Here is interesting info from this class I took last Saturday.
It was taught by an attorney who is on the board for Johnson County
childcare Association. He said basically home providers should walk around
with a t-shirt that has a target printed on it! LOL!! We have a huge
liability.
The care you owe someone else in an activity of society.
Since we are charging for childcare, our degree of care is high. A teenager
who is a hired assistant for us is held to the same degree of care that a
Masters Level Infant teacher would be, because we are accepting money for
it. This is important when we talk about having an assistant. They are held
to the same degree of care as we are, and we are responsible for their
actions.
The presenter stated that unless you have enough money to hire an attorney
for at least 80 hours at $175 per hour plus his research time, then you need
insurance. He said that even if we had homeowners coverage, it may not be
enough.
Another area of liability is unsafe premises or equipment. Even though it
may be hard, inspect playground/yard equipment daily before kids go outside.
You never know if there is an animal hiding in a playhouse, if someone threw
a beer bottle in your yard, etc. This is another area that has led to
lawsuits.
A special area of concern is divorce/custody battles. We as childcare
providers can't deny a person the right to their child unless there is a
court supported document. We need to have a copy of that document on file.
Just because a mom says to take the dad off the pick up list is not good
enough. We still need court papers or we can be held liable for not giving
the child to dad. When enrolling a single mom, ask about the father. If he
is not in the picture, get as much info as you can and take notes.
Also, intoxicated parents. The bummer thing is : natural parents have
complete rights to their child at all times. We are in the wrong (legally
speaking) if we do not release a child to a parent who has been drinking.
The attorney said we have several choices. If this is a normally good parent
who just came from an office Christmas party, sit down with them, talk a
while, make a pot of coffee and just try to suggest that they stay a while
or offer to drive them home. If it is a parent who has done this before,
care should be terminated. Of course, try to make sure they get home safely.
But if you can't, the first thing you do when the parent leaves is to call
the police and let them know what is going on.
He said do not refuse the parent the right to their child unless you are prepared to call DFS right then and there. He cautioned us strongly about doing that because he said that when DFS becomes involved in a parent and child's life, they become involved in our lives as well,and that parents who enter the system rarely leave it.
*Submitted by Patrisha