Pa. Supreme Court: Minors May Be Involuntarily Committed for Drug, Alcohol Addiction
By: Leo Strupczewski
The Legal Intelligencer
August 31, 2010
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of an act that allows for parents and guardians to have minors involuntarily committed for drug and alcohol treatment.
Writing that prior case law established the presumption that parents act in the best interest of their children, the court, by way of a 6-1 majority, ruled that parents’ rights to make decisions on the care of their children are “paramount” to the constitutional rights of their children.
That, along with the decision that the therapeutic nature of drug and alcohol treatment altered the bar for due process claims, helped lead the court to its ruling.
“We stress that we are dealing with a process in which a parent or guardian is seeking medical treatment for their child,” Justice Debra Todd wrote. “This statute is civil in nature and involves therapeutic treatment for a brief duration — as well as the hope of recovery and a brighter future for the child.”
Justice Thomas G. Saylor dissented from the majority, writing that he was concerned with the risk for errors in making commitments, the possible length of the commitments and the manner in which the assessment is completed.
“I am not insensitive to the possibility that familial ties may be strained by pitting children against their parents or guardians as adversaries in a judicial setting and hence, I would not conclude that adversarial testing of the petitioner’s veracity or motives is constitutionally required — particularly as the petition itself becomes largely irrelevant once an assessment is ordered,” Saylor wrote.
“I would hold, though, that, in view of the substantial involuntary commitment periods authorized by Act 53, and the possibility of erroneous deprivations due to the brevity of the assessment process, the 14th Amendment entitles a minor to a more thorough evaluation concerning the need for inpatient treatment than the relatively scanty procedures outlined in Act 53.”
Marsha Levick, chief counsel for the Juvenile Law Center, had argued at oral arguments in September 2009 that the act was unconstitutional on its face.
Reached for comment, she said the decision was a “great disappointment.”
“The lack of protection [for juveniles] is worrisome,” Levick said. “Having said that, I’m not sure where else we can go.”
She later added: “You can read Saylor’s dissent and we certainly take solace that at least one justice who heard the case agreed with what our arguments were.”
Kemal A. Mericli of the Office of the Attorney General, who had argued the act was constitutionally viable, could not be reached for comment.
According to Todd, a juvenile, referred to only as F.C., was committed to a residential treatment program after his grandmother filed a two-sentence petition and he admitted during an assessment that he used marijuana daily and alcohol occasionally.
His grandmother’s petition read “[F.C.] will not go to school and I believe he’s doing drugs and he’s running away. And he’s stealing.”
The minor had volunteered to attend an outpatient program.
After the trial court ordered the commitment, F.C. appealed the decision and challenged the constitutionality of Act 53, which permits such commitments. The court ruled it was constitutionally viable, as did a unanimous panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Authoring the Superior Court panel’s decision, Senior Judge Robert E. Colville wrote that due process is “concerned with the procedural safeguards demanded by each particular situation in light of the legitimate goals of the applicable law.” Considering that fact, Colville wrote for the panel, the procedures used under Act 53, namely, not providing juveniles an opportunity to dispute the allegations lodged against them and subjecting them to assessment outside the presence of counsel, are “fundamentally fair” when weighed against the goal of providing treatment to minors.
In her analysis of the case, Todd agreed with Colville’s reasoning.
The justice cited the 1979 U.S. Supreme Court decision Parham v. J.R.
Though F.C. argued Parham required a “careful analysis” of a minor’s background before making a commitment decision to meet due process standards, Todd wrote the case recognized minors enjoy “certain rights,” but that the “significant right of the parent or guardian to make decisions regarding care is paramount.”
Further, Todd wrote, Act 53 requires a parent or guardian to file a petition, a medical professional to conduct an assessment and a formal hearing, with a right to counsel for the minor, before a juvenile may be involuntarily committed by the court.
Those requirements must be met every 45 days to determine whether a juvenile should still be committed, according to Todd.
F.C. argued the state’s Mental Health Procedures Act and additional Act 53 procedures in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas offered extra protections to juveniles that should be extended in all Act 53 proceedings.
Todd wrote, however, that the U.S. Supreme Court has held there is no constitutional right to a formal hearing for a minor when a parent or guardian thinks there’s a need for medical treatment and that a “minimal informal” procedure is enough.
Further, Todd wrote, parents or guardians filing petitions with the court do so subject to penalty of unsworn falsification to authorities.
“[W]hile the provision of additional protections for minors as exemplified in other statutes and in Allegheny County may be salutary, they do not render Act 53 itself unconstitutional,” Todd wrote. “In this light, appellant’s argument for additional protections is more properly made to the General Assembly
“We anticipate this closure will be completed by Oct. 2,” said Karen Bonsignori, an official of Eckerd Youth Alternatives, which has operated Camp E-Mun-Talee in Surry County since 1979.
It presently is serving 56 boys, who also will be displaced by the move.
“Unfortunately, times and budget resources are difficult,” Bonsignori added Friday in explaining the reasons for the shutdown.
The Lowgap wilderness camp, on Ramey Orchard Road, had been threatened with closure earlier this year when Gov. Bev Perdue proposed a statewide cut of $7.6 million, and 155 beds, for camps serving troubled teens. This was part of an effort to reduce spending on “social” programs.
Later, funding for the wilderness camp at Lowgap and others in North Carolina was reported to have been left intact after final budget actions this summer in the state General Assembly, and it was thought all would continue operations.
