Parents sick with virus have options in caring for their children

Children might be resistant to COVID-19, but what happens if their parents become too sick to care for them?

“Most people have family or church family who can help in times of crisis,” said Kari Ellis, manager of case management at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. “But some, really unfortunately, have no one.”

Resources are available to put a care plan in place before you get sick and to fill the void if that plan falls through.

Parental consent is powerful, local family law attorney Marshal Willick said. If parents make a decision about their child’s care and communicate it, that’s what should happen.

“With full parental consent, you can do anything you want,” he said.

Parents can also appoint a temporary guardian to handle a child’s medical care. A six-month temporary guardianship agreement form is available on the Family Law SelfHelp Center’s website.

If both parents are in the picture, they must both sign the agreement with the person agreeing to act as guardian for the child. If the child is 14 or older, they also need to sign it.

“I’m not in the business of telling people you don’t need lawyers, but for this, you don’t,” Willick said.

You do, however, need it notarized.

Ellis said that staff at Sunrise Hospital also helps parents find resources to have their children cared for without the state’s involvement.

“It is very hard to find this kind of resource in town,” Ellis said, and Sunrise refers parents to the Safe Families for Children program.

“We’re not social services, we’re not CPS (Child Protective Services), we’re not the state, we’re not anything like that,” said Sagrario Benitez, outreach coordinator at Safe Families. “Really what we are is a movement.”

The program is part of Olive Crest, 4285 N. Rancho Drive, a nonprofit that works to prevent child abuse and provide care and resources for foster children and families. But Safe Families works to keep children from entering the foster care system in the first place.

Benitez said the local branch is made up of “committed families,” every member of which has been thoroughly vetted. She said 99 percent of the families — who volunteer — come from faith-based organizations.

“Really, it’s like connecting the points between needs and resources,” Benitez said.

For more information on the Safe Families program, call 702-960-1436, email safefamilies-lv@olivecrest. org or visit olivecrest.org/ safe-families-for-children.