Friend Over Limit, Leaves Her 2 Kids At Home

[CraftyMom]

Another thing I was thinking of...OP are you absolutely SURE she doesn't have a license? Perhaps she didn't but then decided to get licensed at some point? If she is licensed then would she still be over in numbers? (I'm not sure what your ratios are there)

I'm not defending her, I would just want to be sure before turning her in, then finding out she had a license.

She would still be wrong for leaving her kids home alone

[Play Care]

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/age-to-leave-your-child-alone-in-pa--/article_b3c85efc-0da3-11e4-aeee-001a4bcf6878.html

The OP's state is one where there is no minimum age set. They do consider it on a case by case basis - especially if the parent has other issues as this article states. While I do think the OP's friend is WRONG to leave her kids home alone - if she is in fact doing so, it may not be the "slam dunk" many think it is.

[Unregistered]

I did make the call. They said they will look into it. However, yesterday, her hubby picked up the kids at the bus stop. His work schedule varies so I'm not sure how often he will be doing that. He stays on the same side of the street and doesn't cross over unnecessarily.

[CraftyMom]

I did make the call. They said they will look into it. However, yesterday, her hubby picked up the kids at the bus stop. His work schedule varies so I'm not sure how often he will be doing that. He stays on the same side of the street and doesn't cross over unnecessarily.

I think the worst part of the walking is her crossing that busy street with all those kids for no reason other than to talk to other moms, where her attention will not be on the kids while doing so. She's making a bad situation worse unnecessarily. Doing so also makes the whole trip take longer, extending the time her kids are at home.

Risking the lives of children to talk to other moms

[MarinaVanessa]

I did make the call. They said they will look into it. However, yesterday, her hubby picked up the kids at the bus stop. His work schedule varies so I'm not sure how often he will be doing that. He stays on the same side of the street and doesn't cross over unnecessarily.

At minimum someone may drop by one day to check on things and it may be a day that she doesn't leave any of the kids at home alone and there will be nothing suspicious. HOWEVER it will put that seed of doubt in her head and that feeling that she is being watched so she will hopefully think twice about leaving her children home alone like that. You did what you could for the sake of the children's safety, that's all you can do. Leave it up to CPS to decide whether they show up to check and whether they decide to ask if she has a license and to report her if they find that she doesn't.

I'm a little surprised at the ladies here who have been trained that you are only mandated to report suspected abuse during daycare hours for the children in your care only. I'm in CA and I have been a mandated reporter since high school and I have always been trained that I am always mandated to report no matter where I am and who's child it is. I guess different officials interpret the laws differently. Looks like it's just like licensing ::.

[NeedaVaca]

At minimum someone may drop by one day to check on things and it may be a day that she doesn't leave any of the kids at home alone and there will be nothing suspicious. HOWEVER it will put that seed of doubt in her head and that feeling that she is being watched so she will hopefully think twice about leaving her children home alone like that. You did what you could for the sake of the children's safety, that's all you can do. Leave it up to CPS to decide whether they show up to check and whether they decide to ask if she has a license and to report her if they find that she doesn't.

I'm a little surprised at the ladies here who have been trained that you are only mandated to report suspected abuse during daycare hours for the children in your care only. I'm in CA and I have been a mandated reporter since high school and I have always been trained that I am always mandated to report no matter where I am and who's child it is. I guess different officials interpret the laws differently. Looks like it's just like licensing ::.

I'm surprised by that as well. Actually my state law is that every citizen is a mandated reporter. It's every citizens "duty" under the law and then "required" by professionals in fields such as ours.

[Play Care]

I'm a little surprised at the ladies here who have been trained that you are only mandated to report suspected abuse during daycare hours for the children in your care only. I'm in CA and I have been a mandated reporter since high school and I have always been trained that I am always mandated to report no matter where I am and who's child it is. I guess different officials interpret the laws differently. Looks like it's just like licensing

The way it was explained to me is that I am legally mandated to report during day care hours, for my dc kids. In *that* case, and that case *only* can I be held liable for NOT reporting. Obviously that doesn't cover moral or ethical responsibility

But I was specifically speaking to what I consider a common theme on this forum - when someone posts something similar to the OP, the "mandated reporter" card is played. More bothersome than that to me, is the subtle threats *I* sometimes perceive from some posters "you are a mandated reporter, and if you don't report it you will be found out" because we know some people on this forum taking pride in finding that kind of thing out, even when posting anon.

I don't believe the OP had a *legal* responsibility to call. I am GLAD she did.

Honestly think that when the "friend" told her she had left the kids home while she went to the bus stop or when the OP saw her crossing the street unsafely she should have said something immediately then. "Susan! I can't believe you would leave your kids home alone! That is so unsafe!" or even "Susan, I just want to tell you that it looks terribly unsafe when you have all the kids at the bus stop. Some of the other moms have even commented on it. Have you got your license yet? You have way too many kids if not. Our state is very strict about that."

