It can be extremely frustrating to have someone criticize your choice of parenting style. Imagine how scary it would be to have the police tell you that your parenting style is considered to be a form of neglect. This situation happened to parents in Maryland – who have since been cleared of child neglect charges.
It all started with a trip to the local park in December of 2014. Parents Alexander and Danielle Meitiv allowed their son and daughter to go to the park, and walk home, by themselves. Their son, Rafi, was 10 years old, and their daughter, Dvora, was 6.
Many of us, who were kids during the 1970’s and 1980’s, remember being allowed to play outside for hours on end without parental supervision. What once was considered normal back then is now called free-range parenting. The idea is to encourage kids to be independent and to engage in problem solving.
Unfortunately for this particular pair of free-range parents, the police picked up their children when the kids were walking home from the park. The parents were accused of neglect and required to commit to a safety plan. If they refused, the children would be placed in foster homes.
In March of 2015, the Child Protective Services (CPS) of Montgomery County, Maryland, found the parents responsible for “unsubstantiated neglect”. The Meitivs appealed that decision, and were successful. The charge of “unsubstantiated neglect” was dropped. However, this is not the end of the story.
In April of 2015, the Meitivs allowed their children to go to the park, by themselves, again. This time, they were detained by police officers, and then by Child Protective Services, for hours. That case was going through the process at the time that the parents were cleared of the original child neglect charge.
In May of 2015, the family began moving forward with plans to file a lawsuit against both the Montgomery County Police and the Child Protective Services. The lawyer for the parents stated that the police, and the CPS, had violated the rights of the family.
In June of 2015, the Maryland Department of Human Services revised their screening and intake procedures and issued the revisions to the county-level CPS. Part of the revision states that children who are unsupervised while playing or walking are not necessarily the victims of neglect.
Danielle Meitiv wants more changes made. She wants parental permission to be included as one of the factors considered when CPS does an investigation of reports of unattended or unsupervised children. She also wants the people who make those complaints to be required to identify themselves and be given the option of confidentiality.
Image by Carl Wycoff on Flickr.
Related Articles at Families.com:
* Free Range Parenting – Letting Kids Roam Free
* TV-Network Tells Kids: “Go Outside and Play”
* Parenting Techniques Outside the United States