How young a child can be left home alone?
Massachusetts does not set a specific age at which a child can be left home alone. In Massachusetts, such issues are decided on a case-by-case basis. For information on abandonment and neglect, see MGL c.119 s. 39: Abandonment of a child under 10, and 110 CMR 2.00 which defines neglect as follows: “110 CMR 2.00 Whenever used throughout 110 CMR, the following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context plainly requires otherwise…. Neglect means failure by a caretaker, either deliberately or through negligence or inability, to take those actions necessary to provide a child with minimally adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision, emotional stability and growth, or other essential care; provided, however, that such inability is not due solely to inadequate economic resources or solely to the existence of a handicapping condition. This definition is not dependent upon location (i.e., neglect can occur while the child is in an out-of-home or in-home sett
