Helpful Mom Accused of Running Outlaw Day Care

A Michigan woman allows three neighbor kids stay with her and wait for the school bus while their parents head off for work.

That's apparently being more neighborly than the law allows.

Lisa Snyder of Middleville, Mich., (a town of 2,700 people and about 34 minutes south of Grand Rapids) has become something of an outlaw.

She received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services Sept. 11 telling her she is running an illegal day care operation and faces possible fines and jail time if she doesn't cease and desist.

So she has stopped. Sort of. "With one child, I have, but the other two still come," she told Matt Lauer of the "Today" show on NBC last week.

Michigan state Rep. Brian Calley, R, told MSNBC the whole thing is ridiculous. He wants to change state law so parents can help each other without ending up on the wrong side of the law. It may take a village to raise a child, "but I guess in Michigan we're saying it takes a licensed village," he told MSNBC.

Someone in the neighborhood isn't happy.

James B. Gale, the director of the Office of Children and Adult Licensing under the Department of Human Services, told MSNBC his staff became aware of the situation because someone noticed what Snyder was doing and complained.

"In the interest of protecting children, we will investigate all allegations or complaints of unlicensed child care," he told the news agency.

Snyder doesn't accept any money from her fellow moms Francie Brummel, Lori Forbes and Mindy Rose. The children never stay more than an hour. She asked state officials what is she supposed to do, let the children wait for the school bus in the rain?

"The lady told me plain and simple, 'Tell the parents to buy an umbrella.' She was serious," Snyder told Lauer.

The mothers agree the idea of punishing Snyder is absurd. "It's not a day care," Forbes told Lauer. "It's a bus stop."

Under state law, Snyder told Lauer, the kids couldn't even come over to play unless their parents were home. If the parents took the opportunity to go out, she said, she would find herself in the day care business.

"The law is taken way out of context," Calley told MSNBC. "It's meant to regulate the business of providing day care services. It's not meant to apply to friends helping friends this way."

What do you think? Should parents be allowed to take in kids from the neighborhood for free without getting licensed by the state?

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Comments (16)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sally 10-06-2009 @ 11:42AM

It is an issue of SAFETY people. I am glad the law stepped in! IF something were to happen to one of those kids while under her care, then the lawsuits would be flying!! Finally the govt. steps in!!!

HEIDI OLSE-HUGHEY 10-06-2009 @ 12:18PM

You have to be kidding! My friends and I swapped baby sitting my entire married life and I used to babysit for fifty cents an hour when I was a preteen and teenager! Was I a criminal? Hardly. It has been done forever and will be done forever. I am a single working mom and could NEVER afford licensed day care for my kids. I paid friends and friends kids to watch my kids. The government should regulate and watch over licensed day care providers who are being paid for professional services and receiving subsidies from the government. But-- to do friends a favor so they can go out in the evenings or to keep an eye on each others children for safety sake is non of the governments business! For heavens sake, are our tax dollars seriously paying for this?

Inadequate Wife 10-06-2009 @ 12:13PM

I don't think it's an issue of safety at all. There is a difference between neighbors/friends babysitting each others kids for a little while and running a full-fledged day care.

As a parent, you accept risk every single time you let your kids go to someone else's house, in someone else's car, etc. Accidents happen, whether a person is trained in first aid/safety issues or not. If you don't trust your neighbor/friend to watch your kids, then you don't let them go there, plain and simple. This situation seems like a mutually agreeable one.

This woman is simply a babysitter. She's only watching them for less than an hour at a time, and she's not receiving any compensation.

To me, a daycare involves meal/snack preparation, organized activities, and is run as a business where you seek new clients to maintain a specific population to maintain a steady income.

What about a parent who volunteers to watch her friend's kids while the parents go out to dinner and a movie? If the kids come to her house is it a daycare? What if she goes to their house and watches them in their home? Is it babysitting? In reality, what difference does it make?

The only thing I can possibly think of that might make her a "daycare" vs a "babysitter" is the number of kids she watches at a time. I can see setting a limit of 3 or 4 kids - any more than that would probably constitute a daycare.

