2020 COVID-19 POLICIES & PROCEDURES
FALL 2020
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POLICIES & PROCEDURES
YOUR DECISION Whether or not your church decides to host rEcess is solely at the discretion of your church and your rEcess leadership team. 99 Balloons is offering this guide and support in order to help you on that journey and we have sought to provide you with a systematic approach to forming your decision. We are here and available to offer you insights as to best practices, as well as to what other churches are doing and hope this guide helps make more simple what could otherwise feel overwhelming. Please feel free to reach out to us via email or phone if we can be of any assistance to you during this process. We have built our organization in order for you to not feel alone as you seek to love and serve those so near to our hearts and to the heart of God.
TENSION OF THIS TIME We understand that there are 2 realities currently facing us that make whether or not to host rEcess particularly difficult: 1) Need for respite: Many of our families are in need of respite more than ever. Some of them have faced unique challenges on top of what typical families have experienced. Through conversations and relationships throughout this time, it has been evident that many families served by rEcess have experienced loss of services and social opportunities; simultaneously, they have fought against fearas so many of their loved ones are at increased risk from the coronavirus as well. 2) Vulnerable population: However, instead of just rushing toward the immediate need of the families we love, we must acknowledge that rEcess works with a vulnerable population whereby contracting the virus or exposure to the virus can have devastating effects at a higher rate than the general population. It is these tensions and realities that must both be faced as you seek to weigh your choices in how to move forward.
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ONGOING DECISION PROCESS: We also want to stress to you that if you do choose to host rEcess, you should view the decision to do so as one you are making month-tomonth with the latest information available. Starting from the outset to communicate to families and volunteers that you are monitoring the situation and pivoting as needed is a better way to navigate this season.
POLICY & PROCEDURES: If and when you do choose to host rEcess, it will not be ”business as usual”; we have provided the following best practices, policies and procedures for rEcess sites opting to meet in the fall of 2020.
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HOSTING RECESS? Request for Prayer Reach out to your leadership team, volunteers and families letting them know that you are actively gathering information in order to make a decision regarding what rEcess at your church might look like in the fall.Invite them to pray along with you for wisdom and guidance as you seek to love and serve wisely in this season.
Information Gathering This is a period of time for you to gather information from various sources that will help inform your decision. Hypothetically, if you were asked to do so, you should be able to provide the reasons and information gathered from this process in order to explain why you have chosen to host or not host rEcess at a particular point in time. Church Leadership & Staff: Reach out to church leadership, staff and denomination asking for their input on this decision. Some churches will have a clear answer for you regarding rEcess and some will look for you to advise and lead them regarding this decision. [Just because a church is choosing to host services does not necessarily mean that your community should be hosting rEcess. These are very different decisions with different factors to weigh, including the vulnerable population reality that we discussed as well as the elevated risk of complication and death within this community.]
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POLICIES & PROCEDURES
Local & State Guidelines: Please consult your area guidelines and abide by all recommendations & requirements that apply to a gathering such as rEcess. The Council of State Governments state-by-state guide. CDC “How to Protect Yourself & Others”
Your rEcess Families & Volunteers: You will need to gauge your family interest and concerns as well as the willingness and ability of your volunteers to show up and help at a rEcess event. We are providing Family Surveys & Volunteer Surveys in order to help you gain this valuable insight. We would encourage you to use the family surveys whether or not you choose to meet as they will help you understand how your families are doing and who might need some attention or encouragement.
Local Healthcare Professionals: We encourage you to bring healthcare professionals into your decision-making process as they can help you with ideas for safety, community resources and other insights.
Leadership Team & Onsight Medical Professional: You will want to communicate the information you have received among the leadership team as well as getting feedback from your rEcess On-site Medical Professional that is required to attend in order for rEcess to happen (see rEcess Policies & Procedures).
99 Balloons: Once you have gathered information from the above sources, if you are feeling as though it would be helpful for you to talk to our team or hear how other sites are approaching this decision, please feel free to call or email us and we would love to come alongside you and talk through it.
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POLICIES & PROCEDURES
MAKING THIS MONTH’S CHOICE: WE ENCOURAGE THIS PROCESS TO BE AN ONGOING MONTH-BY-MONTH DECISION IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO MAKE YOUR DECISION IN LIGHT OF THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION. You can choose to….
PROVIDE NO RESPITE PROVIDE RESPITE OUTSIDE OF A RECESS GATHERING PROVIDE RECESS
#1 Provide No Respite: For those that choose this option, we encourage you to get creative on how you can love your families in out-of-the-box ways that keep everyone safe but connected. How can your volunteers still have ways to stay connected to and love your families? How can your church specifically serve and love on families whose FAMILY SURVEY indicated that they are struggling? Here are just some ideas that we have seen to help prime the pump, but you will know what best fit your community. Virtual Bingo Drive-by (or drop off) dinner Drop off rEcess craft supplies and toys Four Square via ZoomCharades Pictionary via Zoom
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MAKING THIS MONTH’S CHOICE: AGAIN, WE ENCOURAGE THIS PROCESS TO BE AN ONGOING MONTH-BYMONTH DECISION IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO MAKE YOUR DECISION IN LIGHT OF THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION.
#2 Provide Respite Outside of rEcess Gathering: Maybe you decide there is a way to provide limited respite to families outside of a large gathering. You could provide it to select families in their home on a staggered basis (example: everyone gets 1 night in a semester), facilitate families to watch each other's families if they were comfortable with that, etc.Just note that these ideas will require you to think of safety protocols and procedures for the unique idea you decide on and we at 99 Balloons are not able to provide policies and procedures for safeguarding these type activities.
#3 Provide rEcess: The following are policies and procedures in the event that your church does decide to host rEcess any time during the fall of 2020.
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#3 Provide rEcess (cont.) Communicate Your Decision to 99 Balloons: Will you please let the 99 Balloons team know what you plan to do by . You can easily do so by (email, fill out something, etc.)
rEcess Policies & Procedures: Protocol for rEcess sites choosing to host rEcess in the fall of 2020 (Sep-Dec)
- REQUIREMENTS AT THE RECESS EVENT TEMPERATURE CHECKS: All attendees including leadership team, volunteers and children (children with disability & siblings) will need to have their temperature checked and turned away if greater than 100.0 F. SAFETY FORMS: All attendees including leadership team, volunteers and children (children with disability and siblings) will fill out (or their parents) a safety form acknowledging no known risks of infections within the last 14 days. MASKING: Each volunteer & adult coming to a rEcess event must wear a mask for the entirety of their time at rEcess. This includes family members at drop-off. Therefore, your site will need to be prepared to provide folks with masks if they enter without one. This requirement can be waived only for Children under 10 years of age Children with disability that will not allow a mask to stay on.
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#3 Provide rEcess (cont.) MASKING (cont.): Masks are a courtesy to others and have been shown to lower transmission.We will require this courtesy on behalf of our friends with disability. [We do not foresee any issues with this requirement, but we understand that there has been some politicization around this topic and if you encounter push back along these lines, you can feel free to.. simply explain that you are abiding by our organization’s requirements to hold the night; In addition, feel free to pass on our information to them if they would like to discuss this with us as you are powerless to change the requirement. We also provide this recommendation to you as a way to help you defuse the situation.]
SOCIAL DISTANCING: Social distancing 6 feet or more as able No groups of 10 or more at any time Arrange your activities with space
HOURLY SANITIZING Hands (everyone/ sibs/ kids/ vols/ leadership team) Surfaces Optional: make it fun, play a song on the hour, use stickers, etc.
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