Neglect Allegations Dropped Against Free-Range Parents

A Silver Spring couple battling allegations of child neglect – leveled by Maryland Child Protective Services – says the agency has dropped its case against the parents for allowing their children to walk home alone from a park.

Last month, a neglect complaint against Alexander and Danielle Meitiv of Silver Spring, MD, was dropped – and their attorney announced plans to sue police and Montgomery County staffers. On Monday, the Meitivs and their attorney issued a statement that a second case has also been dropped against the couple.

The Meitivs have fought a finding of neglect by Child Protective Services after letting their son, Rafi, 10, and daughter, Dvora, 6, walk home alone from local parks.

In early April someone called police – as happened in two earlier cases – to report the Meitiv children were alone just a couple of blocks from home. The siblings were picked up by Montgomery County Police about 5 p.m. and turned over to the Child Protective Service at 10:30 that night, which then released them to their parents.

SEE ALSO: Kids Allowed to Walk, Play Alone Not Neglected: State

A policy memo sent June 11 to the state’s CPS workers from Deborah Ramelmeier, executive director of Social Services Administration, says in part that the statue does not apply to children left outdoors.

“Children walking outside or playing outside does not meet the criteria for a CPS response,” the policy document says. (See the full policy below.)

Under the new policy, CPS said it would not intervene unless there is evidence the child “has been harmed or is at substantial risk of harm if they continue to be unsupervised.”

The statement says the decision affirms what the Meitivs have maintained all along: that they are responsible parents who have never neglected their children.

The Meitivs said they are pleased with the result but concerned that CPS’s decision still leaves unnecessary confusion for their family and others. The agency’s decision provides no explanation why CPS instituted its investigation, why it made a “Ruled Out” determination or why the agency took two months to issue its decision, the couple says.

The county agency in February determined that Danielle and Alexander Meitiv had committed unsubstantiated neglect of their children for an earlier unsupervised trek to the park.

The couple’s attorney, Matthew Dowd, told Patch in late May that CPS dropped the earliest complaints, but the agency’s investigation into the April incident a]was pending.

Danielle Meitiv had said in an earlier interview that the earlier neglect finding meant CPS would keep a file open on the family for five years; that will now be closed.

“Our family is happy that the investigations are closed, but more needs to be done,” Danielle Meitiv said in a release. “The guidelines contain too much ambiguity and fail to acknowledge the parents’ right to allow their children age-appropriate independence. The guidelines also overlook that the parents should be the first adults contacted if there is any question about children who are playing among themselves in their neighborhood. I look forward to working with parents, as well county and state legislators, to ensure that parents’ choices for raising their children are respected.”

MORE ON PATCH:

• County Council Wants Details on Unattended Child Policies
• Readers Call Actions Against Family ‘Troubling,’ ‘Harassing’ and ‘Abuse of Power’
• ‘Walk Heard Around the World’: Parents Face 5 Years of Legal Purgatory
• Parents Nationwide Urged to Take Kids to Park, Leave Them

“We are not surprised that CPS has dropped its frivolous allegations,” said Dowd, who said last month that the Meitivs’ constitutional rights had been violated. “But its decision does not remedy the harm caused to the children when they were illegally detained by police and then CPS for over five hours. There were clear constitutional violations that need to be investigated and remedied.”

Dowd said in May a civil case would be filed against CPS and Montgomery County Police for an unspecified amount of damages.