Faith Formation, in depth

A registration starts as a draft. The wizard saves after every step, so a parent can close the page and return. When the parent submits, the family either pays in full or starts a payment plan. The seat counts as taken only after the family pays or starts a plan.

The parish can end up with these states:

• Draft: the family started and did not submit.
• Pending payment: the family submitted and owes money.
• Enrolled: the child holds a seat.
• Waitlisted: the class was full when the family registered.
• Scholarship review: the family asked for help with the fee.
• Withdrawn: the child left, or the parish released the seat.

Staff see the same states in the registrations list. A Capacity tab shows each class pool: seats set, seats taken, children waiting, and children still in checkout. Children in checkout do not use a seat until they pay.

Nothing seats a waitlisted child on its own. Staff read the waitlist, oldest first, and admit a child. The admit step takes the seat, creates the payment and sends the family a message by email, text, or both. The family has seven days to pay. A family that starts a payment plan keeps the seat. A full class does not stop staff from admitting a child.

Financial assistance follows its own queue. Staff approve a full or a partial award, or deny the request. A denied family keeps its place and owes the fee. An award reduces the registration fee only. It never reduces a sacrament preparation fee. Every request also holds a staff-only note that the family never sees.

• Reminders. About 18 hours after a family starts and does not pay, the system lists the family as abandoned. A timer sends one reminder. A family that did not finish the form gets a "finish your registration" message. A family that did not pay gets a "complete your payment" message.
• Release of seats. A nightly cleanup withdraws the children of an overdue family. It returns their seats to the program. An unsubmitted draft expires after its own save window.
• Balances. A daily timer recomputes the overdue balance of each family whose payment fell due.
• Attendance. Each morning the system marks an unmarked child Absent for a past session. Staff change the mark to Excused when a parent writes in. This timer sends no message.
• Counters. Timers recount seats, group sizes and attendance totals. A Drift badge shows when a stored count disagrees with the live count.

The refund depends on the date of the withdrawal. The parish sets three dates in the program year: the first meeting, the second semester start, and the refund cutoff.

• Before the first meeting, or within 30 days after it: 75% of the registration fees the parish collected.
• After that and before the second semester: 50%.
• From the second semester start, or after the cutoff: nothing.

The system rounds the refund down to the cent. A sacrament fee for a sacrament the child did not receive is refunded in full. Any Faith Formation admin can override the percent. An override needs one of six reasons and a note. If a policy date is empty, the quote shows zero until an admin sets it or overrides it.

Faith Formation tracks Confirmation and First Communion preparation in separate trackers for youth. Each row shows a candidate and the forms they have returned. Only Confirmation needs a sponsor. A family uploads a baptism certificate, First Communion certificate or First Reconciliation certificate. Staff compare the file with the date and parish the family typed. They approve or reject it. Approval writes the permanent record, so staff reject any file that does not match.

• Families see only their own children, payments, pickup code and certificates.
• Catechists and volunteers use the class kiosk. It needs a class link, not a sign-in, and it clears itself after 10 seconds of no touches.
• Staff use the admin console. The Kids and Youth toggle splits rosters and attendance. Finance covers both groups for one program year.
• Notifications. Staff can switch most automatic messages on or off, by email or text. One safeguarding alert to the office cannot be turned off.

A recount leaves a record on the family or class. A refund override keeps its reason and note.