1. Family Relationships & the Law

2. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Lesson goal
To improve students’understanding of what Virginia laws say about the relationship of teens and their parents.

3. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Students will learn:
What Virginia laws say about the relationship of teens and their parents
The authority and responsibilities of parents in Virginia
Children that courts find are in need of services or in need of supervision
The prevalence of child abuse and neglect in Virginia
Laws and court processes in cases of child neglect and abuse

4. Parent-child relationships
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Parent-child relationships
Your parents have legal “custody and control” of you. Custody and control means you must obey your parents, as long as they don’t ask you to do something illegal, and they must take care of you.
Parents must provide you with necessary food clothing, shelter, and medical care as well as supervision, discipline, protection, and education. They cannot desert or abandon you.
You have the legal responsibility to follow your parents’ rules and go along with their decisions.

5. Education responsibilities
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Education responsibilities
Parents must ensure their children are enrolled in school. Anyone between the ages of five and 17 is required to attend school.
Parents may choose to send their children to a public, private, denominational, or parochial school.
If certain requirements are met, parents may also teach their children at home. This is called “home schooling.”

6. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Public school parents
Parents of students enrolled in a public school have the responsibility to:
“Assist the school in enforcing the standards of student conduct and compulsory school attendance.” (Code of Virginia § )

7. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Refusal to obey
It is not unusual for teens and parents to have some disagreements. It is important to understand that Virginia law places parents in charge.
Parents may discipline you as they deem appropriate as long as they don’t endanger your health or welfare.
If you continue serious disobedience, your parents may seek intervention by the juvenile court.
A court may decide that you are a “child in need of supervision” or a “child in need of services.”

8. Parental authority in other matters
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Parental authority in other matters
Some common questions:
Q. Can my parents open mail addressed to me?
A. Yes
Q. Can I get a tattoo without my parent’s permission?
A. No, if you’re under 18 you cannot get a tattoo without your parent or guardian present. Also, anyone who illegally performs a tattoo is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor
Q. Can my parents tell me when I have to be home?
Q. Can I smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol with my parents’ permission?
A. No

9. More on smoking and drinking
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
More on smoking and drinking
Adults, including your parents, and minors may be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor if they aid a minor in breaking the law.
Purchasing, aiding and abetting, or giving alcohol to minors is against the law. This is a Class 1 misdemeanor and, if convicted, the court may order jail time for up to 12 months and/or a fine of up to $2,500.
According to Code of Virginia § , no person under 18 years of age can purchase, try to purchase, or possess any tobacco product, including but not limited to cigarettes, cigars, bidis, rolling papers, nicotine vapor products, and alternative nicotine products.

10. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Parents’ liability
The legal term that defines the parent’s responsibility to pay for any damages caused by negligent, intentional, or criminal behavior and acts of his or her child or children.

11. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Age of majority
You might ask, “When will my parents stop having ‘custody and control’ of me?
The answer is: When you turn 18, and are considered an adult. Your parents are no longer legally responsible for you, nor do they have legal control over you.
This is called the “age of majority.”

12. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Emancipation
Under some circumstances, a teen at least 16 years old may petition the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to be emancipated:
The minor has entered into a valid marriage, whether or not that marriage has been terminated; or
The minor is on active duty with any of the armed forces of the United States of America; or
The minor willingly lives separate and apart from his or her parents or guardians, with [their] consent … and … is capable of supporting himself or herself and competently managing … financial affairs; or
The minor desires to enter into a valid marriage and is qualified to so so (Code of Virginia § )

13. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Legal age to marry
In Virginia, the legal age for marriage is 18, but a minor may marry before the age of majority if he or she is emancipated as long as: 
(i) it is the minor’s own will to enter into marriage, and the minor is not being compelled against his or her will by force, threats, persuasions, menace, or duress;
(ii) the individuals to be married are mature enough to decide to marry;
(iii) the marriage will not endanger the safety of the minor. To make this finding, the court will consider (i) the age difference between the parties intending to be married; (ii) whether either

14. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Legal age to marry, cont.
individual to be married has a criminal record containing any conviction of an act of violence (defined in § ) or any conviction of an offense set forth in §§ or ; and (iii) any history of violence between the parties to be married; and
(iv) it is in the best interest of the minor seeking emancipation that the order be entered. Neither pregnancy, past or current, nor the wishes of the parents or legal guardians of the minor to be married will be sufficient evidence to establish that emancipation is in the best interests of the minor.
(Code of Virginia § )

15. Courts and family relationships
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Courts and family relationships
Courts in Virginia that have primary responsibility for cases involving family relationships are the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District courts (J & DR court or juvenile court).
There is a J & DR court in every county and city in Virginia.
Two types of cases:
Children in Need of Supervision
Children in Need of Services
These are referred to as “CHINS” cases; one is CHINS – Supervision and the other is CHINS – Services.

16. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
CHINS – Supervision
Children in Need of Supervision are children who are truant or who who have run away.
A truant child is defined as:
A child who is subject to compulsory school attendance, but is “habitually and without justification absent from school.”

17. CHINS – Supervision, cont.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
CHINS – Supervision, cont.
A runaway child is defined as:
A child who, without reasonable cause and without the consent of his or her parent, legal guardian, or placement authority, remains away from or deserts or abandons his or her family on more than one occasion.
In addition:
The conduct must present a clear and substantial danger to the child’s life or health, and
The child or his or her family must be in need of treatment, rehabilitation, or services not presently being received, and
The intervention of the court must be found to be essential to provide treatment, rehabilitation, or services by the child or his or her family.

