'Free-range' parents meet with child protective services

Danielle and Alex Meitiv are not just parents. They are "free-range" parents. On Monday, they roamed out of a Montgomery County office building feeling just as they had when they entered.

"A lot of angst, a lot of anxiety," said Danielle. "I posted on Facebook this morning to all my friends that I expect the meeting to go well and I still have a big knot in my stomach. It's really frustrating that we don't have a resolution because I was looking forward to this knot going away."

The parents met with Child Protective Services.

"It was all very polite," Danielle said.

The Meitivs say they are being investigated.

Their 10-year-old son Rafi and 6-year-old daughter Dvora are allowed to walk around by themselves. The parents say it builds independence.

"They are very happy doing this," said Alex. "They feel proud."

The Meitiv children were in downtown Silver Spring where they were picked up by police on December 20. They were walking by themselves on their way to a nearby park.

Child Protective Services will not speak about specific cases. The Meitivs say the county is applying a law that says you can't leave a young child alone in a car or a building.

"To them, that law can be stretched to be anywhere -- playground, walking home from school," said Danielle. "And to us, that's apples and oranges."

The family has set up a legal fund. They want the law changed.

"Our kids were at the park by themselves yesterday," said Alex. "This may happen again for sure.

The parents say they have no intention of changing their behavior.

They will wait for a letter that will tell them whether the county deems them guilty of neglect. For now, they are told, "it's not personal."