Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

What To Do Next

This response to your posting is not intended to constitute the giving of legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. Competent legal advice can only be given after a fuller rendition of the facts than your posting allowed and, in this Office, the attorney-client relationship is only undertaken upon the execution of a written fee agreement.

Certainly, your next step will depend on how concerned you are for your step-son's (and your) safety and how willing you are to make hard choices in his best interests. When you get to the "throw up your hands" stage, Virginia Code Section 16.1-241(A)(4) allows a parent to petition the juvenile court to be relieved of the care and custody of a minor. Virginia Code Section 16.1-278.3 and, by reference, Section 16.1-278.2, tells what the Court can do when it grants such a petition.

Assuming you're not there yet, you have several other choices. First, if the psychiatrist fails to acknowledge that your step-son's current treatment is inadequate, I'd find a new psychiatrist. Also, Virginia has a Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act (Code Section 16.1-335 et seq.) which allows a parent to involuntarily hospitalize a minor 14 years of age or older (there are also provisions for hospitalizing younger children, but the criteria are different) if, because of the mental illness, the minor (1) presents a serious danger to himself or others to the extent that severe or irremediable injury is likely to result or (2) is experiencing a serious deterioration of his ability to care for himself in a developmentally age-appropriate manner, as evidenced by delusionary thinking or by a SIGNIFICANT IMPAIRMENT OF FUNCTIONING IN hydration, nutrition, self protection, or SELF-CONTROL.

Even if more intense medical treatment is not called for under the circumstances, making your step-son responsible for his conduct by the filing of juvenile petitions relating to recent threats or assaults may cause him to realize that there are consequences for his inappropriate behavior. Dr. James Dobson has written a book titled "Tough Love." Sometimes such love is unpleasant, but necessary.

UNCONTROLLABLE CHILD

In addition to what Mr. Maus suggests, the Juvenile code still permits a petition for a child in need of services (16.1-278.4 of Va. Code). Call the intake office of your Juvenile Court for assistance and advice. This should not require you to relinquish custody, but a transfer of custody is possible with such a petition. Also, is the child receiving appropriate special education classes at school? The public schools are required to give a free appropriate public education.