[jenboo]

The way it was explained to me is that I am legally mandated to report during day care hours, for my dc kids. In *that* case, and that case *only* can I be held liable for NOT reporting. Obviously that doesn't cover moral or ethical responsibility

But I was specifically speaking to what I consider a common theme on this forum - when someone posts something similar to the OP, the "mandated reporter" card is played. More bothersome than that to me, is the subtle threats *I* sometimes perceive from some posters "you are a mandated reporter, and if you don't report it you will be found out" because we know some people on this forum taking pride in finding that kind of thing out, even when posting anon.

I don't believe the OP had a *legal* responsibility to call. I am GLAD she did.

Honestly think that when the "friend" told her she had left the kids home while she went to the bus stop or when the OP saw her crossing the street unsafely she should have said something immediately then. "Susan! I can't believe you would leave your kids home alone! That is so unsafe!" or even "Susan, I just want to tell you that it looks terribly unsafe when you have all the kids at the bus stop. Some of the other moms have even commented on it. Have you got your license yet? You have way too many kids if not. Our state is very strict about that."

I don't think reminding people that they are a mandated reporter is pulling a " card ".
It's serious. Not everyone knows that if know about something that is report worthy, you can be held liable. Officials may never find out, but it can happen. I know someone who it happened to. They didn't report but knew what was going on. They ended up getting slammed.
I think it this is something that needs to be taken very seriously.

The op made it sound like these kids were being put in danger for no necessary reason. If she is questioning weather she should make a call or no, she probably should. Worst comes to worst, they tell her it isn't report worthy. At least she did her part and is off the hook if anything were to come up.

Eta: in all my trainings and classes (one being a semester long child abuse class) I have always been told that as you mandated reporter, you are always required to report. It isn't dependent upon location or hours or specific children.

[Play Care]

It depends on the tone of the reminder, IMO.
And liability in *my* state is during work hours with our kids or clients. Both in my former job as a Service Coordinator for disabled adults and this current job, that has been made very clear to us. Again, I am NOT speaking to the moral/ethical point here, simply the fact that the OP would likely NOT be held legally liable for something that didn't happen in her program, with her kids, or that she even witnessed first hand.

At this point the OP has made the call. It will be looked into and the chips will fall where they may.

I don't think reminding people that they are a mandated reporter is pulling a " card ".
It's serious. Not everyone knows that if know about something that is report worthy, you can be held liable. Officials may never find out, but it can happen. I know someone who it happened to. They didn't report but knew what was going on. They ended up getting slammed.
I think it this is something that needs to be taken very seriously.

The op made it sound like these kids were being put in danger for no necessary reason. If she is questioning weather she should make a call or no, she probably should. Worst comes to worst, they tell her it isn't report worthy. At least she did her part and is off the hook if anything were to come up.

Eta: in all my trainings and classes (one being a semester long child abuse class) I have always been told that as you mandated reporter, you are always required to report. It isn't dependent upon location or hours or specific children.

[Gemma]

I did make the call. They said they will look into it. However, yesterday, her hubby picked up the kids at the bus stop. His work schedule varies so I'm not sure how often he will be doing that. He stays on the same side of the street and doesn't cross over unnecessarily.

You did the right thing!

[Heidi]

You need to report her for being over limit. Leaving her 2 & 4 yr olds at home is child endangerment too. I realize it could get messy if she realizes you called, but a child's life is more important.

All those other moms saw her, too. Anyone could call, so she won't necessarily know it's you. Please do the right thing, and DON'T feel guilty about it. Think about how awful you'd feel if something happened.

[Crystal]

http://lancasteronline.com/news/loca...a4bcf6878.html

The OP's state is one where there is no minimum age set. They do consider it on a case by case basis - especially if the parent has other issues as this article states. While I do think the OP's friend is WRONG to leave her kids home alone - if she is in fact doing so, it may not be the "slam dunk" many think it is.

Hmmmm.....since the OP posted "anon" we wouldn't have known where she was from. Now we do..... not sure she wanted us to know that though, hence the reason for posting "anon".

Nevertheless, I do not think that would actually apply to a two year old and a four year old. I am certain the local authorities would take issue with it, due to the very young ages.

I am glad the OP decided to call. Hopefully her mind is at ease now.

EDITED: My apologies....I have since learned that I missed in the OP that she states where she lives.

[MyAngels]

Hmmmm.....since the OP posted "anon" we wouldn't have known where she was from. Now we do..... not sure she wanted us to know that though, hence the reason for posting "anon".

Nevertheless, I do not think that would actually apply to a two year old and a four year old. I am certain the local authorities would take issue with it, due to the very young ages.

I am glad the OP decided to call. Hopefully her mind is at ease now.

My first thought, too, but it does say in her post she's in PA.

Mandated or not (seems to depend on the state as far as the definition of that) I'm glad it was called in as well.

[Crystal]

My first thought, too, but it does say in her post she's in PA.

Mandated or not (seems to depend on the state as far as the definition of that) I'm glad it was called in as well.

Awww.....thanks for the clarification. I missed that in the OP.

[Play Care]

Awww.....thanks for the clarification. I missed that in the OP.

I didn't.