A DFCS investigation was launched despite a Georgia law protecting children’s independent activities.

Meet Mallerie and Chris. They are thoughtful, intentional parents of two children—parents who believe kids grow stronger through independence, learning, and trust. Like many families, they are familiar with the “Free-Range Kids” philosophy and organizations such as Let Grow. They are not raising their children based on unreasonable fear.

They are raising them with care, judgment, and love.

Their children are their children to raise.

On November 4, 2025, wearing his helmet, their son left their home on a scooter (a skateboard with a handle) and traveled approximately 0.3 miles—about five football fields end to end—along the Atlanta Beltline, a public, pedestrian-only path designed for walking, biking, and scooters.

He was not acting recklessly or aimlessly. An adult was already waiting for him at the playground that day. He was going to participate in a West End Parents Network fundraiser benefiting animals at the Humane Society.

This is a child who plays the cello, reads well beyond his grade level, has his own bank account with nearly $200 saved, and even started a small popsicle business near the same public area where someone later reported him as “unsupervised.”

In short, he is a capable, engaged, and supported child—exactly the kind of child parents hope to raise.

The Atlanta Beltline is one of the city’s most celebrated public spaces: a 22-mile loop of trails and parks connecting 45 neighborhoods. Families, children, joggers, cyclists, and tourists use it every day. It is lined with restaurants, public art, local businesses, and community gathering spaces. It is widely regarded as safe, well-traveled, and family-friendly.

Nevertheless, after an adult reported the child as “unsupervised,” the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) launched a full child-abuse investigation.

That investigation included a home visit, extensive questioning of both parents and both children, and intrusive searches of the family’s home. DFCS workers asked the children questions such as, Do your parents love you? and Do they have drugs in the house? They searched the refrigerator and cabinets, entered the children’s bedrooms, and took photographs throughout the home.

Despite the absence of harm, danger, or neglect, DFCS issued a written determination concluding that allegations of child abuse and neglect were “substantiated based on a preponderance of the evidence.” Only Mallerie was named. With ParentsUSA by her side, we have appealed.

What makes this case especially troubling is that Georgia law had already changed before this incident occurred.

Effective July 1, 2025, Georgia enacted a statute expressly protecting children’s “independent activities,” including playing indoors or outdoors alone, walking to and from places, running errands, and traveling to local recreational or commercial facilities - unsupervised.

In other words, the very conduct that triggered this investigation is affirmatively protected by Georgia law.

This case is not about reckless parenting. It is not about danger. It is about government officials substituting their judgment for that of fit parents, even when the legislature has said they should not.

ParentsUSA exists to push back against exactly this kind of overreach. We stand with parents who know their children—their maturity, their capabilities, and their environment. Government agencies do not know these children. The rest of us do not know these children. Their parents do.

If the Reason.com story brought you here, if this case troubles you, or if you believe parents—not government bureaucrats—should decide how children are raised, we ask you to act now.

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Even if you would choose to parent differently than Mallerie and Chris, the principle matters: you are free to raise your children as you see fit—just as they are. ParentsUSA defends this freedom and right for all parents.

This case matters. These parents matter. And your support—especially recurring monthly support—makes this defense possible.

The National Association of Parents, Inc. d/b/a ParentsUSA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the collective voice of parents nationwide. We champion the fundamental right of fit parents to raise their children as they deem best—rights upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court for more than a century. Fit parents enjoy a strong presumption that they act in their children’s best interests; government may intervene only to prevent or address actual harm or an unreasonable risk of serious harm. Even when some harm occurs, that alone does not prove parental unfitness or justify overriding parental decisions.

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