The people upset by these babysitting situations are the same ones who think kids should have a permit to set up a lemonade stand at the end of their driveway. Why must everything be regulated out of fear?

bethe 10-06-2009 @ 12:27PM

Oh yes! Thank the Lord that our blessed, wonderful government stepped in to fix this terrible problem! Those kids should be standing outside in the rain with umbrellas, NOT being supervised by one of their friend's moms. Where do their parents get off letting a responsible adult keep an eye on their children as a neighborly favor? Next thing you know, people will be borrowing cups of sugar and lending out garden tools. Without a license OR government permission. All Hell breaking loose! Let us all praise the State - the Government is your friend - they are here to help us! If we just follow their rules, we will be safe and we will never have to think again!

margaret 10-06-2009 @ 1:47PM

Sally,

You have got to be joking or the dumbest person on the planet. How is a license going to stop her from being sued if "something goes wrong?" It won't. This is a case of government gone crazy. With all of the stories of kids getting abducted while waiting for a bus, I applaud this mom for stepping up and letting these kids stay at her house until the bus comes.

SKL 10-06-2009 @ 1:48PM

Every minute of a child's life is an issue of safety. An hour in a school-age'd child's life does not need to be regulated by the government. Besides, surely this woman's house/yard is safer than the classroom / schoolyard, or the bus stop / school bus. The only reason to require a license for this level of service is to collect taxes.

I wonder if there is a daycare provider in the neighborhood who wants to actually be paid for watching these kids, and this is how she thinks she'll make it happen. Or maybe this woman is getting paid under the table, and someone thinks she ought to come clean and pay taxes. Or maybe some parent has a grudge against this woman. Either way, this law is over-broad / poorly written. If it stands, then most of the parents I know (and many of their friends) are criminals too.

me 10-06-2009 @ 2:11PM

So its better that they stand in the rain with umbrellas, or whatever the weather may be, and possibly get kidnapped, raped, never seen again, or killed? Great Idea, It must be wonderful for you to know that the government is taking away all of our freedoms and rights little by little. Think before you speak, accidents happen but i would rather leave my kids with a trusted friend than alone or with the government who will teach them that the wrong way and forget the history lessons.

Steph 11-07-2009 @ 9:40AM

Sally,
How is this any different than if a child came over to play and got injured. If your friends would sue you when you are doing them a favor, you need new friends.

Tatiana 1-25-2010 @ 11:04AM

so you must have never used a friend to watch your child(ren) while you ran to the store or hired a baby sitter for date night with your hubby, or let your child(ren) have sleepovers with their friends right?

Myself 10-06-2009 @ 12:06PM

Isn't it sad that we've let the lawyers and politicans dicate how and when we can take care of our friends kids?

Melissa 10-06-2009 @ 1:05PM

I saw this on the Today show the other day....she is simply helping her friends out. Like one of the moms said, it's a bus stop, not a daycare. I am having a yard sale in a few weeks and I asked one of the moms at my daughter's school (her best friend's mom actually) if she would mind having her over for a few hours that day, for a playdate....am I breaking the law because I don't want her to see me getting rid of her toys?!?!

shovan 10-06-2009 @ 1:10PM

I think the state is just mad they cant make money off it. There are actually nice people out in the world who think of others besides themselves.

Heather 10-06-2009 @ 5:32PM

OMG Better make sure Grandma gets a license before the kids stay with her anymore....God only knows that if you don't have a license you don't know how to take care of anyone elses kids. Hell, why don't they just make them for parents to take care of their own kids too, that way noone can sue anyone for anything!! GEESH!!!

k.magee16 10-06-2009 @ 7:35PM

I think it is terrible. If these mothers know this person then I think it is okay. They are not there very long. Since our economy is the way it is people are doing the best they can. We have to help each other out. Am I illegal? I help my niece out and keep her 4mo. old 3 days a week.

Elizabeth 10-07-2009 @ 3:38AM

I agree with Shovan--the government probably wants the money it would take for this woman to get licensed to be a daycare provider. You can bet that if the situation were the mothers leaving their children out in the rain that they would be the ones getting in trouble and not this woman. It is sad when parents are trying the best they can and the government says it's not good enough.

Cailie 12-13-2009 @ 2:23PM

This is just crazy! so are the goverment people telling me that my mother needs to be liscensed because she watches my son after daycare hours? I can't afford to pay someone every time i leave my son for heaven sakes i need a break with my husband once in a while and if that's leaving my son with the trusted neighbor than fine ill do so!