Volunteer Check-In and Checkout
Volunteers (teachers, classroom helpers, greeters, security, hall monitors) can check in and out of services just like the children they serve, so you have a record of every adult who was in a room.
This article covers the volunteer flow end-to-end: how to check a volunteer in, how to check them out, how background checks are recorded, and where volunteer check-ins show up.
Why Track Volunteer Check-Ins
Tracking who is on duty (and which room they are serving in) gives you:
- Accountability. If something happens in a room, you have a record of every adult who was checked in.
- Room counts. Children's ministry leaders can see who is in each class as families arrive, so under-staffed rooms can be caught.
- Compliance. Many child-safety policies require minimum adult-to-child ratios (commonly 1:5 for ages 3-5 and 1:8 for ages 6-12). Keeping volunteer check-ins accurate makes those numbers easy to count.
Who Can Check In Volunteers
Anyone whose role has the Check-In Use permission can check a volunteer in or out. It is not restricted to administrators. Common patterns:
- Station check-in. A volunteer arrives early, and a station helper finds them by name and checks them in.
- Hall monitor check-in. A designated hall monitor walks each classroom at the start of the service and checks each volunteer in for their assigned room.
- Lead-volunteer check-in. The children's ministry lead checks each volunteer in from a tablet at the start of the service.
Pick the pattern that fits your team. Many churches use a combination.
Permissions tip: Check-In access is set per role under Administration > Roles & Permissions. On the Check-In module, tick View and Use for anyone who runs the station. Manage is only needed for settings and safety actions (see Check-In Settings).
Seeing Who Is Scheduled to Serve
When the active session is linked to an event, the Check-In Station shows an Assigned Volunteers card with the event name and the people scheduled to serve at that event (with their role). Use it as your check-in list for the day.
Checking In a Volunteer
Volunteers are checked in from the Check-In Station through the same flow as everyone else. You search for them, select them, and check them in to the class they are serving. There is no separate "volunteer" mode. The volunteer must already exist as a Person in your People directory.
- Open Planning > Check-In to open the Check-In Station, and make sure a session is active.
- Use the Phone Number or Name Search tab to find the volunteer.
- On the Name Search tab, click Check In next to the volunteer, choose the class they are serving today under Assign to Class (Optional), and click Complete Check-In. On the Phone Number tab, select the volunteer and click Check In (the button shows the number of people you have selected, e.g. "Check In 1 Person").
The system creates a check-in record, generates a security code for it, and records the person against the class you chose, so the class roster reflects who is present. Adults are counted under Adults on the session page.
Already-Checked-In Guard
If the person is already checked in to the same session, the system will not create a duplicate. To move them to a different class, check them out first, then check them back in to the correct class.
Background Checks
TimelyChurch can hold a background-check status on each person, so you can see at a glance who is cleared to serve with children.
Recording a Background Check (Administrators Only)
A background check is recorded on the person's profile, and only an administrator can record it.
- Open People and open the person's profile.
- Open the Involvement tab. (The Involvement tab appears for anyone who is a child or who belongs to a group, class, or serving team, or has serving assignments.)
- Find the Background Check card.
- Tick Background check cleared.
- Optionally set an Expires (optional) date. Useful for policies that re-run checks every year or two.
- Click Save. You'll see the confirmation "Background check updated."
If you are not an administrator, the card shows the line "Only administrators can record background checks." in place of the form.
Note: Un-ticking "Background check cleared" clears both the recorded date and the expiry, so the status resets to "Not on file."
The Status Badge
The Background Check card shows a colored badge so you can read the status at a glance:
| Badge | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Cleared | Green | A valid check is on file. |
| Expired | Red | A check was recorded, but its expiry date has passed. |
| Not on file | Gray | No check has ever been recorded. |
When an expiry date is set, an exp. [date] hint appears next to the badge. A check is valid through its expiry date. Someone whose check expires on the 30th is still cleared on the 30th and expired on the 1st. Dates are compared in your church's local day.
