Virginia’s Definition of an Abused or Neglected Child: Understanding Va. Code § 16.1-228(2)

 Virginia child abuse and neglect law has long recognized that a parent does not necessarily commit neglect simply because a child is not under constant adult supervision. In 2023, the Virginia General Assembly amended the statutory definition of an “abused or neglected child” to expressly address children who engage in appropriate independent activities without adult supervision.

The amendment to Virginia Code § 16.1-228(2) is sometimes described as Virginia’s “free-range parenting” law. The statute now expressly provides that certain age-appropriate independent activities, standing alone, do not constitute child abuse or neglect.

This change is important for parents, guardians, teachers, law-enforcement officers, child protective services investigators, and attorneys involved in Virginia child abuse and neglect cases.

What Does Virginia Code § 16.1-228(2) Say?

Virginia Code § 16.1-228(2) defines an abused or neglected child, in relevant part, as a child whose parent or other person responsible for the child’s care “neglects or refuses to provide care necessary for his health.”

The statute now contains an important limitation concerning independent activities:

No child whose parent or other person responsible for his care allows the child to engage in independent activities without adult supervision shall for that reason alone be considered to be an abused or neglected child.

The statute further provides that the independent activities must be appropriate based upon the child’s age, maturity, and physical and mental abilities, and the lack of supervision cannot constitute conduct that is “so grossly negligent as to endanger the health or safety of the child.”

The statute specifically identifies several examples of independent activities, including:

• Traveling to or from school or nearby locations by bicycle or on foot;
• Playing outdoors; and
• Remaining at home for a reasonable period of time.

Virginia Code § 16.1-228(2) also states that the provision does not limit the provisions of Va. Code § 16.1-278.4.

The 2023 Amendment to Virginia’s Child Neglect Law

The current language originated with Senate Bill 1367 during the 2023 Virginia General Assembly session.

SB 1367 was introduced by Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel and was titled: 

“Child abuse or neglect; definition, child engaging in independent activities without supervision.”

The bill amended both Va. Code § 16.1-228 and Va. Code § 63.2-100, thereby addressing the definition used in Virginia’s juvenile and domestic relations court statutes as well as the corresponding definition used in the social-services statutes.

The legislation became Chapter 568 of the 2023 Acts of Assembly and was approved by the Governor on March 26, 2023. It became effective July 1, 2023.

The Legislative History Is Important

The legislative history demonstrates that the General Assembly was attempting to provide greater statutory clarity concerning children engaging in reasonable independent activities.

The Department of Planning and Budget’s fiscal impact statement described SB 1367 as legislation that would clarify that a child should not be considered abused or neglected merely because a parent permits the child to engage in reasonable independent activities without adult supervision.

The fiscal impact statement specifically identified activities such as traveling to or from school or nearby locations, playing outdoors, remaining at home for a reasonable period, and remaining in a vehicle under specified safe conditions. It also stated that the legislation “codifies current practice” concerning reports alleging physical neglect based upon inadequate supervision.

The 2023 Virginia Legislative Summary similarly described the bill as clarifying that appropriate independent activities, without adult supervision, do not by themselves constitute abuse or neglect.

The Final Language Was Narrower Than Some Earlier Versions

The legislative history is particularly interesting because the language changed during the legislative process.

An early version of the legislation proposed broader language concerning independent activities. One version would have expressly included remaining in a vehicle under certain temperature and safety conditions and used a “willful and wanton” standard for the parent’s lack of supervision.

The final legislation enacted a different formulation. The final version provides that the lack of supervision cannot constitute conduct that is “so grossly negligent as to endanger the health or safety of the child.” It also omitted the vehicle example that appeared in earlier versions.

That distinction matters when interpreting the statute. The enacted language—not an earlier bill draft—is the law.

What Does the Amendment Actually Change?

The amendment does not create a blanket right for parents to leave children unsupervised.

Instead, the statute creates an important limitation on when the absence of adult supervision may constitute child neglect.

There are essentially three questions:

1. Is the child engaging in an independent activity?

The statute recognizes that children may sometimes be permitted to do things without direct adult supervision.

Examples include walking or bicycling to school or nearby locations, playing outside, and remaining at home for a reasonable period of time.

2. Is the activity appropriate for the particular child?

The statute requires consideration of the child’s:

• Age;
• Maturity;
• Physical abilities; and
• Mental abilities.

