Latest news with #YMCAs
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
At what age can you leave your kids home alone? Here's what Delaware law and experts say
School is out and so are the kids for summer break. But who's going to watch them until school starts up again? While some parents are able to stay home with kids, others book them into summer camps, and some hope the eldest child is old enough to be left alone or old enough to babysit the rest. That question of leaving kids home unsupervised is usually followed with concern over what does Delaware law have to say about it. While some states have laws on leaving children unattended at home, Delaware is one of the states that does not specify any appropriate, legal age to leave a child. Instead, parents are asked to make a very personal and individual decision. It's important to note child protective services can and will become involved if anyone reports that a child was abused, neglected or put at risk of harm while the parent or guardian was gone. Sending kids to a friend's house is often a simple approach, but there are more structured options, such as day camps at local clubs or YMCAs. Summer camps can vary in hours and interests and offer things like museum classes, sports and other managed activities for parents in this common situation. Only 14 out of 50 states have legal age restrictions for children left at home alone, many of which are just guidelines, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a federal service of Children's Bureau, the Administration for Children and Families and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Illinois (14 years old), Colorado, Connecticut, and Mississippi (12 years old), Kentucky (11 years old), South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington (10 years old), Georgia (9 years old), Maryland and North Carolina (8 years old), Nebraska and Oklahoma (7 years old), and Kansas (6 years old) have laws requiring a minimum age for leaving a child home alone. The remaining 36 states have no set age, but offer some guidelines at the local level. Most states do not have a minimum legal age to babysit except for neighboring Maryland (13) and Illinois (14), according to TheBestBabysitters, noting that the "appropriate age to babysit is best determined by the babysitter's maturity, skills and knowledge." Although there's no legal minimum age in most states, there minimum age laws for employment and child labor laws in each state that can also be used as a guide for babysitting work. There's no exact answer on when kids are ready to stay home alone, and most experts say this decision should be made on a case-by-case basis by parents. While there is no magic age that works for every child, the nonprofit Safe Kids Worldwide recommends starting to leave kids home alone between the ages of 12 and 13. But it is very dependent on their level of maturity. 'Parents should look for signs of responsibility when their children are with them before leaving them home alone. Are they able to follow directions without being told repeatedly? Do they only follow directions if you are there watching? If they only follow the rules when you're watching, it's unlikely that they will follow them when they are home alone,' Rolanda Mitchell, an education counselor at North Carolina State University, told USA Today in 2019. 'School behavior can also be a good indicator because school is where children spend the most of their time without their parents watching. If they're misbehaving or violating rules, they may do the same when they're home alone.' Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: What Delaware law and experts say about leaving your kid home alone
Buzz Feed
05-07-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
Normalized Scams We've All Accepted Without Realizing
Obviously, being scammed is not fun. So when you have that moment of realization that a lot of little everyday things in our lives are just scams we've normalized... it's mind-boggling to say the least. So, when Reddit user u/No-Appeal-6311 asked the question, "What's a scam that's so normalized that we don't realize it's a scam anymore?" in r/AskReddit, I knew it would be full of some unbelievable sneaky scams: "Buying tickets online and getting hit with a 'convenience fee'… like, excuse me, I did everything myself. I clicked the buttons. I picked my seat. I printed the ticket. What part of the experience was convenient for you?" "Paying for streaming services/subscriptions and still being bombarded with adverts." "Printer ink. You can basically buy a whole new printer for less than a set of ink cartridges, and the printers often come with ink. Ink is one of the most expensive liquids on Earth by volume, and manufacturers lock you into their brand with chips or 'smart' cartridges that magically stop working even when there's ink left. It's a subscription scam disguised as office equipment." "College tuition and textbook prices." "The tipping culture in the US and how people there need them to make up even a basic wage. Workers should be paid a livable wage to begin with, and tips as a bonus, not a necessity." "Data limits. There is nothing that requires anyone to have data limits. It's just an arbitrary system designed to get more money out of you." "Baby gear. I had my first baby in the early 2000s and my last baby in the early 2020s. You don't need a wipe warmer. Or a baby food maker. Or a crazy expensive stroller. Or the owlet. Or a Velcro swaddler. Or video baby monitors. Or a Bumbo. It's ridiculous and wasteful." "ORGANIZED religion. Religion is fine... But when it's organized and starts charging you money to get into heaven. SCAM!" "Social media is basically malware at this point, yet we still call it social media. Is it even social anymore, or is literally all of it selling you something? Buy this! Do that! Believe this! More people than ever are online, yet real human interactions are hard to find. I don't think I'm alone in recognizing the harm of social media. But I do think the insidious nature of how they're operated has become so normalized that people have stopped being alarmed." "Literally pyramid schemes, like, why are people I know texting me asking me to join their stupid group or click a link for five dollars?" "Gym memberships requiring access to your banking info, then making it nearly impossible to cancel. I refuse to give gyms like that my business and stick to municipal pool facilities like YMCAs that will let you pay per visit or use a punch card." "Capitalism. Seriously, though, as a model, it makes sense for economics, but we attached social and cultural aspects to it as well. Nowadays, it is all about finding ways to extract more and more from the 99% to feed the insatiable greed of the 1%." "Paying a monthly premium for health insurance, only to have to 'meet a deductible' before they can actually cover anything. And they don't actually cover everything." "Microtransactions in games. People used to be outraged over it, and now I constantly see, 'well they have to make money somehow.'" "The fact that you can't own anything anymore. 20 years ago you could buy Adobe, Word, etc., and it was yours to keep; now everything is on subscription. You rent Word for five years, and now it's $500. Everything is designed for rent now and not ownership, from home prices being out of reach to these basic software programs." And finally, here's one that I'm sure affects us all to some degree: "One example that sounds absolutely ridiculous when you lay it out like this: You work X number of hours a week, but your hard-earned wages are taxed. Anything you buy with that taxed income is also taxed. You pay a tax on the fuel you put in your taxed car, paid for by taxed money, with tax on the price. You pay taxes on travel to take a taxed holiday. While some taxes do pay for the comfortable and civilized services. There is still an awful lot of your income directly and indirectly taxed." Do you have your own thoughts on normalized scams and want to share the ones you've found in your everyday life? Let it all out in the comments.
