WASHINGTON — The total time her children were outside was 30 to 40 minutes. Natasha Felix allowed her sons — ages 11, 9, and 5 — to play on their own one July day at a park beside her second-floor apartment, a place close enough that she could peer out her open window to check on them.
She says she checked every 10 minutes. But two years later, Felix is still fighting a finding of child neglect related to that day, which led a stranger to make a report to authorities. ‘‘It’s been very stressful,’’ she said. ‘‘It changes our lives.’’
Her case, in Chicago, is one of more than 20 reviewed in a new report that comes amid a growing national conversation about parenting choices and how far the government should go in enforcing laws designed to protect children.
The report — from the Family Defense Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization in Chicago — details a range of little-known neglect cases in Illinois. It asserts that the child welfare system ‘‘too often oversteps its authority and intervenes inappropriately in families’ lives, with devastating consequences.’’
The broader debate about parenting approaches heated up early this year, when a Maryland couple tangled with authorities for allowing their children — ages 10 and 6 — to play and walk on their own. Twice since December, the family faced Child Protective Services neglect investigations after their children walked home alone from Silver Spring parks.
Parents Alexander and Danielle Meitiv went public with their difficulties, saying they embrace a ‘‘free range’’ parenting philosophy that encourages childhood independence. The family was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing, their most recent CPS decision handed down in June.
The new report touches on the attention that surrounded the case and takes issue with neglect findings against parents ‘‘for common, everyday parental decisions such as allowing their children to independently walk to parks, play outside, or remain inside a car while a parent runs an errand.’’
Two-thirds of the Illinois cases involved parents living below the federal poverty line, many of whom are minorities or immigrants, said Diane Redleaf, executive director of the Family Defense Center. All the cases involve what Redleaf sees as an ill-defined category of neglect called ‘‘inadequate supervision.’’