Expert: Robin Sexton - 9/13/2009

Question
My 17 year old son is currently on juvenile probation under Hamilton County in Cincinnati, OH.  The magistrate over his case(IDD Doc.) recently order him under 24hr adult supervision thus causing me to miss several days of work and putting my complete family in a financial bind, her suggestion was for me to check into community resources to help, pending him being able to pass a drug test. After 17days of my  house arrest as per her orders he did pass but i still had to wait til our next court date to return to my full schedule.  The psycologist assigned to his case filled out my FMLA papers incorrectly only giving me 2 days a month off and now my job is in jeropody.  My question is do they have the right to put not only my son but my other children in this type of situation and what are my rights?

Answer
Rosemary,

I am sorry for the predicament and problems this put you and the rest of your family in.  You are right it seems very counter productive and illogical.  Frankly it is.  Also it is perfectly legal.  Unfortunately a lot of courts don't look to far past the immediate issue before them  and consider the repercussions.
Your rights are few,  as a parent you have a legal obligation to be responsible for your son.  Further the court once they have jurisdiction they have ultimate authority.  Most fights beyond this point do not end well.  Short of disowning your son or placing him in juvenile detention there is not much left.  The best option is to find a worker at the court that you can deal with.  In each court there is at least one that see's the big picture and can be of some help.

I wish i could be more hopeful for your situation.

Good luck

robin