John Matthews
WMAL.com
SILVER SPRING — (WMAL) Score one for “Free-Range Parenting.”
A Silver Spring couple under watch for possible child neglect because their children were allowed to roam without adult supervision say they have been cleared in one of the two cases being investigated by Child Protective Services.
Danielle and Alexander Meitiv have received national attention and sparked debate over the role of parents in supervising their kids. The Meitivs had originally been investigated by CPS after their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter were found playing alone in a park about a block from their home last October. The couple maintains that their children were safe, and that their “free-range” style of parenting is a deliberate philosophy meant to encourage their children to explore the world on their own.
The Meitivs have since been investigated twice more. In December, the couple was cited after the children were spotted near a park that was nearly a mile from their home. That was the case that has since been cleared by CPS.
“It was an enormous relief and vindication,” Danielle Meitiv told the Washington Post. “Of course there’s no neglect here. There never was. There was never even a hint of it,” she added.
Most recently, in April, police, acting on a tip from a man who had seen the children out alone, picked up the boy and girl and held them – in concert with CPS – for more than five hours.
After the latest incident, the Meitivs hired an attorney and announced plans to sue Montgomery County to ensure that police and Child Protective Services change their procedures. They have yet to be cleared in the case.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has ordered a through investigation of the April incident to determine whether any policy changes are needed by public safety agencies.
For now, the Meitiv children’s roaming has been curbed. Their parents agreed to follow a CPS “safety plan” after the April incident that required the children to always be supervised. That plan is no longer in effect, they say, but they have keeping the children playing close to home.
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