Caretaker Groups

These are groups that are handed over to Freegle to be run centrally by Mentors because the owners no longer want them and there is no-one to run them. The intent is always to find and train a new mod team, but due to time constraints these groups can remain in Mentor hands for a long time.

Assigning a Caretaker Group

A Mentor is allocated as the caretaker owner, with a second member of the mentor team acting as a back-up owner as a safety measure, and the names of the groups are added to the caretaker list. This list is available here [1]

Running a Caretaker Group

Best Practice guidelines are followed by the Mentors when running a caretaker groups:

Development Group agreed (9th August 2015) the principle that caretaker groups should be managed in a consistent way to simplify moderation, embed good practice and make it easier to pass onto a new mod team. So, for caretaker groups:

1. Mentors should adopt a common set of basic rules - Caretaker Group Rules
2. Mentors should use Modtools with a standard configuration
3. Individual mod groups should be set up to archive messages sent to members.

Note: All currently available posting methods will be added on adoption of the group.

Passing over Caretaker Group to new team

When an existing Freegle mod or mod team offers to take over a Caretaker group, the Mentors should:

• Consider the capacity of a team to take on more than the group(s) they are currently moderating.
• Consider the location of the applicant(s) and take into account if they live in the location or adjacent area, or know it quite well having lived there previously or through other connections.
• Find out what rules and working practice are used by the mod/team currently.
• Discuss what changes are likely to be made to the caretaker existing basic rules along with the proposed working practices for running the group. The Mentors will use the Best Practice guidelines to inform this discussion.
• Poll on whether it is in the best interests of the group to hand it over to the new mod/team taking into account, location, capacity, rules and working practices.
• If the poll doesn't agree to the handover, the group will not be handed over until further discussions have taken place and a new poll is run, but ultimately the Mentors have authority to refuse the offer.

On handover of the group:

• If the poll agrees to the handover, the Mentor caretaker owner should stay as a joint owner for the first 6 months to support the new mod/team and also to ensure that any subsequent rule changes or working practice are in the interests of the group. In extremis, the Mentor team should poll on whether changes are fair and have the authority to take back the group into Caretaker status if it is felt necessary.
• The Mentor, in the initial 6 month period, should not actively moderate the group unless messages are being left unmoderated for periods of 24 hours or more.
• If the Mentor is removed from the group as owner before the end of the six months, this will be grounds for possible disaffiliation of the group.

Appeals:

The applicant(s) have recourse to the Complaints Procedure if they are unhappy with the decision to refuse or have the ownership of the group taken back.

Polls:

Votes will be carried out by 75% of those voting, with all polls having a stated number of days to run when set up, not less than 4 days.

Links

• Glossary
• Mentor Team Remit
• Document Approval Policy (This page is treated as a Guideline under this Policy)