At what age can children legally be left home alone in Texas? What the law actually says

Dalia Faheid
·2 min read
248

Texas law doesn’t say what age is old enough for a child to stay at home alone.

But parents and caregivers are still accountable for a kid’s care, and inadequate supervision can be a type of neglect, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Proper supervision is integral to keeping kids safe. That supervision depends on the child’s age, maturity, abilities and surroundings.

What does adequate supervision look like?

When deciding how closely to supervise your child, here are some questions you should ask yourself, per DFPS:

  • How old, emotionally mature and capable is my child?

  • What is the layout and safety of the home, play area or other setting?

  • What are the hazards and risks in our neighborhood?

  • What is my child’s ability to respond to illness, fire, weather or other types of emergencies?

  • Does my child have a mental, physical or medical disability?

  • How many children are being left unsupervised?

  • Do they know where you are?

  • Can they contact you or other responsible adults?

  • How long and how often is your child or children left alone?

What is neglectful supervision?

More than half of all abuse or neglect in Texas falls under neglectful supervision. It accounted for 75% of all child victims of abuse or neglect in 2011.

Under Texas law, neglectful supervision means “placing a child in or failing to remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child’s level of maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or substantial risk of immediate harm to the child.”

It’s also defined as “placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of sexual conduct harmful to the child.”

Call the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400 if you suspect a kid has been abused or neglected, or if you have any questions about a situation you think might be abuse or neglect. In an emergency, call local law enforcement or 911 immediately.

Can you leave your child alone in the car?

Under the Texas Penal Code Title 5, leaving a child unattended in a car is a punishable crime. A person commits a Class C misdemeanor if they intentionally or knowingly leave a child in a car for longer than five minutes, knowing that the child is younger than 7 and not with an individual 14 years or older. It’s also a form of neglectful supervision that is investigated by Child Protective Services.

In hot weather, children trapped in a car can suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke in minutes, leading to permanent disability or death. Heat stroke can cause shock, seizures, irregular heartbeat and heart attack, as well as brain, liver and kidney damage.