Youth Safety Policy

Effective date: October 25, 2026

Last updated: October 25, 2026

Jesus welcomed children and asked us to protect them. Many of the opportunities on Sent to Serve involve children and teens, as volunteers or as the people being served. This policy explains the real risks, who is responsible for what, and where to turn if you're worried about a child.

It is part of our Terms of Use, and works together with our Community Guidelines, Fundraiser and Recipient Terms and Privacy Policy.

1. What Sent to Serve is, and isn't

Volunteering carries real risk. Volunteering, overnight stays and mission travel can expose young people to injury, illness, abuse and other harm. Please take these risks seriously.

We're a platform, not the organizer. Organizations post volunteer opportunities and missions on the Site. The organization runs the activity, and is responsible for safeguarding, screening, supervision and parental consent for everyone who takes part, including young people.

We don't screen volunteers or staff. Sent to Serve doesn't run background checks on organizations, their leaders or volunteers, and doesn't supervise any activity.

We don't check organizations' safeguarding. We don't check whether organizations follow the steps in Section 3, and our approval of a listing doesn't mean they do. Parents, guardians and volunteers should ask organizations about their safeguarding practices directly.

We don't have staff to review reports. Sent to Serve has no staff dedicated to reviewing safety reports. Always go to the authorities first (Section 7).

No in-site messaging. Members contact organizations by the email or phone shown on the organization's profile. Those conversations happen off the Site, and we don't see or monitor them.

2. Age rules on the Site

These are the same age rules as in our Terms of Use §2 and Privacy Policy §7:

Under 13: the Site isn't for children under 13. We check your date of birth when you complete your member profile, and members under 13 can't complete a profile. You can't apply or donate until your profile is complete. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have, we'll delete the account and its information.

EEA and UK: If you live in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you must be at least 18 to create an account. We check this when you save your member profile: you'll be asked whether you live in the EEA or the UK, and if you do, the date of birth on your profile must show you're at least 18. We rely on what you tell us and don't verify it.

Ages 13–17: if you're under 18, you must have your parent or legal guardian's permission to use the Site, and they must review and agree to our Terms of Use for you. Parents and guardians who let a minor use the Site are responsible for that use.

Teen checkbox before applying: before applying to any volunteer opportunity or mission, a member aged 13–17 must check a box confirming that a parent or legal guardian has agreed to their participation and will be present for the volunteering. You may apply only to opportunities whose minimum age you meet. This checkbox is the member's own confirmation. Sent to Serve doesn't contact or verify the parent or guardian, or check that they're present. Organizations remain responsible for their own consent and supervision checks.

Organizations' own age rules: an Organization may set a higher minimum age, or require its own signed parental consent forms. That's the Organization's responsibility.

18 or older to organize or receive donations: you must be at least 18 to create an organization profile, post a listing, start a Fundraiser, or connect a Stripe account to receive donations. You must also be 18 or older to start an Individual Fundraiser.

Minimum ages on listings: each organization sets the minimum age for its opportunity, and the listing shows it. The Site doesn't check an applicant's age against that minimum. Organizations must check ages themselves before accepting anyone.

3. What organizations must do

If your opportunity involves anyone under 18, as volunteers or as the people you serve, you're responsible for safeguarding them, and you agree to:

set an honest minimum age on your listing, and check each applicant's age before accepting them;

get a parent or guardian's consent before a minor takes part, and keep it on file. You may require your own signed parental consent forms;

follow a written youth-protection or safe-environment policy, for example your church's or denomination's policy;

screen and train the adults who will work with minors, including background checks where appropriate or required by law;

supervise appropriately, for example by following a "two-adult" rule and avoiding one-on-one time alone with a minor;

communicate appropriately with minors, keeping parents or guardians informed and avoiding private one-to-one messages where you can;

follow the law, including any mandatory-reporting duties that apply to you;

use minors' information only to arrange their participation, and keep it secure (see the Fundraiser and Recipient Terms §4).

