The Maryland parents who are being investigated for allowing their two children to play in a park unsupervised are suing the state’s child protective services and Montgomery County police.

An attorney for Danielle and Alexander Meitiv, in a statement released Tuesday on the Facebook page of Danielle Meitiv, said he would file a lawsuit on behalf of the Meitivs “in their effort to vindicate their parental rights.”

The couple’s children, ages 10 and 6, were picked up on Sunday by police a few blocks from their Silver Spring home. They were walking home from playing in a local park and taken to CPS, where they were held for several hours and not permitted to call their parents.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

It was the second time that the Meitivs have been accused of neglecting their children in the past five months — in December the children were picked up by police in a park near their home.

The family is part of the “free-range parenting” movement, which believes in giving children more freedom to make choices without parents hovering nearby.

In February, the Meitivs received a letter from CPS notifying them that they had been found guilty of “unsubstantiated neglect” of their children, a designation the couple is fighting to have overturned.

“The Meitivs are troubled by the county’s discretionary use of power to subject this happy, healthy and independent family to invasive, frightening and unnecessary government oversight, when there are other pressing challenges for county families in need,” their attorney, Matthew Dowd, said in the statement.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount