Children at BFM
Child Care and Religious Education for Children & Youth
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COVID-19 Meeting InformationBethesda Friends are worshiping together on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. via two venues
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- Child Care (6 mo through pre-K)
- Child Care for ages 6 months-pre-K is available in the Child Care room (lower level in the Meetinghouse) during 11:00 a.m. worship except for holiday weekends. See information and guidelines here.
- Read more about care for your young children at BFM.
- First Day School: Religious Education for Children & Youth (Grades K-8)
- First Day School meets September through mid-June on the 1st and 3rd Sundays during 11:00 a.m. worship for children in grades K-8.
- On the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays and during the summer, children K-6 are supervised on the playground. Please see the FDS schedule in our weekly bulletin.
- Read more about our First Day School (Quaker religious education) and care for our youth (grades K-8)
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Click here to fill out the FDS REGISTRATION FORM (grades K-8) |
youth safety policies and procedures
Youth Safety Policy (2021)
Please use this link to view and download BFM's Youth Safety Policy (2021; pdf).
The policy was created to provide direction to the Meeting in the selection, hiring, and training of employees (or contract workers) and volunteers who are responsible for the supervision, guidance, and teaching of our children, as well as a committee structure to deal with concerns about child and youth safety. By implementing these practices, our goal is to protect the children and youth of Bethesda Friends Meeting from incidents of misconduct or inappropriate behavior.
Youth Program Procedural Manual (2021
The information in the Youth Program Procedural Manual (Nov 2021; pdf) reflects the revised Bethesda Friends Meeting (BFM) Youth Safety Policy (YSP) that was approved in April 2021. The Procedural Manual is designed for BFM youth workers who care for and teach BFM youth, ages 6 months to 18 years, and it incorporates procedures for the Child Care Program and First Day School Program.
- The manual contains useful information for parent(s)/guardian(s) and anyone interested in learning more about the BFM Child Care and Religious Education Programs.
- Besides being available on the BFM website, hard copies of both the Youth Safety Policy and the Youth Program Procedural Manual are available in the Meeting library.
Please take our Youth Safety Training
BFM’s Youth Safety Policy requires FDS teachers, paid childcare helpers, and anyone working more than 3 times a year with the children to undergo a background check, youth safety training, and a first aid course. All of our FDS teachers and paid childcare helpers satisfy these requirements. You can find more information about this policy here: https://www.bethesdafriends.org/resources/Documents/Public-Youth-Safety/Youth-Program-Procedural-Manual-2021-11.pdf
- We strongly encourage everyone in our community to take the youth safety training whether they expect to work directly with young Friends or not. This will make us all familiar with the standards of appropriate conduct—including how to behave individually around our young Friends and when to report suspicious activity.
- To complete the online youth safety training, go to https://training.reportabusemd.com/ and click on “login” in the middle panel. You will then create a profile, take the training, and receive a certificate of completion. Once you are logged in, choose the first option, “Mandated Reporter Training” to begin the online training. It takes 30-45 minutes with a quiz at the end. Then you will receive your certificate. Finally, please send an email to youthsafety@bethesdafriends.org stating you've completed the training.
- For more information about volunteering for childcare or about youth safety training, contact youthsafety@bethesdafriends.org.
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