Breaking the Cycle: Erin

Now age 17, Erin’s struggle with substances began early–marijuana at 12 followed by benzodiazepines, cocaine, and eventually fentanyl. Over the past two years, addiction had wound tightly into her daily existence, despite multiple attempts at treatment: three stays at a youth detox facility, an inpatient hospitalization, and months of outpatient therapy. Still, she couldn’t stop using substances.

Section 35 Interview

One morning, Erin’s mother found her heavily sedated and unable to fully wake. Worried and out of options, she brought her to Juvenile Court to file a Section 35 petition. After hearing of Erin’s alleged substance use, the judge ordered the Juvenile Court Clinic to evaluate Erin to see if she met criteria for involuntary commitment. During the Juvenile Court Clinician’s interview with her attorney and her mother present, Erin could barely keep her eyes open. She insisted she hadn’t recently used drugs, blaming exhaustion from sleepless nights. But her mother’s quiet shake of the head, and her history—including a frightening overdose in January when her friends used Narcan to revive her—told a different story.

Erin drifted in and out of the interview, sometimes irritated, sometimes tearful, often confused. She carried Narcan “just in case,” because she didn’t want anyone dying—an acknowledgement of the dangerous world she and her friends were navigating. Her attention, judgment, and insight were all impaired, likely due to substances she had used. Despite therapy, Suboxone, previous inpatient treatment, and the support of several community programs, Erin had been unable to stay sober for more than a week. 

Treatment Finally Helps Erin

The Court Clinician testified that Erin’s substance use had reached a dangerous level where she could not keep herself safe in the community. After hearing the testimony, the judge committed Erin to a treatment facility under Section 35—one more attempt to pull her out of the dangerous cycle she had been trapped in for years. This time, Erin was ready finally to begin to work in treatment toward sobriety. Her goals of graduating from high school, working part-time and playing soccer were worth giving up substances for. After 45 days, Erin was successfully discharged and determined to set her life on a substance-free path. 

To protect confidentiality, MAJCC does not use real names or identifying features in case examples.

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1 A Section 35 petition is a civil (non-criminal) court proceeding that provides for clinical evaluation and involuntary commitment to a treatment facility to protect the child from self-harm following determination that the child is at imminent risk of serious harm due to their substance use.

2 To work in the Juvenile Court Clinics, clinicians must become Certified Juvenile Court Clinicians through a DMH-directed specialized training with on-site supervised clinical work conducted at the Juvenile Court Clinics. Clinicians conducting Section 35 evaluations have additional specialized training.