This means that the same activity may be appropriate for one child but inappropriate for another.

The statute therefore focuses on the individual child and the circumstances, rather than establishing a universal age at which a child may be left alone.

3. Does the lack of supervision rise to the level of gross negligence?

Even when a child is engaged in an otherwise independent activity, the statutory protection does not apply when the parent’s conduct is “so grossly negligent as to endanger the health or safety of the child.”

Consequently, the amendment does not eliminate the possibility of a neglect finding based upon inadequate supervision.

Instead, it establishes that appropriate independent activity, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish abuse or neglect.

There Is No Specific “Age to Stay Home Alone” in Virginia Law

One common misconception is that Virginia law establishes a specific minimum age at which a child may legally stay home alone.

Section 16.1-228 does not establish such a bright-line age.

Instead, the statute directs attention to the child’s age, maturity, and physical and mental abilities, as well as the circumstances surrounding the lack of supervision.

Therefore, simply asking whether a child is “old enough” to be home alone does not necessarily answer the legal question.

The more important inquiry is whether the particular circumstances demonstrate neglect under the statutory standard. 

The Amendment Does Not Eliminate Virginia’s Child Neglect Laws

The independent-activities provision must be read together with the rest of § 16.1-228.

Virginia law continues to define an abused or neglected child to include a child whose parent or other person responsible for the child’s care fails or refuses to provide care necessary for the child’s health.

The statute also separately addresses situations involving physical or mental injury, substantial risks of death or impairment, abandonment, sexual abuse, lack of parental care, certain dangerous persons in the home, and human trafficking.

The independent-activities provision therefore should not be interpreted as eliminating Virginia’s broader child-protection laws.

Instead, it addresses a particular category of allegations: whether a parent’s decision to allow a child to engage in an age-appropriate independent activity without direct adult supervision, standing alone, constitutes neglect.

Virginia Courts Have Long Recognized That Actual Injury Is Not Required

Virginia appellate decisions interpreting § 16.1-228(2) provide important context.

Virginia courts have held that the statutory definition of an abused or neglected child does not necessarily require proof that the child actually suffered physical injury or impairment.

In D. Farrell v. Warren County Department of Social Services, 59 Va. App. 342, 364 (2012), the Court of Appeals explained that the statutory definitions do not require proof of actual harm or impairment.

The Court of Appeals has continued to rely upon that principle in subsequent cases. See, e.g., Ruyekia Silver v. Norfolk Department of Human Services, No. 0830-20-1 (Va. Ct. App. 2021) (unpublished).

The distinction is important.

The 2023 amendment did not change the general principle that Virginia child-neglect proceedings may be based upon circumstances that create a sufficient threat to a child’s health or safety.

Instead, the amendment specifically provides that appropriate independent activities without adult supervision do not, for that reason alone, establish abuse or neglect. 

Virginia Child Protective Services Regulations Also Address Independent Activities

Virginia’s administrative regulations governing child protective services contain language consistent with the statutory amendment.

22 VAC 40-705-30 provides that a child whose parent or other person responsible for the child’s care allows the child to engage in independent activities without adult supervision is not, for that reason alone, considered an abused or neglected child when the activities are appropriate based upon the child’s age, maturity, and physical and mental abilities and the lack of supervision is not so grossly negligent as to endanger the child’s health or safety.

The regulation also identifies walking or bicycling to school or nearby locations, playing outdoors, and remaining at home for a reasonable period as examples.

This is significant because child protective services investigations are governed not only by the statute but also by the Department of Social Services’ regulatory framework. 

What Does This Mean for Parents?

For Virginia parents, the 2023 amendment provides statutory recognition that children can develop independence without every instance of limited supervision being treated as child neglect.

For example, the statute expressly contemplates circumstances in which a child may:

• Walk or bicycle to school;
• Walk or bicycle to a nearby location;
• Play outside without an adult directly supervising the child; or
• Remain at home for a reasonable period of time.

But the statute does not make these activities automatically lawful in every circumstance.

The child’s age, maturity, physical and mental abilities, the nature of the activity, the surrounding circumstances, and the level of risk remain important.

What Does This Mean for Child Protective Services Investigations?

The amendment is also important when a parent becomes the subject of a Virginia Child Protective Services investigation based upon alleged inadequate supervision.

A report that a child was left without direct adult supervision does not necessarily establish abuse or neglect.

