By entering Farm Block, you are agreeing to the community agreements and the Care Team policy below.

Investing in a Care Team is one way to practice harm reduction, create a safer festival space, and slowly build a culture of consent and care. If you have questions or ideas, please contact our team at care@farmblock.com. This is an evolving document and we value your feedback.

The Care Team is a harm reduction initiative to help create safer spaces. Consider us “community care bears” ready to offer active listening, emotional support, cultural competence support, consent education, mediation, de-escalation and conflict counseling. We’re also here to help if you were over-served, if your boundaries were crossed, or if you crossed someone else’s boundaries.

Each member will be wearing a glow in the dark daisy bolo tie around their neck. You can also reach the Care Team by filling out the Incident Reporting Form at the Check In & Medic Tents.

This form can be filled out anonymously (if desired) and completed anytime, including after hours or post festival. If you’re not sure whether to report something, please do so that we can track patterns of harmful behavior and help prevent a major incident.

You can find QR codes and hard copies of the Care Team At-A-Glance, the Care Team Policy, the Community Agreements, and the Incident Reporting Form at both The Check In Station and The Medic Tent.

While we are prepared to take action—up to and including expulsion—if anyone’s behavior significantly threatens others’ safety, we are committed to treating everyone with compassion and care, and our goal is to keep everyone in the community. We are not here to be punitive, but to provide support and cultivate safer spaces together. The team will document incidents and support individuals toward creating accountability, reconciliation, and restoration of safety.

Our Care Team Policy and our Incident Reporting Form were adopted from Sarah Taub & Indigo Dawn’s Interfusion Festival Consent Code Of Conduct and their incident form. We added to it and consulted with Consent Beyond Yes to co-create this policy.

Policy Purpose

The purpose of this document is to help create safer spaces. In order to uphold standards of safety with integrity it is necessary to have guidelines and provide processes of accountability for our community.

Definition of Consent

Consent is an empowered decision rooted in personal agency. It is the giving of permission or agreement to participate in an interaction or activity without abuse or exploitation of trust or power. Consent is active not static, which means that at any point during an activity or interaction, one’s consent may be withdrawn, even if it was given at the outset. Consent is given freely and wholeheartedly with autonomy; it is not hesitant, manipulated, or coerced.

This definition is a melding of the definition provided in the Interfusion Festival Code Of conduct, and their video titled, “Consent: 7 Guiding Principles.”

Right to Consent and Safety

All staff, volunteers, guests and performers have the right to feel safe and exercise their consent, so attendees must adhere to the Consent Policy. Those who don’t will be held accountable through the process outlined in the protocol section. As much as possible, we aim to facilitate restorative/ transformative conversations and provide education so that everyone can learn, heal, and continue enjoying the festival. In the case of major incidents, though, the person who violated consent may be escorted out of the festival, expelled from future festivals, and/or released to authorities—the first priority is maintaining a safe environment. All incidents involving violations of the Consent Policy will be handled with compassionate care and professional integrity.

Consent Incident Protocols

There are various types of boundary-crossings, and such experiences exist on a spectrum; however, for the purposes of our protocols and procedures we will place them into 2 categories:

Minor Consent Incident

Not checking in, or accidentally overstepping boundaries. This often involves a dynamic where there was an ambiguity in what the participants’ boundaries were, or a lack of clear communication. Interactions proceeded in the absence of a clear “yes” or “no.”  The person whose boundary was crossed may not have had the opportunity or ability to articulate that they were not comfortable with an interaction before it happened, leaving them feeling uncomfortable, violated, or unsafe.

Major Consent Incident

A forceful crossing of boundaries after explicitly being told “no,” either verbally or nonverbally. A violation of this sort is characterized by an attempted overpowering of an individual—of their ability to leave the situation or to set their own personal boundaries easily, freely, and with personal agency. This may include (but is not limited to) harassment, assault, or abuse. In the case of violations of sexual consent it may include: fondling or unwanted touching, up to and including penetration, or forcing someone to perform sexual acts of any kind.

Accountability & Reconciliation

We will work with the ‘4 A’s of Accountability,’ a framework for addressing consent incidents and creating accountability, reconciliation, and restoration of safety.

• Acknowledgement: Both parties are encouraged to acknowledge that a boundary was crossed and, if possible, to establish an account of the consent incident that both parties can agree is accurate.
• Apology: The person who crossed the boundary is encouraged to give an appropriate apology to the person whose boundary was crossed. In the case of minor consent incidents, this step may be enough to bring about reconciliation.
• Amends: If appropriate, we will encourage the person who crossed the boundary to make amends or in some way make up for the damages caused to the person whose boundary was crossed.

  For example if damage was caused to a physical item they owned, amends could consist of offering to repair or replace it. If there was injury caused to the body, amends could consist of offering to pay relevant medical costs.

  In the case of major violations, perhaps providing resources for the person to have access to therapy or counseling with a service provider of their choice. Regardless of the degree or nature of the amends being made, the person whose boundary was crossed has the right to decide what would be helpful or unhelpful, not the person who crossed the boundary.

• Action: The person who stepped over the boundary of consent commits to take action to change their behavior or mentality in some way so that they do not repeat the mistake of crossing the boundary in a similar circumstance in the future. This requires the person to consider what they could have done differently to prevent the consent incident from taking place, and committing to adjusting their behavior in the future.For example, in the case of a minor consent incident, it may be a commitment to being more attentive when engaging in physical activities. In the case of a major consent incident, it may be committing to seek professional help, training, or therapy of some sort.

At each stage, the person whose boundary has been crossed will be consulted to see if they would like to go to the next stage or if they are content and feel supported sufficiently with the stage we have reached. (i.e. Is acknowledgement enough or do we need to move toward an apology? If yes, is an apology enough or should we seek amends? Would amends be enough or should we seek action? Maybe you want someone to commit to action, but you don’t feel like there are specific amends that you need made. Each process, and each person’s needs will be unique.

Responding to Consent Incidents: During the Event

The Consent Team will be available to receive and address reports of any consent or boundary crossing situations and incidents of inappropriate behavior. Consent Team members will be identified with black lanyards and colorful tags. Below are the protocols the Consent Team will use to respond to incidents. Because of the scale of this event, these protocols are written in a standardized way that may sound formulaic or punitive, but they are designed to support reconciliation, healing, and community membership as much as possible.

• First MINOR Consent Incident Protocol: A Consent team member or staff person will speak to both parties and encourage a conversation toward reconciliation and restoration of safety using the 4-A’s of Accountability model. Consent team or staff will also debrief with each party to ensure they are in a stable emotional and psychological state and can safely continue to participate at the event.
• Second MINOR Consent Incident Protocol: The person who has violated the Consent Policy for the second time will have their participation in the camp’s activities suspended immediately. In order for the suspension to be lifted: A successful reconciliation conversation between both parties using the 4-A’s of Accountability model must take place.The Consent team must also be able to determine reasonably that the individuals are in a stable emotional and psychological state, and can safely continue to participate, without other participants feeling unsafe. If a second minor violation is reported during the festival, the Consent Directors will be notified to help determine if further action is needed.
• Third MINOR Consent Incident Protocol: The person who has violated the Consent Policy for the third time will be asked to leave, and not allowed back. In the case of a third minor offense, either at one event or across many, the Consent Team may decide to restrict that individual from future access to camp. If a Third Minor Violation is reported at Farm Block, the Consent Directors will be notified immediately.
• First MAJOR Consent Violation Incident: The person who has violated the Consent Policy in a MAJOR way (clear, knowing or willful violation of consent) will be asked to leave. Legal action may be considered. Lifetime expulsion from all future events may be considered. A Consent Team or staff member will spend time with the person whose consent was violated to ensure the person is in a stable emotional and psychological state and can safely continue to participate at the event.

If a Major Incident is reported, notify the Consent Co-Directors ASAP. Farm Block staff will provide the person whose boundaries were crossed with resources and information to cope with the incident and to file a report with police officials, if they so wish. Depending on the judged emotional state of the person whose boundaries were crossed, the Consent Team may encourage them to leave the event and put necessary support structures in place in order to successfully stabilize and integrate the incident.

Responding to Consent Incidents: Post Event

If you experienced or witnessed a consent incident (i.e. boundary-crossing, harassment, consent violation) at Farm Block, you have the option to report the incident after the festival has ended. Please use this Farm Block Incident Reporting Form.

First, second, or third Minor Incident: When a Minor Consent Incident is reported post-event, a Consent Team member will reach out to the person who has violated our code and inform them of the report. Whether this is the first, second or third Minor Incident reported will determine the course of action that is needed.

The Consent Team will follow the corresponding Minor Incident protocol listed above, if the person would like to continue to attend the festival in the future. A third Minor Incident reported (including post-camp) may result in the camp’s decision to restrict the person who has violated the Consent Policy from future events. We will also follow up with the person whose boundary was crossed to inform them of Consent Incident protocols and offer support resources such as: Outside mediation and therapy recommendations; and Mediation time with the Consent Team if desired.

Major Consent Incident: When a Major Incident is reported post-festival, legal action may be considered and taken. Lifetime expulsion of the person who has committed a Major Consent Incident from all future camp events may be considered. A Consent team member will follow up with the person whose boundary was crossed within 48 hours of receiving the report, to discuss Major Consent Incident protocols. The Consent Team will reach out again one week following the initial report to check in with the person whose boundary was crossed and answer any questions or provide resources.

Contact Information