According to childwelfare.gov, “all parents eventually face the decision to leave their children home alone for the first time. Whether they are just running to the store for a few minutes or working during after-school hours, parents need to be sure their children have the skills and maturity to handle the situation safely. Being trusted to stay home alone can be a positive experience for a child who is mature and well prepared. It can boost the child’s confidence and promote independence and responsibility”.

Texas law doesn’t say what age is old enough for a child to stay at home alone. However, here are some things the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services states will help parents decide:

  1. What is your child’s ability to respond to illness, fire, weather, or other types of emergencies?
  2. Can they contact you or other responsible adults?
  3. What are the hazards and risks in the neighborhood?
  4. What is the layout and safety of the home, play area, or other settings?

According to childwelfare.gov, children need to master some specific skills before being able to stay home alone safely.

The Cooperative Extension Program provided training through Safe Sitter, a program, and curriculum designed to provide life skills, safety skills, and child care training to all youth to build safer communities. It also taught young teens how to be better, safer babysitters. The Safe Sitter program targeted youth ages 11 and up. Topics taught in Safe Sitter include*:

  • Safety skills (indoor, outdoor, online, and personal safety)
  • Childcare skills (child development, childcare routines-including diapering, and behavior management
  • First Aid and Rescue Skills (injury prevention, injury management, and choking rescue)
  • Life and business skills (screening jobs, setting fees, and greeting employers)

A new partnership was formed in 2017 with Fort Hood Child and Youth Services. They were already offering a home alone class and a babysitting class. We combined our efforts to teach. For the babysitting class, their staff provided the CPR training. Fort Hood has a policy that children have to be a certain age to stay home alone. They also have a babysitter referral service through child and youth services.

Eighteen youth were certified as safe sitters. To be certified you must complete the entire training. Nine youth were eligible to be placed on the Fort Hood Child and Youth Services babysitting referral list.

By completing the Safe Sitter training, youth increased their earning potential and charged between $7-$10 or more per job. According to payscale.com, an entry-level babysitter with less than five years of experience can expect to earn average total compensation of $21,000. For the 18 youth certified, that is a total of $378,000.

The 4-H and Youth Development Program teaches participants leadership skills and character traits. Participating youth become mentors, role models, and leaders in their schools and communities.

Source:
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/homealone.pdf
http://www.wallowa.com/local_news/20170912/news-in-brief-short-takes-onwallowa-county-news-items

Special thanks are extended to the Family & Consumer Sciences committee who provided support and guidance to all programming efforts this year. Other special thanks to Fort Hood Child and Youth Services for their partnership in promoting the program and recruiting participants.

Sheryl Austin
Sheryl Austin
FCS Extension Agent, Bell County
(254) 933-5305
SLAustin@ag.tamu.edu