How old does a child have to be to decide who they want to live with in Iowa?

Answer 1

There are very few states in the U.S. with legal minimum ages, but many state agencies have published guidelines. Georgia, Illiniois, Maryland and Oregon are a few of the states with very specific ages. Typically 8 years and over can be left at home for up to several hours (typically after school before a parent gets home from work).

12 years old appears to be the most common recommendation. http://www.latchkey-kids.com/latchkey-kids-age-limits.htm provides a state by state comparison.

Answer 2

According to the Iowa DHS website The Department of Human Services receives many inquiries each year regarding when a child can be left home alone safely. Iowa law does not define an age that is appropriate for a child to be left alone. Each situation is unique. Examples of questions to help determine whether there are safety concerns for the child include:

• Does the child have any physical disabilities?

• Could the child get out of the house in an emergency?

• Does the child have a phone and know how to use it?

• Does the child know how to reach the caretaker?

• How long will the child be left home alone?

• Is the child afraid to be left home alone?

• Does the child know how to respond to an emergency such as fire or injury?

Answer 3

They have to be 18yo. Minors are not allowed to choose but in some states they can express their wishes and the court have to take that into consideration but is in no way obligated to follow said wish.

Answer 4

The following is according to Illinois Legal Aid; hope it helps

The following question was submitted to John Roska, an attorney/writer whose weekly newspaper column, "Q&A: The Law," runs in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Illinois Edition) and the Champaign News Gazette.

Question

At what age can children be left by themselves? My kids sometimes get home from school before I do, and I want to know if I can get in any kind of trouble if they're at home by themselves.

Answer

Many people think there is a simple answer to this question, but there is not. State law suggests an answer in some situations, but doesn't lay down an absolute rule. The only real answer to your question is, "it depends."

Federal and Illinois law pretty much leave parents and guardians free to care for their children as they see fit. In certain situations, though, our criminal and child welfare laws permit the state to intervene. But even those laws leave the police and DCFS (the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services) a lot of leeway in deciding what to do.

Two criminal laws specifically deal with unattended kids. One says that leaving a child "6 years of age or younger unattended in a motor vehicle for more than 10 minutes" is child endangerment. "Unattended" means not accompanied by someone at least 14 years old, or out of that person's sight. This offense is a Class A misdemeanor (possible 1 year in jail and $1,000 fine).

There is also a DCFS rule that says that licensed day care providers can't leave children under 12 in vehicles unattended.

The Illinois Criminal Code also makes "child abandonment" a Class 4 felony, punishable by 1 to 3 years in prison. It's child abandonment, the law says, to knowingly leave a child "under the age of 13 without supervision by a responsible person over the age of 14 for a period of 24 hours or more." The law lists 15 factors to consider, like the child's age and special needs, whether they were left entirely alone, and whether they had an emergency number to call.

This criminal law of child abandonment is similar to-but not exactly like-state child welfare laws that define child neglect. Under the Juvenile Court Act, it's child neglect to leave a minor under 14 years of age "without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety, or welfare of that minor." The same 15 factors from the Criminal Code are supposed to be taken into consideration when deciding whether a child is really neglected.

Although these laws say nothing about older kids, it doesn't mean nothing will happen if you leave minors 14 years old-or older-by themselves. The longer they're alone, and the more alone they're left, the more likely it is that somebody will intervene.

Answer 5

A normal typical age to leave a child alone is 12 yrs old. You do need to make sure they understand what to do in an emergency Ie fire, breakins etc

Answer 6

13 to be by them self 16 to be with children under 13