Instead of jail, the boy is headed for a 30-day stay at a drug treatment facility in Richmond — but his family says you can’t tell the difference.

"We asked for their help," said his mother. "And now my son is in shackles. He has no criminal charges against him. I don’t understand this."

The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Department of Social Services — who has custody of the boy — sent him back to rehab Thursday, against his family’s wishes. The boy has never been charged with a crime, according to family members and their lawyer.

The scene ended an ordeal that began this weekend when the boy ran from a different treatment program in northern Virginia after he’d been repeatedly picked on and beaten by other residents, his lawyer said Thursday.

During a hearing at Rockingham County Circuit Court on Thursday, the family sought to stop the placement — a move they say jeopardizes his safety and keeps him from coming home.

"He was crying out for help for substance abuse," Kathy Todd, the family’s attorney said in court. And he was "taken away from his family who he trusts and loves."

Judge John McGrath listened to Todd’s argument, but stopped the hearing and said he didn’t have jurisdiction over a juvenile court matter. He ordered the boy taken into custody for his own safety.

The move upheld a decision that Todd says a juvenile court judge made Wednesday at the request of Social Services to move the boy to a different treatment facility. That hearing was closed to the public.

Social Services Director Don Driver wouldn’t comment on the case, citing the privacy rights of the family and the child.

The Daily News-Record is not publishing the boy’s name at the family’s request because he is a juvenile and has not been charged with a crime.

In court, Todd, the family’s attorney, said trouble began less than a year ago. The boy went to the school guidance counselor seeking help for depression and a drug habit — inhaling gasoline.

After that, the boy’s mother, the school and social service workers met to discuss the problem, Todd told the judge. But the mother balked when social services said intense treatment would cost $40,000 and put the boy in a place where he might be bullied.

Soon after, mother and son were ordered to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Juvenile and Domestic relations Court, where they both failed drug tests, according to Todd.

Social Services took custody Todd said, and transferred the boy to a residential drug treatment center in Northern Virginia, where he stayed for more than three months.

Although others at the treatment center faced criminal charges in juvenile courts, Todd said, her client’s child had never had legal problems and had been a good student.

"He got beaten up every day," she said. So he left, then returned, and left again, Todd said. After leaving, he was alone in Arlington until the police picked him up, the lawyer said.

When grandparents Ronald and Diane Shirkey heard he’d left, they called social services but received no response, Todd said. So they went to pick him up themselves.

On Thursday, they brought him to court hoping he could stay home and continue treatment at a non-residential facility.

Todd said the grandparents and other relatives were prepared to supervise him 24 hours a day and that the boy wants drug treatment.

In court, Rachel Figura, an attorney for social services, told McGrath she was ready to dispute "a lot" of what Todd has said. But McGrath ended the hearing before Figura presented her argument.

After the hearing, Driver, the department’s director, agreed to speak generally about the agency’s policies.

He said taking a child from the home is a last resort, but that it is done when a child is in danger, either because of problems at home or because of his own behavior.

Usually, children are removed only after other measures have failed, Driver said, but extenuating circumstances may lead the department to take a child more quickly.

Driver also said intense drug treatment programs for children aren’t available locally. And state laws that regulate funding of residential programs sometimes complicate the issue, he said.

Laws allow the state to fund residential treatment if the child is referred through the schools or courts, Driver said. But in all other cases, the child must be in state custody for the government to fund treatment, he said. The school referrals usually deal with children with mental problems like autism, he added.

Although Social Services places children in facilities, Driver said they don’t relinquish responsibility for their safety and well being. The children’s safety is watched by "a combination of our staff working with the home," he said. "Everyone is working together for the best interest of the child."

Ronald Shirkey, the boy’s grandfather, disagrees.

"The child has been through a traumatic situation," he said after the hearing. "Now they’re [putting] him right back in another traumatic situation."

Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com