youth safety policies and procedures  

Youth Safety Policy (2021)

Please use this link to view and download BFM's Youth Safety Policy (2021; pdf). 

The policy was created to provide direction to the Meeting in the selection, hiring, and training of employees (or contract workers) and volunteers who are responsible for the supervision, guidance, and teaching of our children, as well as a committee structure to deal with concerns about child and youth safety. By implementing these practices, our goal is to protect the children and youth of Bethesda Friends Meeting from incidents of misconduct or inappropriate behavior.

Youth Program Procedural Manual (2021

The information in the Youth Program Procedural Manual (Nov 2021; pdf) reflects the revised Bethesda Friends Meeting (BFM) Youth Safety Policy (YSP) that was approved in April 2021. The Procedural Manual is designed for BFM youth workers who care for and teach BFM youth, ages 6 months to 18 years, and it incorporates procedures for the Child Care Program and First Day School Program.  

• The manual contains useful information for parent(s)/guardian(s) and anyone interested in learning more about the BFM Child Care and Religious Education Programs.   
• Besides being available on the BFM website, hard copies of both the Youth Safety Policy and the Youth Program Procedural Manual are available in the Meeting library. 

Please take our Youth Safety Training 

BFM’s Youth Safety Policy requires FDS teachers, paid childcare helpers, and anyone working more than 3 times a year with the children to undergo a background check, youth safety training, and a first aid course.  All of our FDS teachers and paid childcare helpers satisfy these requirements.  You can find more information about this policy here: https://www.bethesdafriends.org/resources/Documents/Public-Youth-Safety/Youth-Program-Procedural-Manual-2021-11.pdf

• We strongly encourage everyone in our community to take the youth safety training  whether they expect to work directly with young Friends or not.  This will make us all familiar with the standards of appropriate conduct—including how to behave individually around our young Friends and when to report suspicious activity. 
• To complete the online youth safety training, go to  https://training.reportabusemd.com/  and click on “login” in the middle panel.  You will then create a profile, take the training, and receive a certificate of completion.  Once you are logged in, choose the first option, “Mandated Reporter Training” to begin the online training.  It takes 30-45 minutes with a quiz at the end.  Then you will receive your certificate.  Finally, please send an email to youthsafety@bethesdafriends.org stating you've completed the training. 
• For more information about volunteering for childcare or about youth safety training, contact youthsafety@bethesdafriends.org.