However, a Thursday letter from the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention cites “additional budget cuts” it received in programs to provide services for at-risk youth. These occurred in the aftermath of this year’s short session of the Legislature, according to the letter.
“These additional cuts, along with (others) absorbed in the previous year, forced the department to make some difficult decisions,” the letter from the state agency says. “Subsequently, it was determined that funding to Eckerd (Youth Alternatives), along with that of our other partners, would be reduced.”
While state officials had hoped all five camps the Florida-based organization operates in North Carolina would remain open despite the cutback, it has led to what is being called the “difficult” decision to close Camp E-Mun-Talee.
Bonsignori, who is associate vice president of external relations for Eckerd Youth Alternatives, said the company will do everything possible to assist those impacted — both staff members and clients.
“Eckerd is taking extraordinary measures to make this transition as seamless as possible for the 56 youths and the 45 staff members involved,” she said.
“Staff members are being assisted in applying for other open positions within Eckerd’s system of care. In addition, we are working with the youths’ families to help find appropriate placements for the youth.”
The Lowgap wilderness facility approach has involved housing teens in an isolated rural location where they are more prone to learn responsibility and to function positively with others. Typically, they build tents, go on backpacking trips and become involved in community-service projects in addition to furthering their education.
Many success stories have emerged from boys who have lived at the camp, who typically have not benefited from more-conventional programs for troubled teens.
“This consolidation is in no way a reflection on the quality of care that E-Mun-Talee has provided over the years,” Bonsignori said of the closing. “E-Mun-Talee is an excellent program that has helped thousands of at-risk youth turn their lives around.”
The company official added that the surrounding community has played a major role in the Lowgap facility’s operation during the past 31 years as well.
“Eckerd Youth Alternatives deeply appreciates the tremendous community support that has been demonstrated for our youth over the years. We want the local community to know that their kindness and generosity has made a difference in thousands of children’s lives,” Bonsignori said.
The four Eckerd wilderness camps in North Carolina that will remain open are in Candor, Boomer, Manson and Elizabethtown. The Florida company also operates family preservation and reunification services in 10 counties and an adolescent parenting service in Vance County, which will be continued.
Read more: Mount Airy News – Lowgap wilderness camp to close
The state’s foster care agency revealed Wednesday that a 17-year-old girl who collapsed about a month ago at a residential treatment facility has died.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is investigating the death of Shanice Nibbs, who collapsed July 16 while on a nature walk at the Five Oaks Achievement Center in New Ulm, about 72 miles west of Houston. On Wednesday, agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins issued a news release notifying the media that the teen died Friday.
Reporters for the Houston Chronicle and Texas Tribune first contacted DFPS officials two weeks ago about the girl’s collapse. At the time, the girl was alive in the intensive care unit at Texas Children’s Hospital, and the agency offered no other details, citing the investigation.
An official with the governor’s office confirmed that the agency notified it immediately of the incident and that it was aware that the agency had suspended all placements at the facility until an investigation was completed.
An official with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, which conducted an autopsy, said the girl died of complications of hyperthermia. It is not known how long the girl had been at the facility, how long she had been in foster care, or if she had a pre-existing health condition.
Two months ago, the Chronicle and Tribune detailed how more than 250 confirmed incidents of abuse or neglect had occurred since 2008 at residential treatment facilities, where the state’s most troubled foster care children are placed.
by Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Saturday, Jun. 12, 2010
A 17-year-old who complained of chest congestion was found dead at a residential psychiatric treatment facility in Rock Hill on Saturday morning.
Rock Hill police identified the teen as Levi Snyder, of Lenoir.
He was a resident at the New Hope Carolinas treatment center, which treats emotionally disturbed adolescents, near Piedmont Medical Center, said Detective Kathy Harveston.
She said initial reports didn’t point to foul play.
“It looks like (the death is) going to be medical in nature,” Harveston said. “There’s no appearance of any foul play, of neglect, of improper treatment, anything like that.”
Harveston said Snyder had been to the hospital for chest congestion three or four days ago and was on antibiotics.
Police haven’t released a narrative of what happened in the hours before he died, but Harveston said he’d been complaining of chest congestion Friday night.
It’s unclear how employees at the facility responded to the complaints. No one answered the phone at the facility’s listed number Saturday.
The York County coroner is expected to conduct an autopsy this week.
New Hope operates out of the former York General Hospital off Ebenezer Road, near Rock Hill’s Fewell Park neighborhood.
The center has faced heavy scrutiny from neighborhood and city leaders since it began operating in the mid-1990s.
City officials and residents of the nearby Fewell Park neighborhood contend a facility that includes sex offenders among the patients doesn’t belong in a residential neighborhood. The opposition culminated in 2002 when Rock Hill and York County officials sought to have New Hope moved. The facility is licensed by the S.C. Department of Social Services.
Between 1995 and 2002, Rock Hill police responded to more than 200 calls at the New Hope address. More recent figures were not available. New Hope officials contend many of the calls proved to be unfounded.
Since 1997, there have been at least 39 reports of criminal sexual conduct, assault and battery, and missing persons at New Hope, police records show. Of those, however, 25 were dismissed for a lack of evidence.
Rock Hill Herald writer Matt Garfield contributed. Cleve R. Wootson Jr.: 704-358-5046
Editor’s note: Comments have been removed for this story due to multiple abusive reports.
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