Required acknowledgment. When you post a listing that may involve minors (for example, a minimum age under 18, or a youth or children's ministry category) or is a mission or Mission Trip, you must check a youth-protection acknowledgment box confirming: "We have a written youth-protection policy, screen adults who work with minors as the law and our policy require, will get parent or guardian consent, and will supervise appropriately." These steps are your responsibility whether or not you check the box, and Sent to Serve doesn't verify them.

4. Missions and travel with minors

Mission trips, overnight stays and international travel carry extra risk for young people.

A member aged 13–17 may apply only after confirming that a parent or legal guardian has agreed to their participation and will be present for the volunteering (Section 2).

Before anyone applies to a mission or a Mission Trip listing, they must also check a risk acknowledgment box confirming that they understand and accept its risks, as described in our Terms of Use §4. For members under 18, the member confirms that a parent or legal guardian has agreed knowing those risks. We don't verify this.

Organizations are responsible for parent or guardian consent, travel documents, medical and emergency arrangements, insurance and any waivers, and may set a higher minimum age.

Trip costs. If a listing asks volunteers to pay their own trip costs, the listing must state them before anyone applies (see our Community Guidelines). For a member under 18, the parent or guardian is responsible for those costs. Sent to Serve doesn't handle, hold, guarantee or refund trip payments.

5. Photos and information about children

Don't post children's private information in a listing, such as their full names, schools, or details of where they live.

Photos. Photos of children are allowed. Organizations and other Recipients, and anyone else posting content, are responsible for getting a parent's or guardian's explicit permission before posting any photo of a minor. Anyone posting should not include a child's full name, school or other identifying details with a photo. A parent or guardian can email us at Senttoserve.help@gmail.com to ask us to remove a photo of their child, and we may remove any photo of a minor at our discretion. We don't check photos or permissions.

Listings are public. Listings, including their photos and the full event address, are public and can be shared until they come down, normally 7 days after their date. Listings without a date stay up until they're removed. If a listing includes a child's photo or information that shouldn't be public, email us. We may remove it.

6. Responsibility of members and families

Parents and guardians decide. A parent or legal guardian must agree before a teen applies, and must be present for the volunteering, as the teen checkbox confirms.

Talk to a parent or guardian before you apply, and before you share your phone number or other details with anyone.

Check the organization. Look at its profile and website, and ask about its safeguarding, screening and supervision before you go.

Meet in the open. Activities should be supervised and in appropriate places. Be cautious about any request to meet alone, keep secrets, or move a conversation somewhere private.

You can say no. If something makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to respond. Tell a trusted adult.

7. Where to turn first

Emergencies: if a child is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local police.

Suspected child abuse or neglect: contact your local police or your state's child-protective services. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-422-4453 (call or text), offers crisis support and can help you find your state's reporting line.

Child sexual exploitation online: report it to the NCMEC CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST).

Thoughts of suicide or a mental-health crisis: call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Outside the US: contact your local emergency number, police or child-protection service.

You may also tell us at Senttoserve.help@gmail.com, with the subject "Youth safety". Include the listing or organization and what happened. There's no report button on the Site, and email doesn't replace contacting the authorities.

8. What we may do

Sent to Serve may review a report, and may hide or remove a listing, turn off donations, or suspend or close an account. We have no obligation to review any report or to take any action, and we don't promise any response or response time.

We may share information with law enforcement or child-protective services where we think it's appropriate or the law requires it.

We keep youth-safety reports for at least 7 years. After 7 years they're flagged for manual review, and they're never deleted automatically (see our Privacy Policy §8).

We're not an investigative agency and can't investigate crimes. Always contact the authorities first.

We may not be able to tell you about any outcome, to protect the privacy of the people involved.

9. Changes and contact

We may update this policy, and we'll change the "Last updated" date when we do.

Questions? Email Senttoserve.help@gmail.com.