Barbara: As a teacher, I was always mindful of my legal responsibilities while serving in loco parentis. I am at a tutoring center now and need to know legal responsibility.
We have had issues with older students simply lying to parents about being in tutoring and going elsewhere and had foster child who ran out toward the busy street. A tutor ran behind to make sure he didn’t get hit by the traffic and was roundly admonished by the caseworker not to ever touch the child. ?
I saw this and he was trying to keep the child safe. So, what are the responsibilities of care we take on as a tutoring business? It sounded as though “touching” a child was far more important to the state than the potential harm that could have occurred.
Caseworkers have supervisors. Go to that supervisor and get clarification. Put your concerns and the incident in writing. In this case, the child may have some issues and may need for the caseworker to “STAY” with the child during the tutoring sessions. Don’t depend on a case worker for clarification but work with the supervisor and caseworker as this incident should be documented on your end and clarified to protect your employee and your center. Many caseworkers have huge caseloads and I suspect that this child needs more supervision that your center can provide.