Releasing a Child to an Adult Under the Influence or Non-Custodial Adult

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There are two major areas of concern that child care providers have about releasing a child in their care: (1) releasing the child to a suspected "under the influence" parent or other authorized adult and (2) releasing the child to a non-custodial parent or other unauthorized adult. In any case, the well-being of all the children in care is of primary importance. But providers need to know how to protect themselves and their programs from liability.

The best protection is to prevent problems from arising in the first place by having a written policy which is reviewed at the point of enrollment. Enrolling parents (or other authorized adult, such as a legal guardian) must provide complete information on anyone that they authorize to pick up their child and verify the information with a signature. Also make sure the parent understands that in the event that anyone not ...