Dominique Bishop-Smith, 29, has been charged with four misdemeanor counts of child endangerment, police said.
[Ads /]
Police found the children in a home in West Garfield Park on Sunday. The oldest child is just 11 years old.
Around 1:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, police officers were in the 4800-block of West Jackson Boulevard when an 11-year-old boy waved them down.
[Ads /]
The child told officers he had been left home alone with other children in the house. There, police found a one-year-old boy, a four-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy. The relationship between the children is unclear.
Illinois law requires children be at least 14 years old to be left home alone.
All four kids were taken to West Suburban Hospital as a precaution after officers were unable to find a guardian.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said they have the children and are investigating. The last contact DCFS had with the mother in the case was in December.