<story><title>‘Unsubstantiated’ child neglect finding for free-range parents</title><url>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/decision-in-free-range-case-does-not-end-debate-about-parenting-and-safety/2015/03/02/5a919454-c04d-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>chromaton</author><text>Notice here that there has been no arrest, no charges, and no trial. Yet the family in question still had to go through a very stressful period of time AND has an open file with the county CPS, who threatened to take the kids away.&lt;p&gt;I was in a very similar situation for almost the exact same thing. I&amp;#x27;m happy Georgia DFACS did not get involved, though being arrested still sucks.</text></comment>
<story><title>‘Unsubstantiated’ child neglect finding for free-range parents</title><url>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/decision-in-free-range-case-does-not-end-debate-about-parenting-and-safety/2015/03/02/5a919454-c04d-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>tokenadult</author><text>The legal background of this case from Maryland must have something to do with the weird result so far: &amp;quot;[Maryland Child Protective Services] officials have said they are guided in part by a state law that says children younger than 8 must be left with a reliable person who is at least 13. The law addresses children locked or confined in a building, dwelling, motor vehicle or other enclosed space, but does not mention children outdoors on a walk.&amp;quot; My state, Minnesota, doesn&amp;#x27;t appear to have such a law, and it doesn&amp;#x27;t appear to have CPS officers who would give such a crazy interpretation to a comparable law. I have certainly had my children walking all over my neighborhood (a full mile from my house in either of two directions, for shopping or for trips to the library) when the oldest in the party was ten years old, for most of the last decade. It is very routine for my children to be out walking in our neighborhood, even during school hours, as we are a homeschooling family. This story is news in part because it is very unusual.&lt;p&gt;AFTER EDIT: Other reporting on this same story, with varying emphasis on other details:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/02/parents-investigated-letting-children-walk-alone/24265981/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.usatoday.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;nation&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;02&amp;#x2F;parents...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/maryland/2015/03/02/free-range-parents-fight-child-neglect-ruling/24287953/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.wusa9.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;local&amp;#x2F;maryland&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;02&amp;#x2F;fr...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ca.shine.yahoo.com/-free-range--parents-under-investigation-for-child-neglect-will-appeal-cps-decision-143030305.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ca.shine.yahoo.com&amp;#x2F;-free-range--parents-under-invest...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;A letter to the editor of the local paper reporting the story points out that children can be required to walk that far to school in the same state:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/children-were-caught-walking-at-the-wrong-time/2015/03/03/9c2d2962-c1b7-11e4-a188-8e4971d37a8d_story.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;opinions&amp;#x2F;children-were-caught-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>