cancel any planned activity if adequate supervision is not present.
5. If the necessity for one-on-one interaction between adults and children, youth or disabled persons arises, the interaction should occur in an unenclosed area and with the knowledge of another adult. This interaction shall occur within sight and/or sound of another adult if at all possible.
6. If adults responsible for an AUMC activity find themselves in a situation where they are one-on-one with an infant, child or youth, other than their own child, they shall avoid isolated areas (classrooms, cars, etc). Immediately, if possible, they shall notify a member of the AUMC pastoral staff or the volunteers coordinator of the situation. (Example: If an adult needs to take a child home, the adult shall notify a member of the pastoral staff or the volunteers coordinator before departing.) A list of the current pastoral staff and the volunteers coordinator and phone numbers is found in the appendix of this AUMC Safe Sanctuary Policy.
7. When activities involve children or youth of both sexes, there should be both male and female sponsors. Where possible, the two adults should not be of the same family.