Should a Child Walk to a Bus Stop Unattended?
A parent in your family child care program wants you to allow her child to walk to the bus stop alone. The child will start Kindergarten this fall. The bus stop is three houses from yours, but you can't see it from your front door step. What do you do?
This questions raises issues of safety, child protection, licensing, liability, and your gut instinct.
You want to keep the child safe, comply with all rules and regulations, and protect yourself in case the child is injured after leaving your home for the bus stop.
Here are the five steps you should follow:
1) Ask your child care licensor or child protection, if allowing this child to walk to the bus stop would be in violation of any child protection laws. If it is, don’t agree to the parent’s request.
2) Ask your child care licensor if allowing this child to walk to the bus stop would be in violation of any child care licensing regulations. Again, you cannot agree to the parent’s request if it is.
3) Get written permission from both parents that indicates exactly what will happen when the child leaves your home. The permission should be specific: “Sandy will leave provider’s home at 2pm each day and will walk along the sidewalk to 1945 Claire Drive. There she will wait for the 2:20pm bus to pick her up. Child care provider Margaret Coombs will not accompany Claire to the bus stop. Parents agree that Sandy can walk to the bus stop by herself.”
4) Although a written parent permission should relieve you of liability, it’s important to have business liability insurance to protect you in case the parent does sue you. The insurance will pay for a lawyer to defend you.
5) Even if everyone says it’s okay for you to allow the child to walk to the bus stop unaccompanied, do not agree to this if you are uncomfortable. Go with your gut instinct.What else would you do in this situation?
Tom Copeland – www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://twitter.com/dpcdsbschools/status/1295813419510247428
For further information about legal and insurance issues, see my book Family Child Care Legal and Insurance Guide.
