Child Neglect Charges Against ‘Free Range’ Parents Dropped
Charges against Maryland parents who allowed their children to walk home from a park alone have been dropped by Child Protective Services.
It is the second neglect case filed against Silver Spring residents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv, known as “free-range” parents for their style of parenting which believes in giving children more freedom to make choices without parents hovering nearby. The charges were dropped earlier this month, the Meitivs told local media on Tuesday.
The couple’s children, ages 10 and 6, were picked up in April by police a few blocks from their Silver Spring home. They were walking home from playing in a local park and taken to Child Protective Services, where they were held for several hours and not permitted to call their parents.
In December the children were picked up by police in a park near their home, leading to neglect charges against the Meitivs. Those charges also were dropped.
Danielle Meitiv told the Washington Post she is concerned about how Child Protective Services will deal with the family in the future.
“I feel like we won’t know for sure if real progress has been made until our kids go for a walk and come home safely without being bothered,” she said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
