Parents could get more say about leaving preteens home alone after Illinois House passes bill

By Vincent Caruso

04/08/2019

Illinois parents can face neglect charges for leaving a 13-year-old home alone. The Illinois House just took a step toward relaxing the nation’s strictest law on unattended children.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, home alone, Joe Sosnowski, Jonathan Carroll, terri bryant

Home alone: Unattended 13-year-old? Police can arrest the parents in Illinois

By Vincent Caruso, Jeffrey Schwab

12/19/2018

Illinois’ law mandating a minimum age for leaving children home alone is the most restrictive in the nation. That should change.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, overcriminalization

State agency investigates Illinois mom for letting 8-year-old walk dog around block

By Vincent Caruso, Jeffrey Schwab

08/23/2018

A Wilmette mother investigated for letting her daughter walk the dog is only the latest target of Illinois’ vague and overreaching child neglect laws.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, overcriminalization

Settlement deal helps prevent parents’ nightmares from coming true

By Austin Berg

07/26/2018

Vague, arbitrary and overly protective rules, like we see often in Illinois, don’t do anyone any favors.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, nanny state

Leave your 13-year-old home alone? Police can take her into custody under Illinois law

By Jeffrey Schwab

05/20/2018

Illinois’ law mandating a minimum age for leaving children home alone is the strictest of its kind in the nation.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, home alone, regulations

Leave your 13-year-old home alone? Police can take him into custody under Illinois law

By Jeffrey Schwab

12/22/2016

Common sense tells us most 13-year olds are perfectly capable of staying home alone after school while their parent is at work, but in Illinois, common sense isn’t the law.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services

“Home Alone”: How one extreme Illinois case led to overbroad laws about child supervision

By Jeffrey Schwab

12/23/2015

Illinois’ real-life “Home Alone” story inspired legislation that gives the state too much power to intrude into parents’ reasonable decisions about their children.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services

State drops child-neglect citation for mother who let her kids play outside

By Jeffrey Schwab

12/21/2015

An inadequate-supervision case recently dropped by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services reveals why the department must reform its policies regarding what constitutes child neglect.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services

Bureaucrats over classrooms: Illinois wastes millions of education dollars on unnecessary layers of administration

Illinoisans pay large sums for public education, yet a large portion of the money goes to Illinois’ bloated school district bureaucracy that diverts resources away from the classroom. Through smart, strategic reforms, Illinoisans can better prepare their youth for the future as well as provide property tax relief.

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Bureaucrats over classrooms: Illinois wastes millions of education dollars on unnecessary layers of administration

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Al Lashbrook

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students