It's extremely important to document incidents in your Children's Ministry because...
- It holds you accountable to document and report to parents any incidents involving their child.
- It benefits your ministry if the incident requires legal counsel.
- It alerts you to any dangers that need to be remedied or corrected to prevent future harm.
The incident report should include the following...
- Time and place
- Type of incident
- Person(s) involved/injured
- Description of incident/injury and any actions taken
- Witnesses and follow-up
A good incident report...
- Is clear and concise
- Has good grammar, punctuation, and spelling
- Uses terms that readers are familiar with
- Is consistent in style throughout the department
- Is accurate
- Is factual
- Is objective
Tips for incident reports...
- Incident reports should be not only filled out for children, but also for adults who are hurt, injured, or require medical assistance. This includes parents and volunteers. The adult should read the report and sign it before he or she leaves.
- ALWAYS be proactive about informing parents about an incident involving their child. Make sure the parents read the report and sign it before they leave.
- When in doubt...fill it out. When deciding whether or not an incident warrants a report, always err on the side of caution and fill out the report.
- When the incident involves one child injuring another child, have the parents of both children read and sign the report.
- The Director should read the report and sign it. If the incident happens over the weekend, I review it and sign it by Tuesday.
- Follow up as needed. Take time to check on the person. A phone call or visit to the hospital will show them you truly care.
- Keep the report on file.
Below is the incident report we use. Feel free to download the word document if you'd like to edit it and use it for your ministry. (page margins are corrected when downloaded)
Incident Report
Posted by Dale Hudson
