Who Can See Children’s Medical and Allergy Information
A child's allergies, medical notes and security code are the most sensitive records your church keeps. TimelyChurch is built so the people who need that information at the moment they need it have it -- and nobody else can browse it.
Two different kinds of access
Check-in permissions are deliberately split in two, because "I need to know this child has a peanut allergy while I check them in" is a completely different thing from "I can look up any child in the church."
| Permission | What it allows | Who normally has it |
|---|---|---|
| Operate a station (check-in: use) | Check children in and out. Allergies and medical notes appear for the child being checked in, and on their label. | Check-in volunteers, team members, team leaders |
| Browse records (check-in: manage) | Search the children's database by name or phone, view rosters and full records, change check-in settings. | Children's ministry director, administrators |
A volunteer at the door can serve a child safely without ever being able to look up someone else's child.
What this means in practice
- A worship leader, a small group leader or a greeter with check-in access can check children in -- and cannot browse the children's database.
- A parent always sees their own child's record through the family portal.
- Security codes, pickup authorization and guardian contacts follow the same rule: shown for the child in front of you, not browsable in bulk.
- Profile update links are never generated for a minor. A guardian updates a child's record from the authenticated family portal instead.
Reviewing who has browse access at your church
Go to Settings → Roles and open each role. Under Check-In you will see which of the two grants it holds.
A good rule of thumb: only the people who run children's ministry need browse access. Everyone else who helps at the door needs station access only. If a role has browse access and does not need it, remove it -- the volunteers in that role can still check children in exactly as before.
If you collect medical information
Collect guardian consent before saving allergies or medical notes on a child's record. TimelyChurch prompts for this, and reads of a minor's medical fields are recorded in the audit log.
Related
- Security Codes, Labels, and Child Safety -- how the codes and labels work
- Who Can See Giving and Donations -- the same principle applied to money