Parent's Rights in Texas

I am the stepmother to a 17-yr-old boy. He has runaway for the 3rd time and we are told by the police that basically, our door is revolving until he's 18. We cannot legally lock him out nor kick him out.

What can we do with a 17-yr-old who refuses to stay at home? He is still a student and we are still supporting him.

We are interested in the emancipation process to cover ourselves in case he gets into any trouble. How do we go about getting him legally emancipated in Texas?

If we choose not to emancipate, what are our rights as parents?

Thanks -

I can certainly understand your situation as mine is very similar. I too have a 17 year old son that is a handful to say the least. I have tried to find a program for him residential wise here in Texas to no avail. I think that the law being that when they are 17, they can leave, we can't stop them, but are held liable for them until they are 18 is a catch 22 for parents who have a child like mine ( he is manic depressant on meds but very aggressive towards us, his 15 yr old sister and 2 month old brother) I have asked about signing my rights over to the state only to be told that I would be charged with failure to maintain parental responsibility and can be charged criminally by the police. Forget CPS helping.....they are in our life right now because of my oldest son and seem to have no interest in helping us find help for him. I too feel that my home is a revolving door for him if he decides to get angry and leave, and then come back when he feels like it. It is very frustrating to reach out for help and get nowhere. This seems like a tragedy waiting to happen, and yet if something happens, like all the school shootings that have been going on, then the parents automatically are to blame. I am no attorney but my advice would be to document every incident that goes on, if the police have to come out, insist that they file a report and inform the officer that you will be picking up a copy of the report in three days. (That tells them that you are serious)Also from what I have been told by the law is that if he does take off, you need to report it to the police immediately. I was told that if mine took off and I didn't report it, I can get in trouble for child endangerment if he says that I kicked him out. You can bet that if that happens I will call the law and make them file a report to cover my tail. Whatever happened to parent's rights with out of control kids? It seems that we have none!! Good luck and keep trying.

Thanks for the reply - we've basically covered ourselves in every way possible with him. We had already called to report him as a runaway 2 days after he was gone. They filed the report and followed-up with us yesterday. The police detective was very nice, telling us that there's nothing they will be able to do as he can't get arrested for being a runaway at 17, nor taken to juvenile. They asked if we were filing for our own liability and we told them we were since it's been an ongoing situation. I also contacted our attorney and he said that the child is the one who has to file emancipation papers and it would cost us (or him, if he really wants it) around $1000, but that it takes 3-4 months for the paperwork to go through and by that time, he'll be close to 17. He told us to go ahead and change the locks on our doors and go forward with our move, scheduled at the end of June. The only way we, as parents, can get in trouble is through truancy, but we all agreed that it wouldn't hold up in court since we've done everything possible for him and our hands have been tied since he turned 17. He's on his own, as far as we're concerned. We're going to a Toughlove meeting this evening - check out their website at [url]http://www.toughlove.org.[/url] You can get some help & support from other parents going through the same thing.

Good luck with your's - stay strong and don't let him walk all over you. Go ahead and change the locks - be tough on him.

Take care -

Oops - meant "close to 18" instead of 17.

Thanks for the info on the tough love website. It sounds
like you have done all you can...it is rather discouraging
that they can take off when they feel like it and we as
parents are held accordingly. CPS has told us that we have to report it if he takes off, and it gets me that they are
not helping us find something for him. All they seem to be worried about are the other two which I can understand to a point. I flat out told the lady that if it comes down to the other two being removed or my oldest, the oldest will be removed first. I have done all I can for this child and it seems that the only way he will get the mental help he needs will be if I have him commited to a physciatric hospital. He has already informed me that if he goes to a treatment center, he will just sign himself out because he can. In my county which is Brazoria ( south of Houston ), the law with emancipation is that the child has to be able to prove to the judge that he can provide for himself completely. Otherwise the judge won't grant it. My son is not at that point yet so that isn't even an option. But I will keep searching and seeking. A door will open somewhere. Good luck to you with your situation. Do all that you can do legally to protect yourselves.If I find out any other info, I will pass it along as advice. The laws don't seem to cover situations like ours or yours though, and I know we are not the only ones out there in Texas with this dilemma. God bless