Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Nanny State News, Michigan Style

Yesterday I reported on a pair of working mothers in the UK who were turned in to state authorities by a "whistleblower" for breaching the law by babysitting each other's toddlers (for free) without getting state registrations as "childminders." Instead of the two friends helping each other take care of their little ones, they had to put their tykes into "official" daycare.

At the same time, AP was reporting on a similar incident in southwest Michigan, where a call from a Barry County "complainant" resulted in state officials threatening a stay-at-home mom with arrest, fines, and jail for watching her working neighbors' children (for free) as they waited to board the school bus at her driveway every morning.
State Department of Human Services officials told her recently that she was operating an illegal day care. The stay-at-home mom [at left in photo] said officials ordered her to stop watching the kids, obtain a state license or face possible penalties. State law says no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks a year unless they're licensed.
According to the Grand Rapids News:
Lisa Snyder, the Middleville woman who looked after friends’ children until the school bus showed up, appeared this morning on NBC’s "Today" show [view segment], and said she was dumbfounded that state officials ruled her kindness constituted a daycare.

She has a bus stop near her home, and watched her friends’ kids for up to an hour each morning.

The Department of Human Services told her the agency responded to a complaint, apparently from a neighbor, that she was effectively operating an unlicensed daycare by looking after children of three friends, she said.

“I told them I thought it was ridiculous.”

When she told a state worker she wanted the kids inside, rather than standing outside in the rain or snow, she said she was told: “‘Tell the parents to buy them an umbrella.’”

State officials told Ms. Snyder that neighbor children could lawfully play with her children in her home only if the neighbor parents were home.

If those parents were running errands, however, she would be performing illegal childcare activities.

Barry County's unemployment rate is over 10%, and Michigan's is over 15%. It's time to lighten Michigan taxpayers' burden by giving pink slips to state lawmakers and law enforcers who don't have higher priority work than putting children of working moms and dads out into the rain and snow.

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Related Post: Nanny State News

2 comments:

  1. As a long-suffering Michigan resident, this sounds like par for the course in this festering sewer of unionized libtard nirvana.

    Michigan treats small business people like dung, this isn't anything new (guess why we have 20%+ unemployment?). What is a little different in this case is this woman is "working" for free (probably so these kids parents can get off to work).

    Nice job again Michigan! Last one out, turn off the lights....

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  2. Snowdog -

    I hear the "libtard nirvanites" aren't waiting for us to leave before they turn out the lights!

    I think they call it Cap and Trade!

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