Note: Checking a volunteer in from the Check-In Station does not look at their background check. Review the badge on the volunteer's profile (and your own records) as part of your volunteer screening.
Volunteer Badges
Volunteers can wear a volunteer badge with their name, class, and church branding. Badges are designed as a Volunteer Badge label template (see Customizing Label Templates).
- A Volunteer Badge template is not created automatically. "Create Default Templates" only generates two templates, a Classic Child Tag and a Classic Security Tag. To get a volunteer badge, create a template with the type Volunteer Badge (or duplicate an existing template and change its type).
- Build and edit volunteer templates in Check-In Settings > Label Designer (open the gear icon in the Check-In Station header, then the Label Designer tab). The Label Designer groups templates by type, including a Volunteer Badges section.
- To print badges, click Print All on the Check-In Station and choose your volunteer template in the Template: menu at the top of the print page.
Tip: A consistent, clearly-marked volunteer badge helps families spot who is "on staff" in the children's area. It is a simple child-safety improvement.
Reading Room Counts
TimelyChurch does not calculate a volunteer-to-child ratio for you. To check a room against your targets, open the Rooms view on the Check-In Station or the Here tab of the Classroom Roster, and count the children and adults in that class.
Practical Targets
These are common targets used by churches and child-safety standards. Adjust based on your insurance carrier's recommendations and your local laws.
| Age range | Common minimum ratio |
|---|---|
| Infants (under 12 months) | 1:3 |
| Toddlers (1-2 years) | 1:4 |
| Preschool (3-5 years) | 1:5 |
| Elementary (6-12 years) | 1:8 |
| Middle school+ | 1:12 |
If a room is over the target, reassign a volunteer from a less-loaded room or move a child to a different class.
Checking Out a Volunteer
Volunteer checkout is simpler than child checkout: no security code is required, and no authorized-pickup person needs to be selected.
- Find the volunteer in the list of checked-in people (on the Check-In Station, the session page, or the Classroom Roster).
- Click the Check out / Check Out button next to their name.
- The system records the checkout time immediately. No code prompt, no pickup picker.
This is by design. There is no child-pickup risk for an adult volunteer, so there is no need to verify a code or a pickup person.
Note: Checkouts are blocked during lockdown for everyone. The system returns "Checkouts are suspended during lockdown. Contact a church administrator." A volunteer cannot be checked out of a room until lockdown clears. See Lockdown Mode.
Where Volunteer Check-Ins Show Up
- Session page. Volunteers are adults, so they are counted under Adults in the session tiles, and they appear in the session's Attendance List like everyone else.
- Attendance reports. Check-ins flow into the attendance reports under Reports > All Reports, so volunteer check-ins are part of your overall attendance history.
Note: TimelyChurch also has a separate Volunteers report and serving schedules. Those are driven by event volunteer assignments and scheduling, which is a different feature from checking a volunteer in at the door. Checking someone in here does not by itself update their serving history.
Common Issues
Person is already checked in
Someone checked them in earlier. Find the existing check-in in the list; either let it stand, or check them out and back in to the correct class.
Volunteer was checked into the wrong class
Check them out, then check them in again with the correct class selected. The original check-in record is preserved (with both check-in and checkout timestamps), so the audit trail is intact.
A volunteer doesn't exist as a Person yet
Volunteers must have a Person record. Create one in People > Add Person with at least a first name, last name, and phone number. They can then be checked in immediately.
Need to print a label after the fact
Find the person in the Check-In Station's list of checked-in people and click the printer icon next to their name to reprint their label.
"Check Out" button is greyed out
The session is in lockdown. Checkouts (including volunteers) are suspended until an administrator deactivates lockdown. See Lockdown Mode.
Related Articles
- Check-In Process. Family / child check-in flow.
- Label Templates. Designing the volunteer badge.
- Lockdown Mode. Why checkouts are blocked during lockdown.
- Room Occupancy. Head counts per class.