Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation Wednesday to grant children reasonable independence by changing Colorado’s child abuse and neglect laws.

Beginning in August, House Bill 1090 will update the laws to clarify that a child is not neglected when allowed to participate in reasonably independent and safe activities. Those include walking to and from school, playing outside or staying home alone.

“Just because a kid is playing alone outside, it doesn’t mean they’re in danger,” Polis said. “It will help decrease false reports so, with the limited resources we have, we can focus on the serious and the real instances of child abuse.”

Bill sponsor Rep. Mary Young, D-Greeley, said Colorado parents are too often reported to child services for letting their children do normal things. In 2019, child services authorities received 3,854 reports over lack of supervision. Of those reports, 3,169 – 82% – were unfounded, Young said, citing state data.

The share of baseless reports of child abuse and neglect has increased in recent years.

In 2019, there were 2.4 million unsubstantiated investigations of child abuse and neglect in the U.S., compared to 681,772 substantiated investigations, according to an annual National Child Maltreatment report. In Colorado, there were 28,783 unsubstantiated investigations and 13,127 substantiated investigations.

“This bill gives freedom to parents and it gives freedom to families,” said bill sponsor Sen. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora. “It reminds me of the way it used to be when I was a young girl, when I was allowed to go to the store and allowed to ride by bike to certain activities.”

Before it landed on the governor’s desk, the bill received unanimous approval from the state Senate and House. Republican and Democrat lawmakers alike said children today do not have the same level of independence that previous generations enjoyed, but should.

Also in support of the bill was 12-year-old Brinley Sheffield, who testified in committee and was present at Wednesday’s bill signing. When she was 7, someone called the police on Sheffield because she was running around her block alone. Sheffield said that left her afraid to leave the house on her own.

“I didn’t get in any trouble that day, but for many years after the experience I didn’t want to run around my block,” Sheffield said during her testimony. “I want to be independent and be able to do things by myself. I know I’m capable of doing a lot of things.”