There comes a time where every parent wonders if their child is old enough to be left home alone, and for how long. Unfortunately, we live in a society where too many people, especially professionals, quickly judge parents on their decision making in this area.
Parents, generally, have the right to determine when it is ok, and not ok, to leave their children unsupervised.
It is usually unnecessary, and actually harmful, for a call to be made to child protective services just because a professional is uncomfortable with a child being left home alone.
“Inadequate supervision”, as a form of child maltreatment, is when a parent leaves a child unsupervised, with an inappropriate caretaker, or in an unsafe situation, AND the child has been harmed or the child in imminent danger of harm. Imminent danger of harm means that harm is going to happy immediately, or in the near future. If there is something that can be done to prevent the harm, the harm is not imminent.
Contrary to popular belief, most states DO NOT have a law that defines the age that a child can be left home alone.
In a handful of states, the law defines a specific age a child can be left alone (see chart below) and for how long a child can be left alone: one hour, or 5 hours, for example. Even in states with these kinds of laws, child protective services will rarely take a report just because a child has been left alone; they usually will, instead, ask questions about whether the child has been harmed, or is at imminent risk of harm.
Here are states and known laws/regulations:
14 years: Illinois
12 years: Delaware and Colorado
11 years: Michigan
10 years: Washington, Tennessee, Oregon, and New Mexico
9 years: North Dakota
8 years: North Carolina, Maryland, and Georgia
6 years: Kansas
No age limit: the remaining 37 states
Since most states do not have a law that specifies parameters, parents generally have the right to make a decision about what is best for their child and family, as long as the child is safe and well cared for. For some families, this means that an 8 year old can safely stay home while their parent goes to the store, or a 12 year old can watch a younger sibling while their parent goes out to dinner. In other families, this might mean that a particular 16 year old who can’t quite be trusted, shouldn’t be left home alone at all. But these are decisions that should generally be left up to parents.
Parents looking for information to help them consider when/how to leave a child unsupervised can check out THIS RESOURCE.
If a parent leaves their child home alone at an age, or for a duration, that you, a professional, would not feel comfortable doing with your own child, you should stop and consider if you are judging the parent when you should be making an objective assessment.
For professionals considering whether an unsupervised child necessitates a report be made to child protective services, should consider:
the age of the child
the maturity of the child
the safety of the child, and
the intent of the parent.
If the parent is not considering the needs and guarding the safety of the child when leaving the child alone or not supervising them, the situation may necessitate intervention. That intervention might be a conversation with a parent, or connecting them to childcare services. A call to CPS is not legal required of a mandated reporter unless the child has been harmed, or is in imminent danger of harm.
There are many ways to reduce risk for unsupervised kids, including support for affordable child care and universal paid sick leave laws. Another option includes widespread awareness campaigns that aim to educate parents, so that children who are left alone are done so with the resources they need to in order to be safe.
A report to child protective services is only required by mandated reporters when the concerns of the professional meet a definition of child maltreatment in that given state. Professionals can do a lot to support a family without having to report a family (#SupportNOTreport).
Find our more about “mandated supporting” HERE.
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