Here's the "how to" in setting up a Babysitting Coop in your area! Setting up a Babysitting Coop can be an overwhelming experience. I am providing a copy of our bylaws that have sustained our coop for over 20 years! Please feel free to use it exactly or just use it as a model for what fits your group. If you have any suggestions for my page or questions, please sign my guest book below. I am so excited to be a member of . If you would like to visit other parent education sites on the ring, click on one of the links at the bottom of this page. BABYSITTING COOP BYLAWS A. OBJECTIVE Members should be able to leave their children without concern over the children's welfare and without financial restrictions. The parent should be free from a sense of imposing on the sitter. The sitter should be protected from excessive demands. B. MEMBERSHIP Membership is limited to 25 members. A member of the COOP should strive to use it at least 30 hrs. every 6 months. This can be a combination of sitting and/or using a sitter, and includes the Secretary's and Director's hours. Failure to do so will result in a warning. She must then meet the 30 hr. requirement in the next 6 months or she will be dropped from the membership in the event of a waiting list. If there are three different complaints from three different members against another member, she will be dropped from the membership upon action of the COOP as a whole. New members must be recommended by a current COOP member. The Director must visit the prospective COOP member in her home and receive three references for membership. The Director checks the three references and then a probationary period follows during which she must sit for three different members and have three members sit for her within a 6 months period. C. TIME AND ARRANGEMENTS When calling a sitter, a definite time of departure and return must be given. When a sit is more than one child from the same family, the 1st child is one hour, the 2nd child is worth 1/2 hour. In reporting hours, 15 or more minutes counts toward the next 1/2 hour; less than 15 does not. If it is more than 45 minutes, it counts as 1 hour. The mother who sits is responsible for reporting the hours to the Secretary, and the number of hours should be agreed upon by the sitter and the shopper. The sitter reports sitting hours to the Secretary as soon as possible after the sit, but must be reported within 7 days of the sit. Failure to do so will result in the sitter losing those hours. If it is necessary to cancel a sit, it is the sitter's responsibility to arrange a substitute. If she is unable to find a replacement, she will be charged 1 hour. Extreme illness of mother is an exception. If a member reaches -20 hours, she cannot use the coop until she is below -20. If a member reaches +20 hours, she may not accept a sit unless it is through the Secretary. Lunch provided or sack lunch served will be worth 1/2 hour per family. The Secretary will make sitting arrangements for daytime sits Monday-Friday. Weekend and evening sits are arranged individually. NOTE: WE DON'T USE THIS RULE MUCH, WE MAINLY CALL AND FIND OUR OWN SITS, BUT YOU CAN DO IT EITHER WAY. A member should leave the COOP with even hours. If this is impossible, credit hours go to the Director. If she has debit hours, they go to the Director. Each member will be charged 1 hour per month for Secretary's duties. The Secretary receives these hours at the end of the month. Each member will be charged 2 hours per each 6 month period (March & September) for the new Director's duties. These will be charged at the beginning of the Director's term. D. GENERAL RULES Avoid using the COOP if your children have any contagious illness. Whenever possible, inform the sitter where you are going and leave a telephone number. Except in an emergency, the sitter shall not transport the shopper's children without permission. No medication is to be given without written instructions from the shopper. Children should be given loving care and proper supervision. Watch other people's children very carefully. E. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY Members shall serve as Secretary in the listed order for a month period starting from the first of the month. If a member does not wish to serve as Secretary, she should contact the Director. The Secretary's duties will be passed on to the next person on the list. The Secretary should be given 24 hours notice when a sitter is needed. The member with the greatest number of debit hours should be contacted first whenever possible. A member who agrees to a sitting job confirms with the person needing the sitter that she will sit. The Secretary does not make the follow-up call. This enables sitter and shopper to make whatever arrangements are needed. The Secretary shall post each sitting individually and not combine entries. Posting each sit in this manner allows ease in tracing entries should questions arise. The Secretary balances the books at the end of the month and sends a summary that lists all COOP members, their current hours, the new Secretary's name, and her phone number. The Secretary must balance books weekly. The summary and books must balance and match at the end of the month, including taking negative hours in order to balance if necessary. A member must be in the COOP six months before becoming Secretary. No member on probation can hold the Secretary position until off probation. F. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR Any member wishing to be nominated for Director should contact the current Director before the meeting held at the end of February or August. If more than one member volunteers, priority will be given to the member who has not previously held the position and has seniority. The Director shall volunteer and be approved by a majority of the members twice a year. As previously noted, she will receive 2 hours credit from each member at the beginning of her term. It shall be her responsibility to check the Secretary's books every month. At the Beginning of the month, she will take the books to the new Secretary and explain how the records are kept. She will call members at the end of her fourth month who seem to be running short of using the COOP 30 hours for the 6 month term. She will issue warnings in case of neglect or misuse of the COOP. She will type current membership lists and keep the waiting list for all prospective members. It is her responsibility to suggest rule changes as she observes problems or receives suggestions from the members. She may hold a meeting of the entire membership in the middle of her term as she deems necessary. If a member cannot attend this meeting, she must notify the Director prior to the meeting or be assessed -2 hours. She will hold a meeting of the entire membership at the end of her term to select a new Director. If a member cannot attend this meeting she must contact the Director prior to the meeting AND must pick up the new roster within 10 days following the meeting. Failure to do BOTH will result in a penalty of -4 hours which will be credited to the present Director. A member must have served as Secretary before being nominated for Director. A member on probation may not hold the Director position until off probation. If you would like to see an example of the Secretary's hours sheet, click here for Secretary's Sheet If you would like to see an example of the Member's Hours Page, click here for Member's Hours If you would like to see an example of the Hour Worksheet Page, click here for Hour Worksheet Click to view archived Guestbook 1 | Click to view archived Guestbook 2 | Click to view archived Guestbook 3 | This Mommies on the Web's Webring site owned by Annie . | Previous| Next|| RandomSite | ListSites | Want to join the Mommies on the Web's Webring [ Prev | Skip | Next5 | Random | Next] Add your Parent Education site

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