Under Sixteen Policy
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.
Checklist to implement this policy:
These are the steps that must then happen.
- 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.
- Sign written Under 16 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
- Emergency contact and sponsors' names go into kid's notes field in database.
- Sponsor lets core know about kid.