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As the Guardian you are responsible for:
Completing the required Child Safety Training required by BBBS of America.
Commit to availability for outings.
Discuss and approve all outings with the Big keeping safety in mind.
Always have the child ready for outings.
Discuss with your child details about outings upon return. (check for safety issues)
Contact Agency staff with any concerns.
Update BBBS Clarksville with any changes in your: address, phone #, and living situation.
Attend agency events as you can to stay engaged with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Consistent contact between all parties (Volunteer Big, Parent, Child, and Big Brothers Big Sisters agency staff) is a must. Match activities should occur 2-4 times a month and 2-4 hours each time. Open communication is encouraged and recommended between the Volunteer and child. Talk to one another about your likes/dislikes and interests. The child’s parent has ultimate say as to what activities are acceptable. It is the responsibility of the Volunteer Big to keep the parent informed of plans and gain approval. It is the volunteer’s responsibility to notify the parent of any changes in plans or if the match will be late. For the first three months, or for the first three match meetings, the outings should occur outside of the Volunteer’s and Child’s home. Visits to the volunteer’s home should be planned around activities that build a healthy match relationship between the volunteer and child. When the child visits the volunteer’s home, other adults and children should not have unsupervised contact with the child. Parents should ask the child about each outing and match support will ask about match activities around visits to the volunteer’s home to ensure safety of the child. Overnight visits are prohibited. Overnight visits are rare and reserved for special occasions. They must be approved by agency staff and the parent prior to when they occur. Violation of this rule could risk closure of your match. Open communication for match support with agency staff is necessary for the safety and health of the match. Failure to openly communicate with agency staff for regularly scheduled match support contacts may result in early termination of the match. The goal is to develop a meaningful relationship and friendship. This requires coordination and collaboration from the parent/guardian, as many of our Littles do not always have consistent access to phones.
Please make the child available for phone calls with their Big and with agency staff. This is essential in helping their relationship develop. It is not the Bigs' responsibility to take other siblings on outings. It is also not their responsibility to pay for expensive outings. We encourage them to keep the outings inexpensive and fun. Our job is to help you plan outings if you need help with ideas. We encourage the Big and Little to plan outings together.
As an agency that works with children, we are a mandatory reporter to the Department of Children’s Services if we suspect child abuse or neglect. Please know that we cannot overlook suspected abuse or neglect. If you think a child is being mistreated in anyway, we are legally obligated to report it.
Please be mindful when posting information about your Little on your own social media pages. Ask permission first and do not reveal identifying information without permission of the parent/guardian. Our policy is to have a publicity release signed on all children/volunteers prior to releasing any information.
Understand our BIGS are not:
A baby sitter
A taxi service
A parent
Financial support for the child or your family
Therapist
Peer
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