Event Childcare Procedure

The Family Ministry Coordinator (Lauren Farley) is the staff lead for Childcare for Foothills-sponsored events.

Drop-in childcare will always be available without registration for all-congregation events.

Cf. Events with Automatically Provided Childcare

For other specific events we've decided to offer childcare for, our procedure is that childcare will be available with 48 hour advance registration.

This is important because we need to have enough time to find available childcare providers (we try to always have TWO providers, so if one person needs to go get a child's parent, no other children are left alone) and we need to manage our available budget for paying workers. Childcare may be cancelled if fewer than 2 children are registered or no childcare worker is available. We also need time to give participants adequate notice if childcare or the event itself will be cancelled.

Unsupervised children are not permitted at any event. If children are present and childcare staff are not, children need to remain in the event space with their parent/guardian/responsible adult and be directly supervised. Busy bags are available in the Welcome Kiosk in the entry hall and toys for young children are available in the Family Lounge for parent-supervised use. 

We provide childcare free of charge to participants for events 2 hours and under. For events longer than 2 hours, please consider building in an option for a small donation (e.g. $5-10) to offset the cost of paying for workers and snacks and supplies for children.

If your event is offering food, be sure to consider that children in childcare will need an opportunity to eat as well, and be sure to gather information about food allergies/intolerances in registration.

Events sponsored by outside organizations/renters provide their own childcare and are responsible for adhering to Foothills policy and guidelines for safety and building use.