GANNETT NEWS SERVICE



A mother from western Michigan watching her friends' kids before the morning bus said on NBC's "Today" this morning that she can't believe state officials claim she's running an illegal daycare.





"To me, this is just a friend helping a friend," Lisa Snyder of Middleville told "Today" host Matt Lauer.


Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services that she either needs a license or must stop watching three neighborhood children for 15 to 40 minutes before the school bus stops in front of her house. The state forbids regular childcare for more than four weeks without a license.


Snyder told Lauer she was flabbergasted when she received the letter, and called the state to complain.


"I said the children should be able to come in my house from the rain or snow," Snyder said. "The lady said to me plain and simple 'Tell the parents to buy an umbrella.'"


State Rep. Brian Calley, R.-Portland, also appeared on the show to discuss new legislation he's sponsoring to allow people like Snyder to watch a friend's child for free. He said he's equally shocked at the state's position.


"It takes a village, but I guess in Michigan it takes a licensed village," he said to Lauer.


See the interview on 'Today'

LINK


What are your thoughts?

Personally....I think DHS needs to mind their own business. I think that this woman is nice to allow kids to wait in her house, out of the cold, wet weather. In Michigan, it gets COLD during the winter. Or you know, keep them safe from kidnappers, sex offenders, drug dealers, etc. It's sad when the gov't has to intervene on a GOOD DEED. I guess it's true.....no good deed goes unpunished.

My thoughts? They can't do shit, and she can fight it to the supreme court without the shadow of a doubt that she'll lose. Nothing she's doing is illegal.

There was a similar story on the news here in the UK yesterday... two police women who job-share and taken it in turns to care for each other's kids were told they could be prosecuted because neither of them are registered child minders. It's ridiculous.

I'd like to know who complained about it! What kind of a loser has nothing better to do than that?!

a new article i found said a neighbor complained.

here is the article

State to mom: Stop baby-sitting neighbors' kids
Tue Sep 29, 7:23 pm ET

IRVING TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

"I was freaked out. I was blown away," she said. "I got on the phone immediately, called my husband, then I called all the girls" — that is, the mothers whose kids she watches — "every one of them."

Snyder's predicament has led to a debate in Michigan about whether a law that says no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers needs to be changed. It also has irked parents who say they depend on such friendly offers to help them balance work and family.

On Tuesday, agency Director Ismael Ahmed said good neighbors should be allowed to help each other ensure their children are safe. Gov. Jennifer Granholm instructed Ahmed to work with the state Legislature to change the law, he said.

"Being a good neighbor means helping your neighbors who are in need," Ahmed said in a written statement. "This could be as simple as providing a cup of sugar, monitoring their house while they're on vacation or making sure their children are safe while they wait for the school bus."

Snyder learned that the agency was responding to a neighbor's complaint.

Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the agency was following standard procedure in its response. "But we feel this (law) really gets in the way of common sense," Boyd said.

"We want to protect kids, but the law needs to be reasonable," she said. "When the governor learned of this, she acted quickly and called the director personally to ask him to intervene."

State Rep. Brian Calley, R-Portland, said he was working to draft legislation that would exempt situations like Snyder's from coverage under Michigan's current day care regulations.

The bill will make it clear that people who aren't in business as day care providers don't need to be licensed, Calley said.

"These are just kids that wait for the bus every morning," he said. "This is not a day care."

Snyder, 35, lives in a rural subdivision in Barry County's Irving Township about 25 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. Her tidy, comfortable three-bedroom home is a designated school bus stop. The three neighbor children she watched — plus Snyder's first-grader, Grace — attend school about six miles away in Middleville.

Snyder said she started watching the other children this school year to help her friends; they often baby-sit for each other during evenings and weekends.

After receiving the state agency's letter, she said she called the agency and tried to explain that she wasn't running a day care center or accepting money from her friends.

Under state law, no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers. Snyder said she stopped watching the other children immediately after receiving the letter, which was well within the four-week period.

"I've lived in this community for 35 years and everyone I know has done some form of this," said Francie Brummel, 42, who would drop off her second-grade son, Colson, before heading to her job as deputy treasurer of the nearby city of Hastings.

Other moms say they regularly deal with similar situations.

Amy Cowan, 34, of Grosse Pointe Farms, a Detroit suburb, said she often takes turns with her sister, neighbor and friend watching each other's children.

"The worst part of this whole thing, with the state of the economy ... two parents have to work," said Cowan, a corporate sales representative with a 5-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter. "When you throw in the fact that the state is getting involved, it gives women a hard time for going back to work.

"I applaud the lady who takes in her neighbors' kids while they're waiting for the bus. She's enabling her peers to go to work and get a paycheck. The state should be thankful for that."

Amy Maciaszek, 42, of McHenry, Ill., who works in direct sales, said she believes the state agency was "trying to be overprotective."

