Michigan Laws 712A.18o – Competency evaluation; conduct by qualified forensic mental health examiner; expert witness; additional evaluations at party’s expense; conduct in least restrictive environment
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 712A.18o
- Competency evaluation: means a court-ordered examination of a juvenile directed to developing information relevant to a determination of his or her competency to proceed at a particular stage of a court proceeding involving a juvenile who is the subject of a delinquency petition. See Michigan Laws 712A.1
- Court: means the family division of circuit court. See Michigan Laws 712A.1
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- juvenile: means a person who is less than 17 years of age who is the subject of a delinquency petition. See Michigan Laws 712A.1
- Least restrictive environment: means a supervised community placement, preferably a placement with the juvenile's parent, guardian, relative, or a facility or conditions of treatment that is a residential or institutional placement only utilized as a last resort based on the best interest of the juvenile or for reasons of public safety. See Michigan Laws 712A.1
- Qualified juvenile forensic mental health examiner: means 1 of the following who performs forensic mental health examinations for the purposes of section 1062 to 1074 of the mental health code, MCL 330. See Michigan Laws 712A.1
(1) A competency evaluation ordered under section 18n of this chapter shall be conducted by a qualified juvenile forensic mental health examiner. The qualified juvenile forensic mental health examiner shall provide the court with an opinion as to whether the juvenile is competent to proceed. The court has the final determination of an expert witness serving as a qualified juvenile forensic mental health examiner.
(2) This section does not prohibit any party from retaining the party’s own qualified juvenile forensic mental health examiner to conduct additional evaluations at the party’s own expense.
(3) The competency evaluation shall be conducted in the least restrictive environment. There is a presumption in favor of conducting a competency evaluation while the juvenile remains in the custody of a parent or legal guardian, unless removal from the home is necessary for the best interests of the juvenile, for reasons of public safety, or because the parent or guardian has refused to cooperate in the competency evaluation process.