MOPS/ MOPPETS Policy Guidelines

Adopted September 2010

Purpose:  It is Strathmore MOPS’s desire to create a community of moms that are able to be self sufficient in meeting the 
needs of themselves, their children and one another in the group. 

As a growing group of Mothers of Preschoolers and their many children, we face an urgent need to ensure our children’s safety and well being while in our MOPPETS Program.  Our goal is to plan, equip, and empower our moms to be a part of this solution.  We want all our moms to feel confident in leaving their children in our MOPPETS Program, and for each of the children to feel secure in this process.

Challenge:  Having adequate childcare volunteers and adhering to the “Plan To Protect” program utilized by the Strathmore Alliance Church will play an important part in meeting our challenge. 

Solution:

Action Plan: Several new “rules” will apply to all moms attending MOPS.  It is our desire to meet everyone’s needs, and in order to do this, we have to adopt some strategies that will make change possible.

1.       Moms need to come early or on time.  Please change or take your child to the bathroom before signing them in.  Introducing a crying child, for example, into the nursery at 10am, when calm has been achieved is frustrating for the caregivers and the other children.  Children can be signed in until 9:45am.

2.       The cost for childcare is $2/child.

3.       All MOPS moms will need to participate in the “Plan to Protect” training that will take place at the end of our first 3 meetings of the year.  It will take a mere 15 minutes, but will equip moms to know fire escape procedures, child sign in procedures, bathroom procedures, and become familiar with the routines within MOPPETS.

4.       All moms need to sign up for childcare shifts in our MOPPETS Program throughout the year. 

a.      MOPS Moms with 3 or 4 children: 4 shifts, Moms with 1 or 2 kids: 3 shifts, and Committee members: 2 shifts.

b.      There will be FREE childcare and drop in (if not a member) for moms on their shift day!  Coffee and a snack will be provided for the moms downstairs, and they will enjoy one another’s company while caring for the children.  No prep or supplies will be required, as this is provided by MOPS.  If a mom would like to do something special for the class, contact the coordinator prior to the date. Each room has a MOPPETS Volunteer Leader for consistency.

c.      The shifts will be for the ENTIRE 2 hour meeting.  The reason for this change is that the children are learning how to leave mom and play in a group with others they do not know.  Having new “caregivers” halfway through a meeting disrupts the calm that has been established.

d.      These shifts will be first come first serve.  If a mom wants a choice on which meetings to be in MOPPETS, she will need to sign up for her shifts as soon as possible.  After this, the committee will assign moms a date, and the mom is responsible to show up by 9:30 on that day.  If she cannot make that meeting, she is responsible to trade with another mom.  The signup sheet will be made available to all the moms for trading purposes only.

e.      Moms can indicate their preference as to which room they would like to be in, however the needs of the day will determine how many moms are needed in a given room and are based on adult: child ratios.

f.       In order to prevent the “missing out” on the meeting, many of the meeting topics are “accessible” through the library (DVD’s/books) or handouts from the speakers.  Craft/activity supplies could be available to those in MOPPETS if desired.  Please contact the coordinator.

g.      If a mom is not needed for a given meeting (ie. Ratios are met), they will be reassigned to another date and can participate in the current meeting at no cost.

5.       Please no peeking in on the children during the meeting.  Moms can inform the “Volunteer Leader” of any concerns or specific instructions.  If there is a problem, someone will come and get mom. Peeking gets all the children, especially in the nursery, flocking toward the door in expectation of “mom” coming.  This new policy should provide the comfort that the children are in good care and enjoying their MOPPETS experience.

6.      Dayhome Moms attending MOPS will be required to provide a letter of permission from the child’s parent to participate in the MOPPETS Program.  This is to ensure MOPS/Strathmore Alliance Church will NOT be held accountable for any mishaps or misunderstandings.  Any dayhome children will be counted as belonging to the MOPS mom for the purposes of MOPPETS shifts.

Amendment

Moms who have babies under 6 months of age do not have to sign up for childcare shifts during that time period.  Small babies can be brought into the meetings and are not counted towards required shifts if not in the MOPPETS program.  We just ask that if your baby is crying that you take them out of the room if there is a guest speaking or we are watching a dvd presentation. After the baby is 6 months old, a mom can start taking shifts in MOPPETS.  Please contact the coordinator to discuss what works best at that time.

If you and another mom want to "team up" and each take half of each other's shifts, please talk to the coordinator about this option.  Instead of doing 3  2-hour shifts each, for example, you would each take 6 1-hour shifts.