Mom did not neglect sons by letting them play outside, state agrees after legal battle
A Chicago mother initially found to have neglected her three children by allowing them to play in a park next to their home in 2013 has been cleared with the help of a major corporate law firm.
An Illinois appeals court dismissed the case Monday after the state Department of Children and Family Services reversed course and agreed that Natasha Felix had done nothing wrong, according to CBS Chicago and the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.).
At issue was an “inadequate supervision” standard that critics have called too vague. A state statute defines inadequate supervision as involving “a child under the age of 14 whose parent … leaves the minor without supervision for an unreasonable amount of time, without regard for the mental or physical health or safety of the minor,” the Tribune reports.
Felix had a clear view of the park from the windows in her apartment and said she looked outside every 10 minutes to check on the boys, then aged 11, 9 and 5. She also had told the 11-year-old to look after his brothers, and she and others said the younger boys understood they had to follow their older brother’s instructions, according to a brief (PDF). It was filed on her behalf by Winston & Strawn and the Family Defense Center, which have been helping Felix with the appeal on a pro bono basis for nearly two years.
However, on the July 2013 day when Felix sent her sons outside to play, a preschool teacher who was at the park with her class assumed the boys were unsupervised and made a report to child protection authorities.
An August news release by the FDC says vague and unreasonable standards allow DCFS to “second-guess reasonable decisions by parents.” It points readers to its own report on When Can Parents Let Children Be Alone? (PDF) for suggested improvements.
“I’m just relieved this is over,”’ Felix told the Tribune after learning of the case’s conclusion. “I knew that I didn’t do anything wrong.”
An earlier Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) story provides more details about the case.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Mom who left 6-year-old daughter alone in car for 10 minutes fights neglect finding”
