What is the legal age, in California, that a child can be left home alone?

Question

I remember being home alone when I was a kid all the time. Now that I have kids that are the age I was when I was alone, I realized I was pretty young. It got me thinking about the legal issues and if there is a set minimum age that it is legal for a child to be left home alone.

Answer 1

it ought to be about 21 but --
California as the majority of states does not have established "home alone" laws. As difficult as it may be to understand the general criteria used when incidents are brought to the attention of investigators is; "Can this child take care of themselves?" and "Was the child left in a dangerous or unsuitable environment?"

States that have "home alone" laws have made them so vague and difficult to enforce that the reality is, a child of any age can be left at home for any length of time and it is not against the law unless (until) the child is injured or worse.

Answer 2

There is no LEGAL age! There is good judgment. or bad, as the case may be!

Usually 13! I know a court that has ruled 12 is to young!

And it depends! Like I said, JUDGMENT!

You don't leave a 12 year-old watching a 5 month old child, you don't leave 13 year old for extended periods of time. Even over night could be too long.

It also depends on the kid. I know some that are 17 I would not trust to leave alone where I live!

Answer 3

maximum states have not got a criminal age for a baby to be left domicile on my own. CPS can look at comments consisting of those if there seems to be threat of harm to the youngster as a effect. As somebody had pronounced it relies upon on the adulthood point of the youngster in question. well-known questions CPS will ask the youngster will maximum in all hazard comprise: "do you recognize the place your ascertain/s is/are?" "Do you have the means to touch an grownup in case of an emergency? (ie telephone numbers)" "in case you get hungry are you able to're making/prepare dinner something thoroughly?" yet another vast try is how the youngster responds to somebody coming to the door of the domicile on a similar time as they're there on my own. As an investigator for CPS i've got seen toddlers below 10 that refused to open and launch the door as quickly as I got here to their domicile and in undemanding terms spoke to me in the back of the closed door. Others have opened the door and invited me in (that isn't good via the way). some even advised me to go away or they could call their mom and dad or the police. it incredibly relies upon on is the youngster able to look after themselves for the quantity of time they're on my own.

Answer 4

This is probably one of those situations in which 1) there is no officially stated rule but 2) you are still liable if something bad happens.