This issue was addressed today by the SC Court of Appeals in SCDSS v Caldwell, et al. The matter involved a 17 year old young man who was detained in our underfunded and under resourced juvenile justice system. .

I once heard a family court judge say that if an issue involved a child, he/she could do whatever they wanted.  I was not sure at the time if this was correct, and it turns out it was not!

The underlying action was an abuse and neglect case filed agains this child's parents.  The merits hearing revealed that the child was on probation with DJJ and that he was living at the DSS county offices as there were no foster care options available.  Not surprisingly, he was causing quite a disturbance while living at the county DSS offices.    

At the request of SCDSS Judge Huntley Crouch of Lexington, in ruling on the merits of the abuse and neglect case, ordered that the minor child be sent to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (DMH) for an evaluation.  DMH objected and appealed stating that the court did not have the authority to order an inpatient evaluation without an evaluation first having having been done by a community mental health facility.

The court ruled:

A family court may order that a child, who is otherwise before the court on another matter, be given a psychiatric evaluation by the appropriate community mental health center. The community mental health center shall schedule the child for the ordered evaluation as soon as possible and shall provide the family court with a written report of the results of the evaluation within five working days following the evaluation.  § 44-24-150(B)  If the community mental health center reports to the family court that the child is in need of an inpatient psychiatric evaluation, the family court may commit the child to a hospital designated by the department for a psychiatric evaluation.

We can understand Judge Crouch's likely intent; to get the child into a better place where he may be able receive helpful services.  However, without first getting a community mental health facility to do an evaluation, the child cannot be sent to DMH for an inpatient evaluation.

Guy Vitetta

Charleston SC