CPS Investigated Her 4 Times Because She Let Her Kids Play Outside

Summary

Parenting expectations are often unreasonably high—and so is the number of people who believe that kids can't handle anything on their own. Passersby too often see an unsupervised child and assume they are unsafe. So they call the authorities, who also often share those super-sized fears. Then parents get investigated simply for trusting their kids with some age-appropriate, location-appropriate independence. Because of this frustrating cycle, I frequently get letters like the one below. When people ask why I spend so much time trying to pass Reasonable Childhood Independence laws, it's for people like Emily Fields and her children. Fields is a mom in small-town Virginia who responded to my nonprofit Let Grow's call for parents willing to speak to child protective services about why such laws are necessary. (Virginia unanimously passed its Reasonable Childhood Independence law in 2023.) This letter is presented as a stark example of how little trust our country has in its parents and children anymore—and how misanthropic neighbors can weaponize the state at will. *** Myself, my husband, and our three children (currently aged 12, 11, and 9) moved to southwest Virginia in 2017 when the kids were 4, 3, and 7 months. When my youngest began walking, I would let the three of them play in the backyard in our small, rural community while I would garden or read outdoors. There are no forested areas, and four unfenced yards all meet together with ours. Our new neighbors said the kids were welcome to play in their yards as well. In spring 2018 (our kids then aged 5, 4, and 18 months), we received our first visit from child protective services (CPS). A neighbor called to report that my children were unsupervised and that I was allowing a baby to climb the front porch steps by himself. I laughed and gestured at my toddler and said, "Yes, he is allowed to walk up the steps, I admit it!" That one did not result in a formal investigation being opened, but they did investigate our h...