FAQ

What is this initiative? 

We are health professions students (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, etc.) who want to help health care providers in the Atlanta Area with temporary urgent household needs while they perform essential clinical duties during COVID-19.

Who is organizing? 

We are a group of medical, nursing and physical therapy students from Emory University School of Medicine (EUSOM) looking for ways to help our healthcare community. However, this is NOT an official EUSOM activity. 

How do I request a babysitter?

You will fill out this form, including a signed contract and a picture of your healthcare institution ID. Within 24 hours, we will send you instructions to access the request calendars. Then, you will go to either the babysitting calendar, pet sitting, or errands calendar, click on the calendar, and select create your “New Slot” using the provided template. Student volunteers should reach out to you within 48 hours of your requested shift. Please contact ATLStudentCOVIDResponse@gmail.com if you have any issues or changes in your schedule.

Who are the “babysitters”? 

Our volunteer babysitters are graduate students in Atlanta. Many of them are healthcare and public health students. Our student volunteers are not professional childcare support. Volunteers may or may not be CPR-trained. While we are here to facilitate introductions, we do not check or confirm qualifications or background information on our volunteers. If you find yourself needing more assistance than your assigned student volunteer(s) are able to provide, please reach out to ATLStudentCOVIDResponse@gmail.com

Where is this happening? 

Our volunteers expect to come to your home to watch your children/pets and run errands.

What ages do you babysit? What kind of services can the students provide?

Currently, we are offering services for children of all ages. However, because our students are not trained in childcare or managing disabilities, we are unable to provide services for children or adults with complex developmental needs. If you would like to clarify if your child fits into this category, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our coordinators at ATLStudentCOVIDResponse@gmail.com. Apart from childcare services, students can provide grocery shopping, meal prepping, and pharmacy runs, provided you give them authorization. We would prefer if you did not utilize our students for alcohol-related purchases. 

How much does this cost?

There are no rules against payment, nor is it required. Our students are made aware that this is a voluntary service on their behalf. In the case that you rely on your students to complete additional household management tasks such as grocery shopping, pharmacy runs, etc. please pay them in full. We do not accept IOUs.

How long can I receive childcare? 

Currently, we ask that you evaluate your needs weekly. Additionally, while Universities are currently holding online classes, we are still expected to attend and complete class sessions, including online small group sessions. Also, please remember that we are not professional childcare support. Additionally, the leadership team reserves the right to suspend volunteer services based on family needs, volunteer capabilities, and public health precautions, among other considerations. Any decisions made to stop our service will be clearly communicated to you by email. If you find yourself needing them for more hours than our students can manage, please reach the Coordination Team at ATLStudentCOVIDResponse@gmail.com so we can reevaluate.

Can we combine children from different households? 

Unfortunately, due to health and legal concerns, we can only accommodate children from the same household (i.e. siblings, live-in relatives).

What professional behavior can I expect from my student volunteer?

We expect our student volunteers to be:

• On-time to their volunteering hours, or communicating about missing/canceling a shift ahead of time as much as possible
• Appropriate in language and behavior, such as:
  • Not committing physical harm
  • Not committing emotional or psychological harm
• Respectful of your home and its privacy rules, such as:
  • not exposing family information, including names, occupation, and address, to others
  • not taking or posting pictures of children and property without explicit, written parental permission that has also been communicated to ATL COVIDsitters
  • not violating their commitment to providing a voluntary service by stealing or harassing you for compensation

If you believe your student may have violated any of these professional expectations, we recommend that you communicate openly with your assigned volunteer in a timely manner via phone, email, or video-conference. However, if you believe your student’s behavior to be egregious in a manner that cannot be resolved with compromise, please do not hesitate to immediately contact us at ATLStudentCOVIDResponse@gmail.com.

What is ATL COVIDsitters doing to limit the spread of disease in my household?

All student volunteers are instructed to follow the current CDC guidelines of frequent hand-washing, limited face-touching, and social isolation during and outside of volunteering. Students are not allowed to volunteer if they: have been in contact with someone who is known COVID-19+ or had a fever or other COVID19-related symptoms in the last 2 weeks. Each student volunteer will document travel location, hours of service, and the people present at every volunteer shift. This will allow us to know who to contact in case of a possible exposure. If you have further questions regarding our public health policies for volunteers and families, please email ATLStudentCOVIDResponse@gmail.com.