Why should safety be in the forefront of your mind while you’re serving? Shouldn’t we be focused on having fun and sharing Jesus’ love?

Here’s what it comes down to: Safety creates the environments where we can have fun and share Jesus’ love. Watch this video and read below to find out why safety matters.

Parents want to know their child will be safe when they leave them with us. And, even if they don’t often verbalize it, kids want to know they’re safe while they’re with us. LifeKids focuses on safety because safety builds trust with parents and kids. Trust brings parents back and helps kids feel loved and known in their small groups.

We have five non-negotiables in LifeKids to promise safety to kids and parents. That means we can tell parents that these five things will be true, no matter which service they attend or which campus they attend.

Two-Adult Policy
The two-adult policy provides accountability and security at all times. Here’s what the policy looks like.

• In a LifeKids room, there will always be two adults age 18 or older present to supervise kids.
• When a kid needs a restroom break or to be escorted anywhere outside of a room, two adults age 18 or older will accompany the child.
• When you only have 2-3 adult leaders in your room and a child needs to be escorted to the hallway or taken outside of the room for a restroom break, use your walkie talkie to get another leader over the age of 18 to assist and maintain accountability.

Check-in and Check-out Policy
Our check-in and check-out policy helps parents know their kids will be in their LifeKids room and not wandering about unattended. It provides extra security for families who may be going through custody battles, foster kids, and in instances where parental rights have been terminated. Here’s what you need to know.

• Kids do not enter LifeKids rooms without a LifeKids name tag. In baby and Early Childhood rooms, they also need to be signed in by an adult.
• Kids do not leave a LifeKids room without being properly checked out. The parent code sticker provided by the parent must match the code on the child’s nametag.
• In the instance of a lost nametag or parent code, use a walkie talkie to notify a LifeKids staff member. They can follow other steps to verify the child may be checked out.
• Even if you know the parent and the child, do not let the child leave without checking them out correctly. Another parent may see you skip the procedure, assume the policy is inconsistent, and lose faith in the security measure.

Food and Drink Policy
Allergies and choking are no joke. Our food and drink policy’s intent is to give parents peace of mind that their kids will be safe with us. Here’s how you can uphold the policy.

• No food, snacks, beverages, or candy is allowed to be consumed in a LifeKids room.
• Babies are the exception: bottles can be fed to babies, but they should be held to lessen the chance of another baby being exposed to their formula and to reduce the risk of choking.

Restroom and Diaper Policy
The procedures we have surrounding restroom use ensure accountability for adult leaders, safety for kids, and security parents. Here’s what the policy looks like.

• LifeKids leaders under age 18 do not change diapers, give restroom breaks, or offer restroom assistance.
• All kids in diapers have their diapers changed by a female at least once per service, with a “changed with love” sticker placed on the new diaper to let parents know.
• When a diaper changing station is located in a half-door restroom, the top half of the doors should remain fully open while a female changes the diaper. Another leader (male or female) needs to actively supervise the interaction to offer accountability.
• When a half-door restroom is in a room, the top half of the door (or both doors if two doors are present) should be left open to appropriately supervise young kids.
• If a young child using a half-door restroom requires assistance, one adult may assist them as long as the top half of the doors are fully open and another leader is actively supervising the interaction to offer accountability. If the child is female, the assisting leader must be female.
• Two adults aged 18 or over are required to take a kid to a restroom that is not inside a LifeKids room.
• When a child in Konnect or Loop requires assistance in a restroom, two adult leaders (both female if the child is female) may offer assistance to the child in the full-door restroom with the door ajar to offer further accountability.

Mandatory Reporting
Report suspected or actual abuse to Life.Church staff.

Talk through these discussion questions with your fellow leaders and LifeKids team to see what you can do to consistently follow all LifeKids non-negotiables and keep kids safe.

1. Which of the policies do you think are easiest to keep up with?
2. If one of the policies is difficult for you to follow through with, talk it through with your coach or a LifeKids staff member to see what can hold you accountable.
3. What do you think is most important about thinking through safety in LifeKids?
4. How do you think offering a safe environment builds trust with parents and kids?
5. If LifeKids didn’t focus on safety, how do you think that would affect our ability to have fun with the kids and share Jesus’ love with them?