Mom Speaks Out After Neglect Charges Cleared
The Maryland parents of Dvora and Rafi Meitiv, seen here on a recent trip, have been cleared of neglect charges after a Maryland CPS case was closed. (Photo: Danielle Meitiv/Facebook)
The Maryland parents who have been at the center of a media firestorm since December — when Child Protective Services (CPS) first investigated them for child neglect after they allowed their kids to walk to a playground alone — have been completely cleared of wrongdoing.
“I feel vindicated,” Danielle Meitiv, mother of Dvora, 6, and Rafi, 10, tells Yahoo Parenting regarding the CPS letter she received earlier this month, which “ruled out” neglect. "I’m really, really, really excited and relieved.”
“I’m just relieved to have these cases closed,” she told the Washington Post. “They’ve been hanging over our heads, and it’s been very trying for our family.”
Related: Parents Under Investigation After 11-Year-Old Plays Alone in Yard for 90 Minutes
CPS had already closed the initial case against Danielle and her husband, Alexander, in May; it had stemmed from a December 2014 incident in which the police picked up their children while the children were walking to a nearby playground in Silver Spring. Now they’ve also been cleared in a second incident during which police picked up the kids in a playground about a mile from home, launching yet another CPS neglect investigation.
Related: ‘Free-Range’ Parents Cleared of Neglect
The scrutiny of the family launched a national debate on where to draw the line between child neglect and parental rights. It included much talk about the concept of “free-range” parenting — a philosophy of giving kids various freedoms that the Meitivs say they subscribe to, thanks in part to the writings and advice of Lenore Skenazy, Yahoo Parenting contributor and author of Free-Range Kids, who has documented every step of the family’s saga.
“Kudos to Maryland for swallowing its pride and admitting this was never a case of bad parenting or endangered kids,” Skenazy wrote on her website Monday. “And in honor of this historic day: SEND YOUR CHILDREN OUTSIDE!”
The Meitiv family. (Photo: Danielle Meitiv/Facebook)
The notification that the Meitivs were now completely off the hook — received June 13, right before the family left for a weeklong beach vacation — was not unexpected, Danielle says. That’s because Maryland’s Department of Human Resources announced a policy change earlier in June, stating that CPS should not become involved with situations involving kids’ playing or walking outside unless the children have been harmed or face substantial risk of harm.
“We are not getting into the business of opining on parenting practices or child-rearing philosophies,” Katherine Morris, spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources, told the Washington Post at the time. “We don’t view that as our role. We see our role as responding when a child is harmed or at a significant risk of harm. It’s all about child safety.” She added that the state agency is “mindful that every family applies its members’ personal upbringing, life experiences and expectations to parenting, and it is not the department’s role to pick and choose among child-rearing philosophies and practices.”
After the state issued the new policy, Danielle says, “there was no way they could maintain consistency and not rule this way” regarding her family’s case. “So I was pretty optimistic, but was surprised how relieved I felt just getting that piece of paper.”
Through a press release issued Monday by a family representative, the Meitivs’ pro bono attorney Matthew J. Dowd said, “We are not surprised that CPS has dropped its frivolous allegations. 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.”
Everyone in the Meitiv family, Danielle explains, is still experiencing emotional repercussions of the six-month CPS ordeal. Dvora and Rafi went out to a store (three blocks away) just the other day, for example, and Danielle and Alexander felt “skittish” until their safe return. “The kids are pretty resilient,” she adds. “They’re not having nightmares or anything. But they’ve lost a lot of faith in adults and in the authorities that are supposed to help you, and that’s sad.”
Danielle adds that although she “never expected to become an activist on this issue,” she now plans to continue advocating for the rights of parents and hopefully to help shift thinking among moms and dads to the view that hovering, fear, and constant involvement with their kids’ lives is not always necessary. And, she say, “I’m working on a book.”
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