One family's frustration in filing an at-risk youth petition:
My husband gave the Receptionist at Denney Youth Center the entire completed YOUTH AT RISK (also known as "At-Risk Youth") packet a couple of weeks ago. She accepted it from him asking nor commenting nothing further. When he and our son went to our son's Arraignment for Criminal charges yesterday, at Juvenile Court, my husband inquired as to the status of our YAR (AKA: ARY Petition or ARY) petitioning the Court. The Receptionist said she had nothing!
We have continued to have abusive issues arise everyday [from our son]! My varied injuries and especially the Third Degree Abrasion Burn has been incredibly painful and I suffer greatly as a result... Everyday he breaks beloved chinaware, vandalizes our home with banging his head or fist, creating holes into the walls, or breaking into our bedroom to break into our closet to communicate on Facebook with a locked up laptop to score drugs!
They have come to our son's bedroom windows and thrown rocks for harassment to collect on money owed for past drug debts!
I am requesting an Emergency eviction of our son living here as he is putting us into an abusive living situation on A DAILY BASIS! We did what we needed to do in completing the Youth AT Risk Petition, meeting with his Social Worker of Children's Administration...So where is OUR ARY Petition? He makes living in our home like a prison! He has a Severe Psychiatric Medical History and is scary to have in our home, school and is a menace to our neighborhood and the public. He is unpredictably crazy!
Please help, before it's too late to our family or others! I have suffered immeasurable pain and he has no remorse.
What ever it takes PLEASE HELP, really!
In response:
First of all, I want you to know how sorry I am to hear about your situation. It is beyond scary to have a child who is this out of control. My heart goes out to you and your husband, and also to your son, who must be fearful of himself as well. It sounds like you have already done what you can to notify the local police of your situation, which unfortunately is the best way to ensure your safety when your son has outbursts of rage.
I would like to help direct you but would need some more information, one question is whether the criminal charges are related to the abuse toward you & your husband, or are related to drug abuse, or whether they are unrelated at all. Criminal charges will always outweigh the ARY petition. If there are pending criminal charges, this could explain why there has been a delay on the ARY process.
The ARY could still be very useful in the future, I would recommend to continue to pursue this option. I would also encourage you to look into the ARY Drug Court program, which may be issued through criminal court as well, depending on his charges. The benefit of drug court over a basic ARY petition, is that drug court meets every Friday so there are swift and related consequences. With the basic ARY, you would have to file the motions of contempt and wait for a hearing which is a lengthier process.
Whenever there is a reason to immediately remove a youth from the home, another option could be a Child in Need of Services petition (CHINS). The process for issuing a CHINS order can sometimes be quicker than the ARY. Ask the court receptionist to help you decide which one might be a better fit.
I wish you and your family the best and am hopeful that you will find the help that you need.
I am including some resources that I think you will find useful:
Support Groups Mental Health Parent Support
Love & Logic's article "Angry Kids" (.pdf file) Parenting Resources
My husband gave the Receptionist at Denney Youth Center the entire completed YOUTH AT RISK (also known as "At-Risk Youth") packet a couple of weeks ago. She accepted it from him asking nor commenting nothing further. When he and our son went to our son's Arraignment for Criminal charges yesterday, at Juvenile Court, my husband inquired as to the status of our YAR (AKA: ARY Petition or ARY) petitioning the Court. The Receptionist said she had nothing!
We have continued to have abusive issues arise everyday [from our son]! My varied injuries and especially the Third Degree Abrasion Burn has been incredibly painful and I suffer greatly as a result... Everyday he breaks beloved chinaware, vandalizes our home with banging his head or fist, creating holes into the walls, or breaking into our bedroom to break into our closet to communicate on Facebook with a locked up laptop to score drugs!
They have come to our son's bedroom windows and thrown rocks for harassment to collect on money owed for past drug debts!
I am requesting an Emergency eviction of our son living here as he is putting us into an abusive living situation on A DAILY BASIS! We did what we needed to do in completing the Youth AT Risk Petition, meeting with his Social Worker of Children's Administration...So where is OUR ARY Petition? He makes living in our home like a prison! He has a Severe Psychiatric Medical History and is scary to have in our home, school and is a menace to our neighborhood and the public. He is unpredictably crazy!
Please help, before it's too late to our family or others! I have suffered immeasurable pain and he has no remorse.
What ever it takes PLEASE HELP, really!
In response:
First of all, I want you to know how sorry I am to hear about your situation. It is beyond scary to have a child who is this out of control. My heart goes out to you and your husband, and also to your son, who must be fearful of himself as well. It sounds like you have already done what you can to notify the local police of your situation, which unfortunately is the best way to ensure your safety when your son has outbursts of rage.
I would like to help direct you but would need some more information, one question is whether the criminal charges are related to the abuse toward you & your husband, or are related to drug abuse, or whether they are unrelated at all. Criminal charges will always outweigh the ARY petition. If there are pending criminal charges, this could explain why there has been a delay on the ARY process.
The ARY could still be very useful in the future, I would recommend to continue to pursue this option. I would also encourage you to look into the ARY Drug Court program, which may be issued through criminal court as well, depending on his charges. The benefit of drug court over a basic ARY petition, is that drug court meets every Friday so there are swift and related consequences. With the basic ARY, you would have to file the motions of contempt and wait for a hearing which is a lengthier process.
Whenever there is a reason to immediately remove a youth from the home, another option could be a Child in Need of Services petition (CHINS). The process for issuing a CHINS order can sometimes be quicker than the ARY. Ask the court receptionist to help you decide which one might be a better fit.
I wish you and your family the best and am hopeful that you will find the help that you need.
I am including some resources that I think you will find useful:
Support Groups Mental Health Parent Support
Love & Logic's article "Angry Kids" (.pdf file) Parenting Resources