The investigation should consider the statutory language and the circumstances of the particular child.

Relevant questions may include:

• How old was the child?
• What was the child’s level of maturity?
• What physical and mental abilities did the child possess?
• What activity was the child engaged in?
• How long was the child without direct supervision?
• Was the child able to contact a parent or another responsible adult?
• Was the child in a familiar or unfamiliar environment?
• Were there known dangers or hazards?
• Did the circumstances create a significant risk to the child’s health or safety?
• Was the parent’s conduct merely a decision to allow appropriate independence, or did it rise to the level of gross negligence?

Those facts can be critical in determining whether the statutory definition of abuse or neglect has been satisfied.

The 2023 Amendment Should Be Read Narrowly

Although the amendment is sometimes characterized as a “free-range parenting” law, the actual statutory language is more precise.

It does not establish an unrestricted right to leave children unsupervised.

It does not establish a specific age at which children may stay home alone.

It does not prevent Virginia Child Protective Services from investigating allegations involving inadequate supervision.

And it does not eliminate the possibility that a parent’s conduct can constitute neglect when the circumstances create a sufficient danger to the child’s health or safety.

Instead, the amendment establishes a specific statutory principle:

A child is not considered abused or neglected merely because a parent allows the child to engage in an appropriate independent activity without adult supervision.

The statute then places boundaries around that principle by requiring consideration of the child’s age, maturity, physical and mental abilities and by excluding conduct that is so grossly negligent as to endanger the child’s health or safety.

How Virginia’s Independent-Activities Law May Apply in a Child Neglect Case

When an allegation of child neglect is based upon inadequate supervision, the facts should be examined carefully rather than relying solely upon the fact that the child was left without an adult physically present.

For example, there can be a substantial legal difference between:

A parent allowing an older, mature child to walk a short distance to school and

a parent placing a young child in a dangerous circumstance without adequate protection.

The first situation may fall squarely within the independent-activities provision. The second may raise entirely different concerns under Virginia’s child-neglect laws.

The statutory analysis is therefore highly fact-specific.

A Related Change in 2026

Virginia’s General Assembly has continued to amend provisions relating to children and juvenile and domestic relations district court jurisdiction.

For example, House Bill 667 in 2026 amended §§ 16.1-228, 16.1-241, and 63.2-100 in connection with a narrow expansion of juvenile-court jurisdiction involving certain unmarried noncitizens between ages 18 and 21 who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected. That legislation became Chapter 711? [This should not be confused with HB 942’s Chapter 711.] The important point for purposes of § 16.1-228(2) is that the 2023 independent-activities language remains part of the current statutory definition.

Likewise, legislation considered in 2026 concerning legally authorized substances demonstrates that the General Assembly continues to examine the intersection of parental conduct, child welfare, custody, and neglect law. The final version of HB 942, however, did not amend the current independent-activities language in § 16.1-228(2). HB 942 ultimately became Chapter 711 and addressed custody and visitation provisions in §§ 16.1-278.15 and 20-124.2.

Thus, when discussing the independent-activities portion of § 16.1-228(2), the key legislative change remains SB 1367, Chapter 568 (2023). 

Conclusion: Virginia Law Recognizes Appropriate Childhood Independence

Virginia law recognizes that parents do not have to provide constant, direct adult supervision of a child at every moment.

Since July 1, 2023, Va. Code § 16.1-228(2) expressly provides that a child who is permitted to engage in appropriate independent activities without adult supervision is not, for that reason alone, an abused or neglected child.

The statute identifies walking or bicycling to school or nearby locations, playing outdoors, and remaining at home for a reasonable period as examples.

At the same time, the law does not provide parents with unlimited discretion. The activity must be appropriate based upon the child’s age, maturity, and physical and mental abilities, and the parent’s conduct cannot be so grossly negligent as to endanger the child’s health or safety.

For parents facing a Virginia CPS investigation, child neglect allegation, or juvenile and domestic relations district court proceeding, the precise circumstances surrounding the child’s supervision can therefore be critically important.

An allegation that a child was “left alone” is not necessarily the end of the legal analysis. The question is whether the evidence satisfies Virginia’s statutory definition of an abused or neglected child.

If you or your family is facing a child protective services investigation or a Virginia child abuse or neglect charge, it is important to speak with an experienced Virginia attorney about the specific facts of the case.