- Jurisdiction
- Missouri
A pamphlet I picked up at the juvenile court entitled "When Are You a Juvenile and When Are You an Adult?" states that a child can move out at 17. Our daughter could not wait that long. She will be 17 in April 2018. Both our children are adopted. Both were abused and neglected in their birth home. As a consequence both have Reactive Attachment Disorder and PTSD. Our son was removed from our home permanently as he was too violent. Daughter has not been violent to the same degree. But she is verbally abusive, defiant, and untrustworthy. She's shoplifted at least 3 times, and stolen from us way more than that. She has been to the behavioral hospital twice. The police have been called at least a half dozen times. 3 of which were for her refusing to go to school. She is failing her classes. She has also been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Depression, and Severe Mood Disregulation Disorder. She very likely has Binge Eating Disorder but has not yet been officially diagnosed. She has moved in with my sister as her behavior was becoming way more volatile. She wanted out and she forced the issue with her horrible behavior.
My question is, that if she can legally move out at 17, when can we be utterly free of her? We will be free of our son when he's adopted and we TPR. He's presently in foster care and we pay a monthly child support payment. (Soapbox: In which other form of domestic violence do the victims have to pay their abuser support? Answer: None. But our society does not want to acknowledge that children can be abusers. End soapbox.) But for our daughter, we are, at this stage, still obligated to pay for clothing, medicines, therapy, etc., even though she's living with my sister. We will probably pay for school lunches. We have to provide medical/dental/vision insurance and pay those bills.
When can that stop? And will having her declared Beyond Parental Control help our case?
My question is, that if she can legally move out at 17, when can we be utterly free of her? We will be free of our son when he's adopted and we TPR. He's presently in foster care and we pay a monthly child support payment. (Soapbox: In which other form of domestic violence do the victims have to pay their abuser support? Answer: None. But our society does not want to acknowledge that children can be abusers. End soapbox.) But for our daughter, we are, at this stage, still obligated to pay for clothing, medicines, therapy, etc., even though she's living with my sister. We will probably pay for school lunches. We have to provide medical/dental/vision insurance and pay those bills.
When can that stop? And will having her declared Beyond Parental Control help our case?