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. 

Volunteering with our children on Sundays (FOR BFM MEMBERS AND ATTENDERS)

Please help support our BFM families by volunteering to meet childcare needs.  Families with children are an important part of Bethesda Friends Meeting (BFM).  They are the future of our Meeting and indeed of Quakerism.

Families with children need child care in order to participate in Meeting for Worship and other BFM activities. 

• Currently, we provide care for preschool children every Sunday using paid professional childcare helpers. We also offer First Day School (FDS--religious education) for older children (K-8) on the first and third Sundays of the month. 
• BFM needs volunteers to help the paid professionals, so that we can provide full care for all our children on the non-FDS Sundays (the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays). 
• The Religious Education committee is asking you to volunteer to help with childcare on those Sundays.  Two volunteers need to attend in person and be on standby for each non-FDS Sunday from 10:50 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.  (If no FDS-age children arrive by 11:20, volunteers can go to Meeting for Worship or leave.)
• If children in the older age group arrive, each BFM volunteer will be paired with a paid childcare helper, so two adults will be available for both preschool children and for school-age children as required by our Youth Safety policy.  
• It is not difficult!  We have a day care room with toys for the youngest children. We have bags of games and a playground for the older children. 
• Detailed instructions will be emailed to each volunteer before their volunteer date.  
• If you are interested in volunteering, please email youthsafety@bethesdafriends.org. They will give you the Sign-Up Genius link to pick a time that fits your schedule. 

Please also help by taking the 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.