Editorial: Nanny state

Government threats in neighborhood moms' plan to protect kids at school bus stop showed bad judgment

The Detroit News

State officials are scrambling to change the law after a rural Michigan woman was told by the Department of Human Services she was at risk of fines or jail for watching neighbors' children while they waited for the school bus. The threatening letter from the government is an example of the nanny state gone wild.

Lisa Snyder of Irving Township is a stay-at-home mom who let neighborhood kids wait for the bus in her home as a favor to their working moms. She was not running a business and received no money.

Nevertheless, the Department of Human Services (DHS) told her that if she continued to take in the kids, she was running an unlicensed day care. In an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC's "Today" show, she said she called the department to explain and say the kids should be able to come in out of bad weather while waiting for the bus. She added that she was told to "tell the parents to buy an umbrella."

DHS officials now say they must investigate all reports of child abuse, neglect or unlicensed day care -- and received a complaint about day care in this instance.

But State Rep. Brian Calley, R-Portland, told The Detroit News he believes the agency was interpreting the statute on day care more broadly than necessary. We agree. This is an example of needless officiousness.

Now that the story has made national news, the department is praising Snyder for her neighborliness. Calley said the department is now amenable to changes in the law he is proposing. Such a change is supported by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

That's all to the good.

But does it really take a statutory revision for the law to be applied with some judgment and common sense? Couldn't the response to the anonymous complaint have been handled with a little more finesse? What would have happened if this hadn't become a prominent news story?

A group of neighborhood moms working out an agreement among themselves to keep their kids warm and dry for a short time while they wait for a school bus should not be a matter for state regulation.