Some background: I spent last summer interviewing several people who grew up in Somerville circa ~1960s, and I was really struck by how much independence they had as children. As a parent of two little kids, I believe that teaching kids independence will help them live good lives: it has beneficial effects for confidence, mental health, and resilience. 

    Unfortunately, a lot has changed from the 1960s, and kids' radius of permitted independence has really shrunk (here is one discussion about it). There are some valid reasons for this (street crossings are much more dangerous than they used to be), but also many parents worry about getting reported to social services if they let their kid do something alone even when those kids are capable of safely navigating the environment. The consequences of getting on the wrong side of DCF can be serious, and so many parents are making decisions based on their fear of DCF, rather than what they think their kids can handle. But how does DCF make decisions about what reports to follow up on? We want to follow the rules, but it's not always clear what those rules are. My goal for this conversation is to empower parents to make decisions about their kids' independence with a better understanding of DCF's criteria for adequate supervision.