Most would agree that helpful neighbors and a sense of community is important, especially when raising children. Who would think a mom helping another family in the community would get in trouble for her neighborly deed?
Caring for a Neighborhood Children
By Valerie S. Nosek
Okay. So yours is the house all the kids in the neighborhood flock to. You have a great relationship with the other parents on your block and welcome their kids into your home. As parents in the neighborhood, the group has taken the attitude of “it takes a village” to monitor and care for the children of the neighborhood.
When another parent needs a helping hand, you step in and offer to let their kids come over to your home. In turn, when you and your husband need a night out, that neighboring parent will care for your child. No money is exchanged. It’s just one neighbor doing a favor for another.
And that’s the way it’s supposed to be…isn’t it?
Not according to a recent article on Yahoo News. Recently, one mom living in a Grand Rapids, Michigan suburb was warned by the Michigan Department of Human Services to cease and desist from caring for neighborhood kids. The article, State to mom: Stop baby-sitting neighbors’ kids, hit the news this week and has caused an uproar among parents in both the state of Michigan and other states.
The story is this: the bus stop is right at the end of this family’s driveway. So, this mom decided to do a favor for the other working parents in the neighborhood and allowed their kids (three neighbor children) to come to her home for about an hour before the bus arrived. This mom would then make sure all the kids got on the bus and off to school. Neighborly deed done.
But not so fast. After receiving a complaint from another neighbor, the Department of Human Services sent a letter to the mom citing state regulations that prohibit a person from caring for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are a licensed day-care provider.
So, do parents everywhere have to now fear trouble with the state if they do a favor for a neighbor and help out watching their child for a total of more than the equivalent of four weeks out of the year? (If you’re talking business days, that only 16 days out of 365 that you’re allowed to perform a helpful childcare-related act.)
According to Ease@Work childcare specialists, the answer is “no.” You don’t have to worry about a letter from Ohio officials with the Department of Human Services arriving in your mail.
“Ohio’s laws are not as stringent as Michigan’s, so we have homes that could do just what this mom was doing and under Ohio’s law, be exempt and within their rights to offer this type of service,” said Janet Schiavoni, Ease@Work Account Manager and expert in dependent care services.
“For many parents, what this mom was doing is often a perfect solution to resolving work-life balance issues,” said Linda Hazen, a childcare specialist with Ease. “In fact, I often suggest that parents look to other trusted parents in the neighborhood to help out with simple childcare needs.”
Hazen presented the same example of when one parent has to arrive at work earlier than another in the neighborhood. “It makes sense to reach out to available resources, such as an available neighbor, who is willing to make sure your child gets on the bus along with their child or children,” she said. This is often a no-cost solution when parents form cooperative relationships with others who have similar childcare needs.
The only time individuals need to be concerned about state childcare regulations is if you are actually operating as a licensed Type A day care home. But, if you are operating as a Type B home, you would be exempt from the law.
“Ohio Day Care Licensing law defines Type B homes as homes that care for up to six children, of which no more than three are under the age of two, and if any of the childcare provider’s own children are under six years old they must be included in the total count,” Hazen said. If this mom were to be living in Ohio, she would be considered exempt from the law because she was only caring for three unrelated children and one of her own.
As an employee assistance program, Ease@Work offers expert advice on childcare and other dependent care services to client companies and their employees.
