automatic News for 11-21-2019

When Kids Volunteer: Liability Basics

Whether kids sell cookies or help clean up a park, they are welcome volunteers. If my experience is a guide, a childhood experience as a volunteer can lead to a lifelong commitment to giving back. If kids are among your clients or constituents, then getting them involved is a natural. Accident-prevention procedures: If the kids will be doing anything remotely risky, then you’ll want to give explicit accident-prevention strategies in your trainings and written materials, and be ready to enforce compliance. If long-sleeved shirts are advisable when the kids are working with animals, then you’ll have to not only give advance notice of this, but turn kids away who are improperly dressed, or at least have a spare sweatshirt on hand for them to borrow. 

Liability insurance: Make sure your liability insurance covers the activities planned within your volunteer program. Your permission form will document not only the parent’s permission for the child to partake in your activity, but should also contain a promise that the parent will not sue your organization in the event that the child is injured as a result of the carelessness of your volunteers or participants. The more specific a waiver is regarding the actual risks that the child, student, or other volunteer will be exposed to, the more likely a court is to uphold its validity. There are important roles for kids to play as volunteers, whether to help on their own projects or to help others. If you have adult volunteers with children, think of activities they can do with their children – maybe passing out water bottles at a walk-a-thon, or staffing a table at a street fair. 

The book has A-to-Z information on a host of fundraising activities that are right for grassroots and community groups, as well as material on recruiting and organizing volunteers. Ilona is still waiting for a CampFire kid bearing mints to find her in California. 

Mentoring Foster Youth

Mentoring provides a valuable experience for any child, but for children in care, it can be especially beneficial and is key to achieving normalcy. Studies show that mentoring has positive impacts on mental health, educational functioning and attainment, peer relationships, placement outcomes, and life satisfaction. While the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services does not pair volunteer mentors with youth, there are organizations throughout the state that do. If you are interested in serving as a mentor, click on the city to find an organization near you and contact them directly. These organizations work specifically with current or former foster youth. 

If you have questions, please contact Volunteer DFPS. Training Top-notch training means our volunteers are ready to help Texans in need. Volunteer Impact See the difference our volunteers make in the lives of others every day. Success Stories Meet some of our volunteers and hear their amazing stories. 

Volunteers are a critical part of how Treehouse supports youth in foster care. We welcome groups, individuals and families to join us. Treehouse’s commitment to diversity and equity is central to our work with youth in foster care, and our volunteers are our partners in this work. Treehouse serves youth and caregivers of many races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities and religious beliefs. We know that everyone is at a different place in their learning about dismantling racism and other forms of oppression, but our expectation is that Treehouse volunteers bring a personal commitment to continued learning and action on these fronts. 

Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Whether engaging with patients in our playrooms, assisting in our in-hospital school, or helping families find their way around the hospital campus, Phoenix Children’s In-Hospital volunteers help provide hope, healing and care for patients and their families. Animal-Assisted Therapy is always looking for volunteers with or without a pet, and the Phoenix Children’s Community Volunteer program provides various ways to participate both at the hospital and throughout the community. Listen to a few Phoenix Children’s volunteers… Getting Started. 

Volunteer – National Children’s Advocacy Center

Positions for undergraduate and graduate students in our Intervention and Prevention programs are usually filled at least one or two semesters ahead of time, so please plan ahead. Opportunities for the summer and in administrative functions, such as fundraising, are more flexible. Clinical Interns in Intervention/Therapy are typically second year MSW students and require a two-semester commitment. Our Clinical Intern positions for graduate students are full for the 2019-20 school year. 

Global Kids

From internships to college application support for our youth to course monitors at our annual 5K, Global Kids offers volunteer opportunities to suit a variety of schedules and interests. We have established a network of compassionate individual and corporate volunteers who ensure that our youth have the support and resources they need to graduate from high school and go on to college or the workplace. 

Volunteering

The Volunteer Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has a variety of opportunities. For all interested in volunteering in a hospital environment.