Danielle Meitiv is the new face of "free-range parenting." Last December, police in Silver Spring, Maryland, picked up Meitiv's two children — Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6 — as they were walking home alone from a park a mile away from the Meitiv house. On Feb. 20, Montgomery County Child Protective Service informed the Meitivs that they had been found responsible for "unsubstantiated" child neglect. The parents went public this week, after consulting a lawyer.
The finding, which Danielle and Alexander Meitiv are appealing, typically meaning that CPS hasn't ruled out neglect but couldn't definitively find "indicated" neglect, Maryland Department of Human Resources spokeswoman Paula Tolson tells The Washington Post. CPS officials, explaining their ruling, cited a law that children 8 and younger can't be left alone (or without a reliable person 13 or older) in a motor vehicle, building, or enclosure. CPS can monitor the Meitivs for at least five years.
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