What Can Parents Do? A Review of State Laws Regarding Decision Making for Adolescent Drug Abuse and Mental Health Treatment

What Can Parents Do? A Review of State Laws Regarding Decision Making for Adolescent Drug Abuse and Mental Health Treatment

Kerwin, M. E., Kirby, K. C., Speziali, D., Duggan, M., Mellitz, C., Versek, B., & McNamara, A. (2015). What can parents do? A review of state laws regarding decision making for adolescent drug abuse and mental health treatment. Journal of a Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 24(3), 166–176. This resource provides a comprehensive review of state laws regarding adolescent drug abuse and mental health treatment. This resource builds on an understanding of the legal frameworks and whether Jomeka could admit herself into the program in the specified states. This resource can be used to compare the age of consent laws for drug treatment in each state and determine the legal steps required for enrollment if Jomeka cannot self-enroll.

· Protecting Adolescents’ Right to Seek Treatment for Sexually Transmitted Diseases without Parental Consent: The Arizona Experience with Senate Bill 1309

Goodwin, K. D., Taylor, M. M., Brown, E. C. F., Winscott, M., Scanlon, M., Hodge, J. G., Mickey, T., & England, B. (2012). Protecting adolescents’ right to seek treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent: The Arizona experience with Senate Bill 1309. Public Health Reports (1974-), 127(3), 253–258. This article discusses the legal and ethical issues surrounding adolescents’ right to seek treatment without parental consent, offering valuable insights that can be applied to the discussion on drug treatment consent laws.

· How Should Harm Reduction Strategies Differ for Adolescents and Adults?

Heward, B. J., Yule, A. M., & Jackson, P. R. (2024). How should harm reduction strategies differ for adolescents and adults? AMA Journal of Ethics, 26(7), 534–545. This resource addresses the differences in harm reduction strategies for adolescents and adults, focusing on ethical considerations. This resource can be used to discuss the ethical implications of allowing minors to enroll in drug treatment programs without parental consent, supported by literature on adolescent brain development and the mature minor exemption.

· Adolescent Consent for Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: Ethical, Legal, and Practical Considerations

Zimet, G. D., Silverman, R. D., Bednarczyk, R. A., & English, A. (2021). Adolescent consent for Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: Ethical, legal, and practical considerations. The Journal of Pediatrics, 231, 24–30. This article explores the ethical, legal, and practical considerations of adolescent consent for medical treatment. It provides a thorough review of the mature minor doctrine, and the ethical principles involved, which can be directly applied to the case of Jomeka and her ability to consent to drug treatment. It provides a thorough review of the mature minor doctrine, and the ethical principles involved, which can be directly applied to the case of Jomeka and her ability to consent to drug treatment.

Struggling with where to start this assignment? Follow this guide to tackle your assignment easily!

Step 1: Understand the Assignment

This task asks you to use scholarly resources to explore state laws, adolescent rights, and ethical issues surrounding drug abuse and mental health treatment. The focus is on decision-making authority—whether adolescents like Jomeka can self-enroll in treatment, or whether parental consent is required.

Step 2: Structure Your Paper

Your paper can be structured into the following sections:

1. Introduction (1 paragraph)

   • Introduce the issue of adolescent consent in drug abuse and mental health treatment.

   • Explain why this is a significant legal and ethical question.

   • Present your thesis (e.g., “This paper examines the legal frameworks and ethical implications of adolescent consent for treatment, using Jomeka’s case as a guiding example.”).

2. Legal Framework Review (2–3 paragraphs)

   • Use Kerwin et al. (2015) to summarize different state laws on adolescent consent.

   • Highlight how age of consent varies and what legal steps are necessary in states where minors cannot self-enroll.

   • Compare and contrast states that provide greater autonomy to adolescents with those that require parental involvement.

3. Ethical Considerations (2–3 paragraphs)

   • Use Zimet et al. (2021) to discuss the mature minor doctrine.

   • Use Heward et al. (2024) to explore ethical differences in harm reduction strategies for adolescents vs. adults.

   • Explain how adolescent brain development affects decision-making capacity.

4. Case Comparison and Applications (2 paragraphs)

   • Connect Goodwin et al. (2012) on adolescent rights in seeking STD treatment.

   • Compare how drug treatment laws align or differ from other adolescent healthcare consent laws.

   • Discuss whether Jomeka could legally admit herself and what challenges might arise.

5. Conclusion (1 paragraph)

   • Restate your findings about adolescent consent laws.

   • Emphasize the importance of balancing adolescent autonomy with parental responsibility.

   • Suggest future reforms or policies to improve adolescent access to care.

Step 3: Writing Tips

• Use APA style for citations and references.

• When analyzing state laws, summarize the general trends, not every state law individually (unless specifically required).

• Always connect legal analysis with ethical reasoning.

Step 4: Final Touches

✔️ Double-check APA reference formatting
✔️ Ensure logical flow between legal and ethical discussions
✔️ Stay within required word count/page length

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