Is Your Family Prepared for An Emergency During School Hours? Atlanta Estate Planning Lawyer Has 3 Easy Ways to Be Sure
All parents should have a plan in place should an emergency strike during should hours, according to Marietta ProtectMyKidsPlan™ attorney, Steve Worrall. Preparations includes naming short-term guardians, listing the right people on school emergency cards and leaving detailed instructions with babysitters to avoid involvement with social services.
Marietta, GA – “Do you think a school emergency card is enough to protect your kids if something happens to you during school hours?” asks attorney Steve Worrall to a crowd of parents recently attending his popular ProtectMyKidsPlan™ Seminar in Marietta.
The majority of the room raise their hand yes. A few parents are undecided. Yet from a legal standpoint, all of them are wrong.
“Contrary to popular belief, a school emergency card will not protect your children from spending time in the hands of social services if something tragic happens to you, “says Worrall. “The emergency card only gives named contacts permission to pick your kid up if they are sick, not take short-term custody of them if one or both parents are killed or incapacitated in an accident,” he adds.
For this reason, experts such Worrall recommend parents create an emergency plan prior to going to back to school so there is no confusion or legal headaches should tragedy strike. According to Worrall, this plan can be created in 3 easy steps:
- Legally name short-term guardians for your kids– Short-term guardians are the people who have legal permission to care for your child until the surviving parent or long-term guardian can arrive. This should ultimately be someone who lives close by and one who will comfort your children in an emergency.
- Make sure your short-term guardians match those named in the school emergency card– In addition to listing friends and neighbors who can pick your child up from school if he or she gets sick, it's equally important to list the full contact information of your short-term guardians for true emergencies. Without this information, your children would be placed temporarily in the custody of social services until the surviving parent or legal guardian can arrive.
- Make sure the babysitter knows what to do if you don't return home– It's extremely important that parents give their a.m. or p.m. babysitters detailed instructions on what to do and who to call if they don't return home. In most cases, a babysitter will panic and turn to the police for help, again opening the door for social services to temporarily take custody of your kids until a long-term care provider can arrive.
“Creating a back-to-school emergency plan is so easy— and something that will greatly pay off if a parent is injured or killed during school hours,” Worrall says. “The first few hours after an emergency are the most painful for a child, so it's important for parents to make sure their kids spend that time with people they love and trust, rather than in the arms of the state,” he adds.
