Under Sixteen Policy

Under Sixteen Policy: Volunteers under 16 years of age need to have an adult volunteer with them
List of Policies - Policy Development

Policy

Body that set the policy(s) on [lists.freegeek_meeting_Minutes Date Adopted].

Volunteers under 16 years of age need to have an adult volunteer with them. This adult may be an older sibling, friend, parent, teacher, neighbor - but they have to be around and responsible for the youth.

However, we recognize that some young volunteers are exceptionally mature. If a core or staff member feels they can vouch for the behavior and safety of the under-16 in question, they may sponsor the volunteer to come in alone. Under-16 volunteers need to get the approval of two core sponsors, one of whom must be part of the Free Geek staff collective.

Under-16 volunteers who would qualify for this exception would, for example, probably be very interested in computers and already know the names and faces of (and probably have a working relationship with) many core volunteers and staff. Often, when you talk to them, you probably forget that you're talking to someone who's under 16.

Notes

Checklist to implement this policy:

These are the steps that must then happen.

1. One collective member and one core volunteer or staff member must sponsor the volunteer. They'll be the ones responsible if someone has a problem with the under-16 volunteer.
2. Sign written Under Sixteen Contract with parent/legal guardian as a witness.
   • Kid gets one copy, FG gets other.
   • Parent/legal guardian signs medical waiver
   • These forms are filed with the volunteer program coordinator
3. Emergency contact and sponsors' names go into kid's notes field in database.
4. Sponsor lets core know about kid.