Importance of child guidelines Published Dec. 9, 2014 By Senior Airman Malia Jenkins Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Do parents know there is a child supervision guideline for Minot Air Force Base and the state of North Dakota? The supervision guidelines provide parents, friends and coworkers with information on when a child can be left alone. It also gives a reference for a specific age of a child and the number of times they can be left alone and what time of day. "It's important for families to know this information primarily for education," said Laurel Grams, 5th Medical Group Family Advocacy Outreach Manger. "This is important information for all families and even those who don't have kids because they may know someone who has kids." "It's important to adhere to these guidelines for children's safety. You never know what's going to happen during that brief second you're in the store," added Shelly Carbo, 5th MDG Family Advocacy Program Assistant. If friends or coworkers of a family know the rules and they see something questionable, they are able to tell the family "You know what, I don't know if that's allowed. We should take a look at the guidelines," Grams said. This is the standard families are being held to, and is key material we can share with families before something happens, Grams explained. Its preventative education before an incident occurs. Most families don't know about these rules because when most people come to North Dakota they don't get on the phone and call Bismark state capitol and say "Can you tell me what the state guidelines are for child supervision?", Grams added. The mission of the U.S. Air Force Family Advocacy Program is to build healthy communities through implementing programs designed for the prevention and treatment of child and partner abuse. These are not just base guidelines; they're for downtown as well. These guidelines are distributed to first sergeants, to commanders, to the child development center, to the youth center and is posted on the Family Advocacy Program Facebook page, Carbo said.