CBS News
16-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
LA County YMCAs offering free memberships to foster youth
Kids and young adults in foster care can now join one of more than two dozen YMCAs in Los Angeles County for free. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services partnered with the worldwide youth community organization after the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles invested $1 million into the "You Belong" initiative. "This partnership has renewed my hope that, in the future, former foster youth will have stronger connections with good, kind, conscientious people in their communities and a smoother transition to becoming adults," DCFS Director Brandon Nichols said. The program will allow foster youth between the ages of 12 and 26 to connect with licensed clinical social workers and mentors at one of 27 locations. Foster youth will also have access to other resources, including fitness, nutrition, mental health and substance use prevention information. The initiative also provides other programs such as paid job training, leadership development courses, conflict resolution workshops and financial literacy classes. "Through the 'You Belong' initiative, we're not just offering free access to our centers – we're promising youth in foster care that they will never have to navigate adulthood alone," said Victor Dominguez, president and CEO of YMCA in LA. "Every Y center will be a sanctuary where they truly belong, today, tomorrow and for years to come." Two locations, Weingart in South LA and the Antelope Valley YMCA, will also extend free memberships to caregivers and foster parents. "Our message is clear: You will always have a home at the Y," Dominguez said. "No matter where life takes you in Los Angeles, the Y is a community that cares and is waiting with open arms." To sign up, foster youth should contact their DCFS social worker, who will refer them to a YMCA in their community. The facilities will also provide a space for parents working toward reunification to interact with children during supervised visits.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maryland EMTs have new arsenal in fentanyl overdose battle
URBANA, Md. () — Maryland received some help from its General Assembly last week in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Paramedics now have a new tool to complement naloxone when tending to anyone experiencing a fentanyl overdose: Buprenorphine. Buprenorphine helps stabilize potential seizures as an overdose victim is transported to the hospital. Western Maryland YMCAs busiest season kicks off Montgomery County Delegate Joe Vogel (D-MD17) says lawmakers were unanimous in their support for making the medication available to EMTs. 'For this to work, we need to create a model where, within 24 hours, someone who has experienced an overdose and has been administered Buprenorphine can get into treatment anywhere in the state,' he said. Vogel says the measure, sent to the governor for his signature last week, will provide training in the administration of the new drug. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
YMCA thefts; Waukesha County gym among dozens hit in multi-state scheme
The Brief Two men are accused of stealing from lockers at YMCAs across the country, including in Wisconsin. Police identify the men as Abdoulah Barry and Natnael Berhanu. Oconomowoc detectives said the two men are from Ethiopia and are not United States citizens. OCONOMOWOC, Wis. - Police say two men stopped at YMCAs across the country, but not to work out. What we know Nearly a year ago, Oconomowoc police said two men went into the YMCA at Pabst Farms to steal from lockers. According to prosecutors, neither man was a member but one of them got in. Oconomowoc police said the duo made off with wallets, credit cards, hundreds of dollars in cash and car keys. Investigators said the men used the cards to rack up more than $1,700 in grocery store purchases. But police say it was part of a much larger scheme. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android Police identify the men as 21-year-old Abdoulah Barry and 21-year-old Natnael Berhanu. The day the two men were in Oconomowoc, investigators said the men pulled the same stunt in Greenfield – and hours later at the YMCA in Sun Prairie. But it did not stop there. In June 2024, Barry was arrested for credit card fraud in Michigan. In September, an Ohio state trooper pulled both men over. Inside their car, the trooper found "over 70 gift cards, credit and debit cards, IDs, social security numbers and multiple cellphones." SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News Troopers discovered Barry and Berhanu are also wanted in Arizona, Indiana and Georgia for gym break-ins. Prosecutors in Carroll County, Georgia denied FOX6's request for information. But online records indicate both men were arrested there in January for multiple counts of credit card theft – and denied bail. Oconomowoc detectives said Barry and Berhanu are from Ethiopia and are not United States citizens. Both are charged with theft and identity theft in Waukesha County. Jon Lange, chief executive officer, YMCA at Pabst Farms "Providing a safe and secure environment at our facilities is always a top priority at the YMCA. We strive to offer a welcoming environment for all visitors but have implemented stricter entry policy and protocols for anyone wishing to access our facility." The Source The information in this post was produced with information from Wisconsin Circuit Court Access.
