Many teens struggle with drug and alcohol problems, and often families don’t know where to turn for help. JLC believes families should be able to obtain drug treatment immediately without entering state custody. Youth should not have to enter state care solely to obtain needed health care. When minors become state-involved JLC works to ensure that safeguards are in place to avoid the misdiagnosis or over-diagnosis of minors, as well as to protect minors’ legal interests and rights. If removal from the home is deemed necessary, youth should be placed in the least restrictive setting possible with access to evidence-based, developmentally-appropriate treatment services.

JLC filed an appeal in the Pennsylvania Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law, know as Act 53, which allows courts to order involuntary civil commitments for minors found to be drug dependent. The law is one of only a few in the country that allows such commitment solely for drug treatment. Prior to the passage of Act 53 minors could be committed only in accordance with Pennsylvania’s Mental Health Procedures Act (which allows commitment upon a finding of mental illness and dangerousness). JLC argues that Act 53 violates the civil rights and liberties of minors at three critical phases: at pre-adjudication where minors, without notice, can be court-ordered to undergo an assessment for drug use based on the mere filing of a petition; at adjudication where the determination for drug dependency is vague, and the neutrality of the court is compromised by the absence of counsel for the state; and at disposition where the procedures that subject minors to commitment in a highly restrictive setting for drug dependence are not narrowly tailored. A decision in the case is expected later this year.