Blocked-pickup entries and checkout verification
Some households have a person who must not pick up a child — often under a court order. VolunteerCal records these privately and shows them only where a release decision is actually made. Every add, edit, and removal is recorded in the audit log.
For admins: adding an entry
- Open the child's page (for a block on one child) or the household's page (for a block that covers every sibling — appropriate when a court order covers them all), and find Not authorized for {name}.
- Tap Add entry.
- Fill in the person's name (required) and reason — court order, household decision, or other. Phone and notes are optional.
- Choose Indefinite or set an expiry date — useful for a time-limited order.
- Save, then add a photo and, if you have one, a supporting document (a PDF or image of the order) from the entry itself.
Photos and documents are stored privately and are never shown at check-in — only at the checkout screen described below, and only to a staffed-kiosk volunteer.
What a volunteer sees at checkout
At a staffed kiosk, every pickup goes through a "Check before you release" screen: each child's photo and room, any allergy on file, who's authorized to pick them up, and — if there's an entry on file for this child or household — a red "Do not release to…" box with the reason and, if set, when it ends.
- If the person standing there matches the box, tap This is them. The release stops immediately, nothing is handed over, and the church owner and Emergency Response Team contacts on file are texted. An operator on-site can't override this.
- If they don't match, carry on with the normal release. If a block is on file for this child at all — even for someone else entirely — VolunteerCal still requires a check-in manager's approval before the release completes, as a second check. The kiosk sends the manager an approval link; release finishes once they confirm it.
On the child-selection screen (before checkout), a staffed kiosk shows a plain "Pickup restrictions on file" note at the bottom when a child in the household has an entry — a heads-up, with no names or details, so a child glancing at the screen doesn't see anything. Self-service kiosks never show block details and never see this note; if a family with a block tries to check out at one, it tells them to see a volunteer at the desk instead.
Policy notes
- This check is only as strong as the entries behind it. An entry with a photo is far easier to verify than a name only.
- If you aren't certain the person matches, find another staff member. Never release a child when there's doubt.
- Self-service kiosks can't clear a blocked-pickup entry. A household with one must check out at a staffed kiosk.