18. CHINS – Services Children in Need of Services refers to:
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
CHINS – Services
Children in Need of Services refers to:
A child whose behavior, conduct, or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the wellbeing and physical safety of the child, or
A child under the age of 14 whose behavior, conduct, or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the well-being and physical safety of another person.

19. CHINS – Services, cont. In addition:
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
CHINS – Services, cont.
In addition:
There must be clear and substantial danger to the child’s life or health, and
There must be a need for treatment, rehabilitation, or services not being received, and
Intervention of the court must be found to be essential to provide treatment, rehabilitation, or services by the child or his or her family.

20. Child abuse and neglect
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Child abuse and neglect
Definition of child abuse
Harm or threat of harm to the health and welfare of a child.
Definition of child neglect
Failure to meet parental responsibilities to take care of a child. Includes, but is not limited to, failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision.
The legal definition is found in Code of Virginia §

21. Child abuse and neglect: definition
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Child abuse and neglect: definition
An abused or neglected child is defined as any child under 18 years of age whose parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child’s care:
causes or threatens to cause a nonaccidental physical or mental injury
causes or threatens to cause a nonaccidental physical or mental injury during the manufacture or sale of certain drugs
neglects or refuses to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, emotional nurturing, or health care
abandons the child

22. Child abuse and neglect: definition, cont.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Child abuse and neglect: definition, cont.
causes the child to be without parental care or guardianship due to his or her unreasonable absence or mental or physical incapacity
commits or allows to be committed any illegal sexual act upon a child including incest, rape, fondling, indecent exposure, or prostitution, or allows a child to be used in any sexually explicit visual material
knowingly leaves a child alone in the same dwelling with a person who is not related to the child by blood or marriage and who is required to register as a violent sexual offender

23. Child abuse and neglect in Virginia
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Child abuse and neglect in Virginia
Resources
Prevention Child Abuse Virginia
Virginia Department of Social Services

24. Reports of child abuse and neglect
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Reports of child abuse and neglect
Reports of neglect and abuse:
From July of 2014 through June of 2015, 49,868 children were reported as possible victims of abuse and/or neglect in 33,020 completed reports to Virginia’s city and county departments of social services.

25. Abuse and neglect statistics
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Abuse and neglect statistics
Founded* cases:
6,592 children were victims in founded reports of child abuse and/or neglect.
33,809 children were involved in reports that received a family assessment.
Deaths:
48 children in Virginia died from injuries attributable to abuse and/or neglect in 2015.
38 of these children were age four or younger.
*Founded means that a review of the facts met the legal criteria for abuse.

26. Abuse and neglect statistics, cont.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Abuse and neglect statistics, cont.
In founded cases:
56.5% - physical neglect
26.1% - physical abuse
10.8% - sexual abuse
3.3% - mental abuse/neglect
2.3% - medical neglect

27. Reporting child abuse and neglect
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Reporting child abuse and neglect
Call local Social Services Department or the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at
Reports may be made anonymously.
Persons reporting in good faith are immune from civil and criminal liability pursuant to Code of Virginia §

28. Professionals must report
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Professionals must report
Code of Virginia § requires that designated professionals who have contact with children immediately report their suspicions. These include:
Physicians, nurses, other health professionals
Teachers in public and private schools and day care centers
Emergency medical providers
Social workers, law enforcement officers, probation officers
Athletic coaches and directors, paid and volunteer

29. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Investigation
After a report is made, a Child Protective Services (CPS) social worker will interview the child and his or her brothers and sisters, the parents or caretakers, and the alleged abuser.
The CPS social worker will conduct a child safety assessment.

30. Goal of Child Protective Services (CPS)
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Goal of Child Protective Services (CPS)
The primary goal of child protective services is to strengthen and support families in preventing the (re)occurrence of child maltreatment through community-based services.

31. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Court involvement
The CPS social worker may file a petition to have an abused child or children removed from the home if conditions are unsafe.
The actions of the court are intended to keep children safe, to help families create a safe home for their children, and to ensure that both families and children receive the help they need.
When there is a case of child abuse or neglect, it is important that the interests of the child or children are well represented.

32. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Guardian ad litem
The court will appoint an attorney called a guardian ad litem (GAL), who will:
Meet and interview child
Conduct an investigation
Advise the child
Participate in pre-trial conferences, mediation, and negotiations
Ensure the child’s attendance at all proceedings
Appear in court on the dates and times scheduled for hearings prepared to fully and vigorously represent the child’s interests
Prepare the child to testify

33. Court-appointed special advocates
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Court-appointed special advocates
A child will have a court appointed special advocate (CASA), who is a volunteer.
The role of the CASA is to speak up for that child.
A CASA may also be assigned to children who are in Need of Services or in Need of Supervision.
A CASA works closely with the child’s court-appointed attorney.

34. The CASA’s role The CASA:
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
The CASA’s role
The CASA:
Gets to know the child by visiting him or her as often as possible
Researches the child’s background
Assesses what is in the child’s best interest and makes recommendations to the judge
Monitors court orders to assure the child receives court-ordered services

35. Review and recap You have learned:
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LAW
Review and recap
You have learned:
What Virginia laws say about the relationship between teens and their parents.
The authority and responsibilities of parents in Virginia.
About children in need of services or in need of supervision.
About the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in Virginia.
Laws and court processes in cases of child neglect and abuse.