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Is Family With Service Needs (FWSN) Right for My Family?

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What can you do when your teenager is out of control? What if, no matter what you do, your teen runs away from home, or routinely skips school? Sometimes, teenagers are troubled and act out. As a parent, your options are really limited. You want to help your child, but you don’t have the ability to supervise them every moment of the day. Despite your best efforts, you don’t have the power to control their impulsivity. And, it can be difficult to communicate with a teenager. You might not know where to turn for help.

Family With Service Needs (FWSN)

In truly difficult situations, where you are frightened that your teenager will be harmed because of their dangerous behaviors, the juvenile court system offers a possible solution: You could petition for Family With Service Needs (“FWSN”) assistance. Asking the court system for help to handle your teenager may sound like a drastic step; however, the FWSN system might provide the exact help that you and your teenager desperately need.

Teenagers having certain kinds of problem behaviors – troublesome but well short of criminal behavior – should not be arrested and treated like criminals. Instead, the Juvenile Court system involves the teen and their family together in the process. The goal is to avoid formal court intervention and divert both the teenager and the family to counseling and educational resources. Professional counselors, social workers, and court probation officers then all work together with the teenager and their family to address the problem behaviors.

FWSN treatment referrals are either entirely free or have minimal costs (co-pay through insurance). At the end of the day, the hope is that the teenager will move forward in a positive direction with the necessary skills to avoid relapse into bad behavior.

Who is Eligible?

Children from age seven through age 18, and their families, are eligible for services when the following situations arise:

  • Running away from home (without justification)
  • Out of control behaviors beyond parental control
  • Truant or defiant at school (“truant” means intentionally skips school all the time)
  • Engages in immoral or indecent conduct
  • Is 13+ years old and has sexual intercourse with another 13+ years old that is no more than two years older or younger.

If any of these five situations apply to your family, your teenager and your family could benefit from FWSN help.

In run-away situations, you should contact the police first. The police will locate your teenager and inform you of your teen’s whereabouts. The police then have the option of returning the teen to home, referring the teen to Juvenile Court, referring the teen to an agency for children’s services, or utilizing a 12-hour protective hold over the teen.

Filing a Petition

When a FWSN petition is filed with the Juvenile Court, the case will be initially processed by a Juvenile Probation Officer. The Juvenile Probation Officer will:

  • Meet with everyone
  • Review the situation
  • Set guidelines for the teenager’s future behavior (monitoring, curfew, etc.)
  • Refer the teenager and the family for appropriate treatment and counseling from professional service providers.

In the best situation, the problem behaviors will stop and the petition will be dismissed without the need for formal court intervention.

Severe Cases

In severe cases, or where either the teenager or the family disobey the probation officer’s guidelines or fail to complete necessary treatment and counseling, the FWSN petition will be brought before the judge. If this happens, your child is entitled to a lawyer to represent their legal interests. They are also entitled to an evidentiary court hearing before the judge renders any final decision.

The Juvenile Court Judge will then hear the formal case and decide what to do in response to the teenager’s problem behaviors. The Judge has several options including: (1) Issue a warning and return the teenager home subject to monitoring and conditions

(2) Refer the teenager and his or her family to voluntary DCF services

(3) Commit the teenager to DCF foster care and supervision up to 18 months

(4) Home confinement with intensive supervised probation

(5) When necessary, transfer of Temporary Custody from parents to an appropriate individual or agency.

Getting Help

FWSN addresses situations where your teenager’s behavior is difficult to control but not criminal. The clear goal of FWSN is to divert your teen away from the court system, into helpful treatment and counseling, and to provide your family with necessary resources to assist your teen in correcting their problem behaviors. If you think your family situation might require FWSN assistance, please contact my office to discuss your situation. It is a good idea to consult with a lawyer before seeking FWSN services. I am here to help!