"I think it does take a village and that's the best way," said Maciaszek, who has a 6-year-old boy and twin 3-year-old daughters. "Unfortunately you do have to be careful about that. These mothers are trying to do the right thing."

___

Associated Press writers Randi Goldberg Berris and David Runk in Detroit and Kathy Barks Hoffman in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report

link

Oh I meant about the case in England but they're both as retarded as each other!!

That's just stupid. It should be up to the parents who CAN and CANNOT watch their child. Ridiculous.

that's crap. the past two summers i watched my neighbor's 7 year old son for 6-10 hours every weekday. since when is babysitting "running a daycare"? and how in the world did police find out about it?

SOOOO, my mom can't watch my kid unless she has a license?

STUPID GOVERMENT.

No, she can watch your kid, this relates to any child who is unrelated to the person who is watching them.

It's still stupid though.

More to add -

I would assume that the parents are okay with this. Otherwise I'm sure they'd say she was reported by one of the parents whose kid she lets wait in her home. If all the parents are okay with it....whats the problem? I mean really? It just goes to show the gov't doesn't care about anyone and their safety. Just making money. It also shows the gov't has FULL CONTROL over people's lives. They think our children are safer waiting on the street, in the rain, snow, sleet, whatever kind of weather MI decides to have that day, along with the criminals that are being let out of our prisons early because they are "non-dangerous", and by "non-dangerous" they mean someone who hasn't murdered someone. But the drunk drivers, the druggies and the preditors are okay to be let back into society, even though they haven't finished out their sentances, but since prisons are over crowded they "have" to be released. I'd rather have my chlid wait in another neighbor's home, than out in the weather/dangers of the world. But maybe that's just me.

If the other mom isn't paying her, then it's not really childcare, it's a playdate! I will admit though, that's pretty awesome that Michigan is on top of that kind of stuff. I really hate unlicensed daycares because they're usually over ratio, not childproofed and you don't know who is coming through the house most of the time. Hopefully they let it go or else SHE should sue the school district for not providing bus shelters at every bus stop! Now THAT would be awesome to see.

This makes me ASHAMED to be from Michigan. I'm just glad that there's a lawmaker smart enough to try and fix it.

And NOTE....It's a DEMOCRAT that's punishing her for trying to help her neighbors and friends...and it's a REPUBLICAN that's FIXING IT!

Amen!

I don't think this has anything to do with politics whatsoever except for the fact that it's a republican helping her. Nor would that mean a thing if it did.

I'm amused that you feel so insecure about your party that you have to point out every time a republican fixes something. Is it really that rare when a republican does something other than a prostitute or a page?

Example #1 why this country has problems and it's taking so long to fix them: everything has to become a partisan issue.

Clearly someone should have left you out on the street when you were a child.

First off, before you open your mouth, you MIGHT want to know my background.

I guarentee that I've spent more time "out in the street" as you said, then you could ever imagine. I've also seen more of the world than you. I've spent more than my fair share of time being homeless, have worked with Special Olympics as a trainer, and have trained domestic violence victims in self defense while working at a violence shelter. I understand how it works.

The problem is NOT partisan politics. The problem is people have a gimme gimme attitude and want everything NOW and they want it for free. Nobody wants to actually go out and WORK for stuff. Instead of being armchair quarterbacks and dime store philosiphers, more people need to get their ass out there and put their BACK into it.

Life credentials are nice. Great experience you've had. Irrelevant overall.

So what does this have to do with democrats and republicans again? I think I should have asked whether you were simply pointing out a coincidence, or making a political gesture/reference.

Either way, I think there's slightly more to this story than it's being made out to sound. Most of the shit that comes up on the Bloop news feed or whatever almost always has some kind of a crazy backstory that validates the actions a bit better.

How horrible is that? With children being abused & neglected everyday and they have the time & energy to do something like this? Ridiculous!!

I agree! Kids are literally being BEATEN daily, so they're going to waste time and resources on someone who is just watching children before they get on a school bus? COME ON!

according to another interview the state of michigan includes playdates if the other parent decided to leave there house while their kid is over there as daycare. which is ridiculous i know a lot of my friends who are parents take the time when there kids are at a friends house to run errands that are easier to do alone. Its really a sad day when the state is telling someone who can or cannot watch there kids

Seriously?! That's ridiculous. As if Michigan doesn't have enough issues to deal with. Sure people are losing their jobs and homes, but it's okay because they can sue one lady who takes 40 minutes out of her time to keep an eye on someone's kids? Good to know where their priorities lie.

That's crazy. She's being a nice person and watching the kids for the parents. Nothing wrong with that.

This is my hometown and people are steaming over this. Now everyone sees why I moved out of that ridiculous state. They have no jobs but their more worried about making the poor kids stand outside in the rain or snow than getting jobs and worry about things that actually matter. I could understand her getting charged if she was a sex offender or something but she's NOT, shes a good neighbor trying to help out the people that actually have jobs! It's just a sad situation.