Page 79 - 2018 Summer Employee Handbook

PARTICIPANT RELEASE PROCEDURE
SUMMER DAY CAMP RELEASE POLICY
Participants enrolled at your site fall into 3 categories. Either they are allowed to come and go as they please; or they are only to be released to an adult written on their roster note; or released to Latchkey.
Participants who may only be released to a particular adult are your first priority when dismissing the group. These participants will be flagged on your roster. They need to be gathered together as a group and walked to the nearest exit or dismissed at the sidewalk nearest to your parking lot by a staff person (never a teen volunteer). Each adult must show ID to ascertain that they are the child’s designated adult. Staff people should rotate this duty so that each staff person becomes familiar with the adults who “match” the participants. After at least 4 face to face meetings ID’s need only be provided if the adult picking up is not the usual adult (but still listed on the roster for the participant). If a participant is picked up during the program, a staff person must verify the identity of the adult the participant is being released to.
This is extremely important and a staff person must always be dedicated to verification of adults and release of participants. Parents may wish to add another adult to their list as the summer progresses. We will allow this, if the parent is present at the site and has complete information on the adult or if the office can verify the addition for the site changes must be made in writing. This must be done before the new adult picks up, not after the fact. If an additional adult is added to a child’s record, that information must be recorded immediately on your roster and given to the CTPR office staff by the end of the day.
Parents trust that if they give us the correct information about who to release their child to that we will follow it. You need to verify this information and continually monitor and check child release procedures throughout the summer. You must always have face to face contact and be able to verify the identity of the adult and verify that the adult is on the participant’s release information or they cannot be released. This is a difficult task in the beginning but will become easier as summer progresses.
All sites must have a formal release plan. An example of a release plan would be for example:
All of the participants’ names are entered onto construction paper cut outs, laminated (obtainable at the MISD Teachers Workshop).
As children arrive they find the “Dismissal tag” and place it in the “IN’ spot (a bulletin board, basket or clothes line). “Dismissal tags” will have the child’s full name and will be separated by shape or color.
Example:
 Come and go on their own participants have a tennis shoe shape.
 Go to latchkey participants are on a key shape.
 Release only to certain adults are on cars.
Five minutes before dismissal time all activity stops and equipment is put away. Participants get their shape from an “In” spot on a bulletin board or clothes line and report to one of 3 different lines. Each line is led by a different staff person and they are spaced far apart and at separate exit areas if possible.
At dismissal time, latch key participants are led by a staff person to the latchkey room – single file line, low talking only. Come and Go participants are led to the door or to the dismissal area by another staff person and watched to be sure they are leaving to a supervised location. “Release only to certain adults” participants are left in their single file line. Their staff person uses the roster and does ID checks to insure that the person picking up the child is authorized. ID checks are mandatory the first week of the program and may be necessary at big sites where you cannot memorize each name and face. As participants leave, their dismissal tags can be collected and used to document site attendance for that portion of the day.
Special Note for Early Childhood programs:
Small children cannot always articulate what went on in class. To promote confidence and positive relations with the parent of our youngest participants it is important that one staff person leave the classroom 5 minutes early and give a brief synopsis of the day’s events to the waiting parents.
Early Childhood will follow Day Camp release policy for every class.
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