Homeless Children's Playtime Project
Preparing for Playtime's Re-Opening
A revised plan to re-open Playtime's offices and children's programs that has anticipated and addressed any Covid-era issues.
Posted July 16, 2020
Background & Context
This project is important as we prepare to serve children again in a group setting, and send our staff and more than 100 volunteers to that setting to interact with Playtime's families and shelter staff. We are concerned about safety and liability issues that we need legal help anticipating.
Immediate Problem
This will help make it possible for us to resume in-person programming! We partner with shelters and go to their locations to run children's programs. Parents sign a registration form for their children to participate and drop them off in our playrooms two evenings per week. We maintain a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 max, and typically serve about 20 children with 8 volunteers in a room at any given time. We plan to order PPE and implement new safety and cleaning protocols, but social distancing and contact tracing will be next to impossible in this setting so we want to be pro-active problem solvers so we are ready when it's time to re-open.
Work & Deliverables
Review our document proposing new protocols, policies and procedures, provide feedback and suggest additional language and plans to reduce liability and safety concerns for all involved in our program and partnerships.
Preparation Phase
- Receive draft proposed plan document (around 25 pages)
Collaboration Phase
- Review and ask questions
Wrap Up
- Research and make recommendations
Homeless Children's Playtime Project
The mission of the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project (Playtime) is to cultivate resilience in children experiencing family homelessness by providing and expanding access to transformative play experiences. We do this by: - Creating ongoing play opportunities that nurture healthy child development - Challenging systemic injustice by advocating for policies and practices that reduce the risk of chronic homelessness - Connecting families with critical support services and supplies in the community to meet their concrete needs For the past 17 years, Playtime has set up play rooms in family homeless shelters in DC, filled them with toys and books and most importantly, trained and dedicated volunteers who commit to helping us run children's play programs one evening per week. We are currently partnered with 4 shelters and planned expansion to 2 more this year, but Covid foiled these plans. As we draft plans to eventually return to the playrooms with our 100 volunteers and 150 children, and our 12 staff make plans to return to the office, how can we anticipate liability concerns and plan accordingly?
Homeless Children's Playtime Project
The mission of the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project (Playtime) is to cultivate resilience in children experiencing family homelessness by providing and expanding access to transformative play experiences. We do this by: - Creating ongoing play opportunities that nurture healthy child development - Challenging systemic injustice by advocating for policies and practices that reduce the risk of chronic homelessness - Connecting families with critical support services and supplies in the community to meet their concrete needs For the past 17 years, Playtime has set up play rooms in family homeless shelters in DC, filled them with toys and books and most importantly, trained and dedicated volunteers who commit to helping us run children's play programs one evening per week. We are currently partnered with 4 shelters and planned expansion to 2 more this year, but Covid foiled these plans. As we draft plans to eventually return to the playrooms with our 100 volunteers and 150 children, and our 12 staff make plans to return to the office, how can we anticipate liability concerns and plan accordingly?