by 
KayJ
ANSWERS: 5
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You should call your local police station (non-emergency number of course!). I had a similar situation years back when a neighbor got mad at me for something else and decided to threaten me with telling them I left my 12 year old daughter home alone. It was after school, she'd call as soon as she got in the door (she had a 10 minute window) and I was home 20 minutes after that. I called the police department (it was a city in Massachusetts) and they said there was no law on age. It was individual depending upon the maturaty and comfort level of the child. Of course you'd never leave a young child home alone!
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In our country, NZ, its the same all over, the legal age is 14 years old , at that age, they can also start babysitting younger children,
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There are very few states in the U.S. with legal minimum ages for children home alone, but many state agencies have published guidelines. Georgia, Illiniois, Maryland and Oregon are a few of the states with specific ages specified in their laws. 12 years of age appears to be the most common recommendation. http://www.latchkey-kids.com/latchkey-kids-age-limits.htm provides one guideline from a California agency representative who suggests that 8 year olds and over can be left at home for up to several hours (usually after school before a parent gets home from work). This site also provides a state by state comparison with references.
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Illinois is 12 years old, I think in general that is the common age. I would call DCFS, the police station, hospital or any other local government office they would know or could help you find out. I think the main issue is the maturity of the child. I have an 11yr old niece that I would NEVER leave alone. She is very immature and could not take care of herself let alone someone else. There used to be a test that you could give a child that was meant to show their level of maturity in this sort of situation. It had to do with two columns of lines, and telling if they were equal. I will try and find out where it is and post a site if I have any luck. Even if a child is 12 but immature and you would be scared to death to leave them alone I wouldn't. Go with your gut along with the laws.
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There are very few states in the U.S. with legal minimum ages for children home alone, but many state agencies have published guidelines. Georgia, Illiniois, Maryland and Oregon are a few of the states with specific ages specified in their laws. 12 years of age appears to be the most common recommendation. http://www.latchkey-kids.com/latchkey-kids-age-limits.htm provides a state by state comparison with references. This site also provides one guideline from a California agency representative who suggests that 8 year olds and over can be left at home for up to several hours (usually after school before a parent gets home from work).
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