Plan B Forum

The Department of Family Services has removed a 14 year old girl from her home; actually, at the time of removal, she is mainly living with her 13 year old boyfriend's family, where she shares a room with her boyfriend and they engage in regular sexual intercourse.

The case comes before the court on a show cause hearing, to determine if removal was appropriate and further action by the State is necessary.

The testimonial evidence is:

The girl is 7 weeks pregnant at time of removal.

The girl has been living with her boyfriend for about two months, often truant from school. Her parents went over and picked her up a few times and brought her home, but she left again. They never reported her runaway to law enforcement/juvenile probation.

The girl has self harmed (cutting) and huffed in the past. Parents have knowledge of both, but despite repeated calls from school counselor, they won't meet with the counselor and won't follow up with bringing child to see a mental health professional after the school counselor sets it up.

The girl tells DFS she's been slapped & hit with a hanger in the past, that her mother abuses alcohol and that her parents fight, including physically, all the time. After she is removed, she recants these allegations when she learns DFS won't be placing her permanently with her BF's family.

The law says if there is probable cause established that acts or omissions by the parent, guardian or caregiver put the youth at risk for abuse or neglect, the Department's petition for temporary legal custody should go forward to a further hearing and emergency protective services should continue.

Do you find that there probable cause?


eta: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

you're a sick cookie

Huh?

I don't think he realizes that the details you provided are tame in comparison to the stuff you probably see every day of the week.

But you gave too many hints and made it too easy.

I'd remove her and place her in a nunnery...

What about removing the boy? What kind of parents allow their 13 year old son to shack up with his live in girlfriend?

I admit I haven't travelled much in Catholic circles for many years, but I don't think nun's habits come in maternity sizes...

So if a Judge ruled that those facts didn't establish probable cause for removal and continued State involvement, and that having a child who won't follow the rules doesn't necessarily lead to allegations of neglect, what would be your reaction to such a ruling?

I'm less interested in punishing the parents, (who may have tried to do their best, it just wasn't enough) than I would be about getting that incorrigible kid into a more structured environment where she might have an opportunity to straighten out her life...

I'd also be very concerned about the welfare of the baby, and want to make sure she was getting the education and care she needed for that. (And if she could not be persuaded to put it up for adoption once it's born, I would also lean heavily towards removing him/her from her custody.)

And I repeat; I think they ought to take looking at the boy's living situation as well, before those chuckleheads encourage him to knock up another young teen....

My much lengthier response disappeared into the ether - a judge will not have seen the parents' behaviour rising to the level of neglect and/or abuse - that she was sleeping at her bf's house (vs. out on the street) presumably with his parents present meant that she wasn't in danger. Theri relative ages meant that sex with her bf was not statutory rape. Substance use and/or self-harm in a child isn't going to be seen as neglect unless the parent witnessed it happening and did nothing to stop it.

I used to see cases like this all the time - incredibly bad parenting doesn't always equate to neglect/abuse, unfortunately.

Based on these facts, I would opine that there is probable cause to remove her from her "home." Both abuse and neglect are apparent.

If foster care is available, she should obviously be placed as far from home and BF as possible.

Someone should give her a Gift Certificate to the local Planned Parenthood clinic.

Isn't it neglect if the parents are aware of the mental health and substance abuse issues and do nothing?

In this hypothetical, parents are being contacted repeatedly by the school counselor but don't return calls and refuse to meet with the counselor.

The practical effect of the judge's ruling is that the girl will continue to live with her BF's family. What is the environment there like? Is it supportive? Is it at least better than with her parents or wth state custody? Pregnant at 14 is not a great idea, but it's certainly not unheard of, and not too far from the norm in many communities. Let's face it, this girl is not going to be a candidate for a scholarship to Wellesley; so, given her prospects, can she be equipped with the education and familial support she'll need to be a comptetent mother, in the event the pregnancy goes to term?

I'm not sure the judge was wrong, because I'm not sure the alternatives for this girl are significantly better than where she is now.

I couldn't speak for elsewhere, but here if such a child existed and was removed, she would be placed in a group home for (pregnant) teen moms and be provided extensive support services to address mental health & substance abuse issues, and also parenting classes, continued education, etc.

I couldn't speak for elsewhere, but here if such a child existed and was removed, she would be placed in a group home for (pregnant) teen moms and be provided extensive support services to address mental health & substance abuse issues, and also parenting classes, continued education, etc.

Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a much better option than leaving her in the care of her 13 year old boyfriend...

Jr High and High schools need to have a depo-provera-mobile visit every few months.

yrs,
rubato

I'd want to know a lot more about the parents of the boy she is living with and whether the girl will be getting prenatal care before I'd decide on whether or not to place her in foster care. What did the Social Worker recommend at the hearing?

The next potential victim of neglect or abuse will be the child of the 14 yr old.

http://www.osba.org/Resources/Article/L ... mreta.aspx

Is the counselor's testimony admissible?

bigskygal wrote:So if a Judge ruled that those facts didn't establish probable cause for removal and continued State involvement, and that having a child who won't follow the rules doesn't necessarily lead to allegations of neglect, what would be your reaction to such a ruling?

Have the judge removed from the bench for his/her obvious mental illness.

And after that, go thru the tens of millions of homes where teenagers have been having sex with their bf/gf, doing drugs, getting pregnant, skipping school, etc. and remove them all from their parents.

Maybe you can get them placed in homes in the moon colony that Newt is going to build.

The parents are abusive, neglectful drunks. Thats enough right there.