What can we do if my 17 year old son is currently refusing to come home because he does not want to follow our rules?
Asked on Oct 19th, 2015 on Child Custody - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
He has been switching on and off between grandparents, grandmother, and aunt. Only his aunt is okay with him staying with her but he chooses not to because she is not there to cook him meals or get him out of bed for school in the morning. His grandmother refuses to tell him to leave however. Both parents have told him to come home. However, we are worried about him being in our home because he is violent, screaming and cursing, threatening, and physically abusive with his mother. Dad is away for work weeks at a time and this leaves mom and 2 younger siblings at home. He was charged with harassment the most recent time but grandfather paid his fine. Last year, he lived with grandparents for a few months because they (without our permission) told him he could live there so that he could attend the school in their school district instead of the one in ours. We have moved recently and now live in a third district which he currently attends. State police were called last year when we wanted him back home because things were not going well and we were told there was nothing we could do. He did eventually come back home after being suspended from school and hospitalized. He has a car in his motherโs name that he is currently driving even though he was told to bring it back home. He has had two accidents and now a ticket since he got his license 4 months ago.
You could talk to children's services (called CYF in Allegheny County). Since he is out of control, a Petition for Dependency could be filed under Section 6 which basically are grounds for dependency under incorrigible behavior, and sheds no blame on the parent. CYF can do all sorts of things-put services in the home, place him in a shelter. It is a way to get a civil court to have jurisdiction over him without involving criminal court-police, etc.
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