Hi parents of Burlington!

As coronavirus has come into Vermont, local daycares and schools have closed for the time being.

Local students in Burlington, Vermont, are helping to organize volunteer babysitters and connect them with local families. We hope to figure out which parents in Burlington could use this, and connect them with one babysitter who matches the parent's needed availability.

If you're looking to sign up as a volunteer follow this link instead: https://forms.gle/LUuerSWibGRxaCTc8

Potential volunteer babysitters are asked a variety of questions, relating to

- Their experience level regarding babysitting;
- Other experiences they have had watching over children;
- If they have appropriate certifications;
- Their availability;
- 2 to 3 references;
- the same virus safety screening questions as you will be asked.

Additionally, they will be provided with online resources about childcare safety and will be informed that you. may ask for a background check. We will provide you with the tools to run a background check.

For sake of transparency, this is our process:
1. Anyone who's intake form does not meet our safety requirements is not accepted. (Virus safety, some
    experience, background check)
2. Parent intake forms are brief because we call each parent individually and have a conversation to assess their
    specific needs.
3. We manually match schedules, making sure that a volunteer only works with one family to minimize risk of
    spreading the virus. Families may have multiple volunteers out of scheduling necessity,  but we will keep it to
    the fewest possible.
4. Once matched we reach out to students to confirm their honesty on the questions and their intent to commit,
    as well as provide them with a parent profile and online resources about childcare safety.
5. Once confirmed, we forward that email conversation and the volunteer profile to the parent (profile,
    background check, references, virus safety, experience,  etc)
6. At this point, it is up to the parent to talk to references, interview the volunteer, run a background check, and
    set up their childcare.

We hope to collect a wide array of individuals interested in helping out during this potentially stressful time!

This initial form intends to just collect the information of parents who are interested, or can use these services. At a later time, if schools close, we will collect more information that would be important for babysitters.

Please feel free to reach out to VolunteerBabysittersBTV@gmail.com with anymore questions for the time being!