A Michigan family may have to pay a $1000 fine for watching a neighbor's children for a few minutes before and after school... without a daycare license.
In addition to the monetary fine, Snyder was informed by the DHS that the family must take CPR training; undergo mental evaluations and have a structural inspection done on the home, before they could be approved as babysitters.
Calley said under current Michigan law, if someone watches a non-dependent child more than once consistently, no matter the duration, they must be licensed.According to this law, if my mother lived in Michigan, my brother would no longer be able to leave his son at her house while my brother goes to school. In order to be able to do so, my mother would have to get licensed by the state. Wow. There can be no grandparents babysitting while the parents go out, unless it is done inconsistently...
My in-laws would have been in contempt of this law while Gary was deployed 6 years ago. After all, they watched the boys at least one night a week, and every other weekend for the entire deployment. That's pretty consistent.
If my next door neighbor had to go to work before the bus came, and I volunteered to watch her kids so that she didn't have to pay a day care, I would be in contempt of this law.
If my son were to babysit his brothers on a regular basis, he would be in contempt of the law.
I am always amazed at how out of whack government can get. But, it is no surprise to me, with things like this, that Michigan's economy is so bad.
2 comments:
I can't speak to Michigan's laws, but I know that your mom is off the hook as far as that sort of thing goes. In Oklahoma, you can watch a relative's child as often as you want to and it doesn't count. However, you can only watch children you're not related to for a certain number of hours a week (12 maybe?) before you have to be licensed as a childcare provider. (And trust me, having helped to test the application that they use to license those facilities, it's a pretty strenuous process to get a license and stay licensed. You wouldn't BELIEVE the things that they look at and check for! Craziness... but all in the name of keeping kids safe.) :-)
At any rate, not all states are identical on the childcare licensing rules/business etc.
This is the kind of craziness "they" sneak into law while they've got us busy carrying misselled signs with which to bash each other over the head in the names of the two "competing" (hah) political parties. The busier we are at that, the more of THIS craziness is going on in the quiet rooms above our heads.
Carly,
a Deployed Infantryman's mom
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