[sosoe]

I am mentor to a young lady who was raised from age 1-13 while her father was in prison by a verbally abusive grandmother and then 13 to current almost-17 by her father who successfully completed three years of parole. (Her mother died when she was 11 months old.) Several weeks ago the situation with her dad became untenable (don't know the full story) and she moved back to her grandmother's. The school involved Social Services.

The young lady (who is a junior in a program to educationally support kids from low socioeconomic backgrounds who have the potential to go to college) would like to move in with her boyfriend's family. The family is agreeable to this, but Social Services says she may not do that because they are not related. According to what I read in the Texas emancipation laws, she does not qualify for emancipation because she is not self-supporting. I hope very much that she will stay in school, not get pregnant, and go on to college.

She needs to be away from her grandmother, father, and her totally dysfunctional family. The social worker seems bent on keeping her in this setting. What options, if any, does the young lady have?

[Mr. Knowitall]

I think the social worker's biggest concern is that she might be delivering this young lady into her boyfriend's bedroom, and may have to explain a subsequent pregnancy to her superiors.

With social services involved, it is difficult to do anything except through them. If it appears that their involvement will be protracted and you don't want to wait until they either end their involvement or the girl reaches the age of 18, you (or would it be the boyfriend's family) should consider consulting a local lawyer who handles child protection actions about how to assert your rights.

[sosoe]

I'm trying to ensure that she doesn't get pregnant whether she moves into her boyfriend's home or not, and am in the process of trying to make certain she gets an appropriate contraceptive.

Because dad and at least two of his brothers are former gang members with prison or jail records, my husband's concerned about retaliation. So I can't get as directly involved as I would like. The boyfriend is on a reduced cost lunch program at school, so I'm certain that the family doesn't have money for an attorney.

So other than perhaps contacting the social worker at CPS, I guess there isn't much that I can do. Such a shame! Here's a kid with a potential future that the system may well knock into the gutter.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Here's a kid with a potential future that the system may well knock into the gutter.

It sounds to me like you're blaming the system for fault that actually lies with her family.

[sosoe]

No, I think you may be misunderstanding. She's overcome - to date - her family situation. Now when she actually needs to have help from the "system" to keep her away from the people who will pull her down for sheer meanness, it's not there. I don't know if her honors program teacher and I will be able to keep her from doing something stupid. I can still remember being 17 and swearing I would never tell my children they were the best years of their lives. --and I grew up in far better circumstances with loving parents!