St. Clairsville Police Chief Matt Arbenz knows a good idea when he hears one. Which is why after talking to a friend of his recently and hearing about an idea put into motion by another department in Ohio, he quickly put a similar plan into action.
The coronavirus pandemic battle is causing issues for all walks of people across the Buckeye state. One major problem came as a result of Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to close all schools for three weeks, ending April 6. Parents can’t afford to take care of their families if they can’t go to work, and babysitting alone isn’t going to cut it for a sudden districtwide demand for child care.
The department put out a press release letting parents within the city limits know that that officers will check up on children, in their homes, upon request. The release read:
With the sudden closing of schools and facilities, we understand the burden this may cause. For those of you that have school aged children that are now home during your work day, we would like to help. We will stop at your house to check on them throughout the day. This is our effort to ease your concerns as we work together to fight through these troubling times as a united community … .
Arbenz knew right away this would be a great idea for the city residents and their families.
“Actually, a friend of mine called and said he’d seen that another department in Ohio had posted something about doing it, and as soon as he said it, I thought that was an awesome idea. We’ll do that,” Arbenz said.
The Public Agreed
The information was sent out and naturally made its rounds through social media. A copy of the press release was displayed on the St. Clairsville, Ohio Facebook page as well as the school district’s page.
It’s a rarity when the public in any town uniformly agrees on anything, especially when it involves city government and services. Yet this move was met with positive remarks across the board. The two posts accumulated nearly 450 likes, 70 comments, and 504 shares, and not a single comment was negative. There wasn’t even a tongue-in-cheek post about this being an extra cost to the taxpayers (Don’t worry; it isn’t).
All parents need to do to take advantage is live within city limits, provide the name number and names of their children, the hours the parents will be away form the home, and a call number where they can be reached. They also should relay whether additional children, i.e. friends or neighbors, should be present.
Once that information is received, officer Mike Duplaga, who also serves as St. Clairsville-Richland City School’s resource officer, will be doing the checks.
Arbenz noted that he felt it was best to have Duplaga do the checks as the students are familiar with him.
Great Plan, Limited Use Thus Far
The chief admitted he’s surprised at the response thus far. The department received numerous calls of appreciation and thanks for putting this plan forward. But only a few families have signed up and taken advantage.
“We didn’t get as much (participation) as we thought we would,” Arbenz admitted. “We’ve had a couple calls about checking on the elderly, and we’ve reached out to them as well. Officer Clark heads up the elderly outreach, and he’s had a lot of contact with them.”
The problem could be that the announcement of the program coincided with more and more people either working from home or being temporarily laid off from their jobs as DeWine seeks to help control the spread of COVID-19.
“We got a ton of calls, all saying thank you, but as we started this, the businesses started to shut down as well, and that probably has something to do with it.”
Duplga still makes the rounds daily to his few stops, knocking on the doors and making sure the kids are safe and accounted for. The department is still taking names if families are in need. They only have to call (740) 695-6629 to set up the checks.
The Legalities of Kids Home Alone
Legally, there isn’t a set age limit to be left home alone in the state of Ohio as there is in other states. Naturally, child protective services isn’t going to allow 6-year-olds to spend six to eight hours by themselves while their parents are at work.
“We’ve run into that question several times with children’s services,” Arbenz said. “And as far as babysitting goes, there’s no legal age limit, but they base it on the child’s maturity level. Obviously, with children 12 or below living with and watching younger siblings, it’s not a good situation.”
Arbenz also said the same policy applies to kids staying at their home alone overnight, should their parent or parents work a midnight shift. He noted, “You may have a very mature 11-year-old who knows what to do if they need help and they seem safe and happy and children’s services will say everything seems okay. It’s a situational and maturity thing.”
No parents have requested overnight checks thus far, but the chief didn’t rule them out as an option.
We usually have two officers out per shift anyway, so fingers crossed, but there’s always a little bit of time to break away and do a quick check,” Arbenz said.
All Quiet on the Homefront
Arbenz noted overall, it’s been pretty quiet in town since the social-distancing push began late last week.
“The town is pretty quiet,” the chief said. “Most people are heeding the warnings they are catching on TV and maintaining distance from everybody. The grocery stores and fast-food drive-thrus are our busiest areas, but overall, we’ve seen no increase in our call volume.”
