Club Meeting Safety Guidelines: What 4-H Families Need to Know
Current Status of In-Person Events
Oregon State University has granted approval for regular 4-H club meetings. Special meetings and county events require individual approval but are generally able to proceed following the same guidelines.
Volunteer Expectations for Club Meetings
Requirements for club meetings
All 4-H families are encouraged to review the club safety guidelines and ensure that all steps are being followed at each meeting. Acknowledgement of the club safety guidelines will be part of annual enrollment for volunteers. Upon re-enrolling, your club will be approved to meet (if it hasn't been approved already).
Clubs Currently Approved to Resume Modified in-person Meetings
Starting last year, clubs were approved to meet once they submitted a club safety plan. Here is a reference copy of the safety plan from June.
Going forward, clubs should follow the Volunteer Expectations for Club Meetings that were published in October. A list of clubs that submitted plans and are currently approved to resume in-person meetings can be found online.
Attendance, Group Size, and Facility Restrictions
- At every in-person gathering, a Contact Tracing Form must be filled out. Parents will sign members in and out of each event.
- Leaders submit Contact Tracing Forms to the Extension Office after each event via e-mail or hang onto them for up to 2 weeks.
- Maximum Attendance at an in-person 4-H meeting is 24 youth, plus the adult volunteers. All youth present count toward the total (including extra family members). If your group is larger than 24, divide your meetings into smaller cohorts.
- Information is based on current OHA guidance for youth enrichment programs here: Oregon Health Authority Statewide Reopening Guidance – Youth Programs
- Virtual meetings are still encouraged. Members cannot be required to attend in-person meetings or meet attendance requirements at this time.
Expectations when attending an in-person 4-H event
- Everyone attending should have acceptable masks available and may be required to wear them during the entire event.
- Do not send anyone with a fever or who is feeling sick. If anyone has had a recent exposure and been advised to quarantine they cannot attend.
- Only send members & adults that are expected to be there – limit extra family members
- Sharing or serving food or drinks are not allowed at this time
- Practice good hand washing and use of hand sanitizers
Club Safety Supplies
We can provide kits for all clubs and independent members. Kits contain the following items (larger groups have more items)
- Container to store your safety items
- Spray-on hand sanitizer
- Roll of blue tape for hanging signs and marking distances
- A club sign-in sheet and a pen
- Masks: 2 per leader & one per member, or keep them as "extras" if someone forgets their mask
- Available by request: gloves, bottles of hand sanitizer, extra copies of the club sign-in sheet
Report a Positive COVID Case
Did someone who attended a club meeting get sick? If any person who was at a 4-H in-person event has symptoms of illness or gets informed of an exposure, it needs to be reported to us immediately. We want to hear from the family or club leader if anyone has symptoms that *might* be COVID, confirmed cases, and possible exposures even if you don't have symptoms. Contact Katie to let us know what's going on. We promise to be kind and respect private information. We'll determine if we need to notify the other people who were at the meeting and will take care of the OSU reporting requirement.
We are Here to Help!
If you have any questions, please email me