Helping Your Family Get a Homeless Loved One Into Treatment

Yes. A family member can ask a Florida court to order assessment and treatment for a homeless adult who uses drugs. The request is a Marchman Act petition. A judge decides it only after a hearing, and only if the legal standards are met.

Where You Are Right Now: A Homeless Adult Child Who Keeps Using Drugs

Your adult child may be sleeping in a car, a shelter, or on the street. You may have called for help, sat in emergency rooms, and watched them leave with nothing changed. You’re tired, scared, and not sure what the law allows.

Your biggest fears are probably clear. You worry about lasting harm, dangerous choices, someone taking their money, and the next crisis. Those fears are reasonable. Florida has a court process built for families in this situation.

So here is the core question: can you seek treatment when your adult child refuses it? In many cases, yes. But the court must make specific findings first. For the broader picture, read our involuntary commitment for addiction guide.

Can a Family Member Start a Marchman Act Case in Florida?

A family member can start the case by filing a petition with the court. Under Fla. Stat. § 397.68112, an adult respondent’s petition may be filed by a relative, a spouse or legal guardian, a service provider, or an adult with direct personal knowledge of the person’s substance abuse and prior treatment.

Location matters. Under Fla. Stat. § 397.681, the petition is filed with the clerk in the county where the person is located. However, in J.P. v. J.N., the filing of the petition in the wrong county did not divest the circuit court in Putnam County of jurisdiction. A petition filed in the wrong county is a venue problem, not a loss of the court’s power to hear the case.

Filing is free. The clerk may not charge a fee for filing the petition under § 397.681.

See Fla. Stat. § 397.68141. See Fla. Stat. § 397.68151.

What a Court Looks for Before Ordering Treatment

A judge can order treatment only when the legal conditions are proved by clear and convincing evidence. That is a high bar. See Fla. Stat. § 397.697.

Under Fla. Stat. § 397.675, the court looks for a good faith reason to believe the person is substance abuse impaired, or has a substance use disorder and a co-occurring mental health disorder. The person must also have lost the power of self-control over substance use. Then one of two things must be shown. Either the person cannot understand the need for help and make a rational choice about it. Or the person is likely to neglect themselves or refuse care, which poses a real and present threat of substantial harm to their well-being and cannot be avoided through willing, able, and responsible family members or friends or other services; or there is a substantial likelihood that the person has inflicted, or threatened or attempted to inflict, or is likely to inflict, physical harm on themselves or another.

Facts like repeated overdoses, hospital visits, and unsafe living conditions matter here. A refusal of help alone is not enough. The statute says mere refusal does not prove a lack of judgment.

Many people who use drugs also have a mental health condition. MedlinePlus notes these conditions are usually best treated at the same time.

Family testimony matters. Family members who know the person’s history can describe facts showing a good faith reason to believe the person is substance abuse impaired.

The petitioner must present the case. In J.C. v. State, the Fifth District reversed when the trial judge questioned the only witness while the petitioner was absent. A Fourth District case reached a different result, so this rule is Fifth District law, not statewide. Whether a given case meets these standards depends on the facts. No one can predict how a judge will rule.

What Your Family Should Document Before Speaking With a Lawyer

Keep a dated written record before you go to court. Note the date, what happened, who was there, and what your loved one needed. Include emergency room and hospital visits, police or shelter contacts, and refused medications. Also note any money or property taken or at risk.

Judges look for a pattern, not one bad day. Dated facts show the pattern. Summaries from memory tend to blur it.

Write what you saw, not labels. Keep notes factual and respectful. Your loved one may read them someday.

Treatment records have federal protection. Under 42 C.F.R. § 2.13, substance use disorder records may be used or disclosed only as the rules allow. Those limits apply even when the person asking says they already have the information. Bring any records questions to your lawyer.

When Guardianship Is a Separate Question for Your Family

A Marchman case deals with treatment. Guardianship deals with who makes decisions when an adult cannot safely handle housing, money, medical care, or daily life. These are two different tools. A family may need one, the other, or both.

Robinson Casey handles plenary guardianship, limited guardianship, mental health guardianship, and emergency temporary guardianship. Each has different scope and court steps.

Emergency temporary guardianship is the fastest option. Under Fla. Stat. § 744.3031, the court must find imminent danger to health or safety, or property at risk of being wasted, misappropriated, or lost. Fla. Stat. § 744.3031 reads: “The court must specifically find that there appears to be imminent danger that the physical or mental health or safety of the person will be seriously impaired or that the person’s property is in danger of being wasted, misappropriated, or lost unless immediate action is taken.” Its authority expires 90 days after appointment or when a guardian is appointed, whichever comes first. It can be extended for another 90 days if the emergency still exists.

For a regular incapacity case, Fla. Stat. § 744.331 requires the court to appoint a lawyer for the alleged incapacitated person. Each member of the examining committee must file his or her report with the clerk of the court within 15 days after appointment. One member must be a psychiatrist or other physician.

The right tool turns on your loved one’s ability to decide and on what your family needs protected. Families in Miami-Dade and across South Florida often have questions about local court steps.

Protecting Your Loved One’s Rights While Your Family Acts

Your loved one keeps important rights during the case. The respondent has the right to counsel at every stage, although the respondent may waive that right if present and the court finds the waiver is made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, and a respondent who desires counsel and cannot afford a private lawyer has the right to court-appointed counsel.

The respondent also gets a copy of the petition and notice of the hearing. See Fla. Stat. § 397.68151.

Know the limits on treatment orders. A court may order involuntary treatment for no more than 90 days. Renewal can be requested before that period ends if the conditions continue. See Fla. Stat. § 397.697.

Keeping the focus on safety and stability helps the process stay on track.

Quick Answers

Talk With Robinson Casey About Your Family’s Situation

If your adult child is homeless and using drugs, you don’t have to work out the legal path alone. Richard J. Casey III, Esq. is the responsible lawyer for this page.

Your first consultation is free, confidential, and comes with no obligation to continue.

Call (561) 849-4700 or use our contact page to talk through your loved one’s situation.