Become a Friendly Adult Presence (Chaperone)

Thank you so much for your interest in being a volunteer for PYM’s youth programs. Thanks to you and other Friends like yourself, we are able to plan and carry out wonderful events that create opportunities for our young teenagers to explore their own ideas, feelings and understandings of themselves and our constantly-changing world. These programs are especially effective in supporting the personal and spiritual journeys of Young Friends, because they take place in the context of a safe, Quaker community of age peers. Ensuring this sense of safety is our highest priority, and thanks to your generous volunteering, we have been able to maintain it.

Who can be a Friendly Adult Presence? You must be over age 21. You must be known in your Monthly Meeting community, or Yearly Meeting, or Quarterly Meeting, or a Friends School for a minimum of six months. We and our Insurance Carrier are leery of adults who drop in out of nowhere and want to work with our kids. Reference checks will be repeated every 4 to 6 years for continuing workers.

Criminal Back Ground Checks: Our Insurance Carrier is requiring that we do criminal back ground checks on all staff and Volunteer Friendly Adult Presences involved in over night programs. We do the on line criminal back ground check online. We pay the charge! Once you are cleared you are ready to be a Friendly Adult Presence at any Young Friends or Middle School Friends gathering.

Here is how it is done. Fill out and sign the "Friendly Adult Presence Form" with references the "Monthly Meeting Verification Form" and the "Background Investigation Consent for Volunteer Chaperones." Mail all three forms to me, yes, it must be snail mailed, we need an original signature on the consent form. We will then go on line to get the criminal back ground clearance. This information will be kept confidential. Only those who need to see the results will have access...