Authorities, Courts Can Help Parents Deal With Incorrigible Children |
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Parents in Arizona generally are required to be responsible for their children until they reach age 18. Sometimes, however, this is a burden too great for parents to shoulder alone. An especially difficult child, who does not otherwise commit criminal offenses, may acquire a status under Arizona law referred to as an "incorrigible child." The law makes a distinction between troublesome children who commit criminal offenses and those who simply offend. Those who violate criminal laws are characterized as "delinquent children." Incorrigible children generally are those who refuse to obey their parents' reasonable instructions. Habitual truancy from school, running away from home, refusing to respect curfews and using alcoholic beverages are common problems resulting in incorrigible-child status. Chronic misbehavior of this kind may be reported to the local police or to a county juvenile court. Following an investigation, a petition to have a child declared incorrigible may be filed in juvenile court. In emergency situations, a child may be taken immediately into temporary custody. In these cases, the child's parent or legal guardian must be promptly notified of the police action. A child who is the subject of a juvenile-court incorrigibility proceeding is entitled to have legal representation. If a child's parents are indigent, an attorney will be appointed by the court to serve at county expense. Parents who are able to pay some portion of these costs may be required to do so by the court. If a child is declared by the court to be incorrigible, he or she generally will be placed under the supervision of a juvenile-court probation department. Judges have wide latitude in dealing with the problem. In most cases, the child will be returned to the parents with continued probation-department supervision. If, however, this is unworkable, the child may be placed with an agency, other relatives or elsewhere. Parents or guardians who are able to provide financial assistance for the care of their incorrigible children, including family counseling if required, may be assessed some or all these costs. It may be difficult for a parent to bring the authorities into a family matter, but, in chronic cases, everyone may be well served by doing so—particularly the incorrigible child. |
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