Q: Who decides whether a foster child takes psychiatric medication?
A: A judge. For a child who has been made a dependent and removed from a parent's custody, "only a juvenile court judicial officer shall have authority to make orders regarding the administration of psychotropic medications for that child."¹ The same rule applies to a ward who has been removed and placed into foster care.²
Not the social worker. Not the caregiver. Not the group home. A judge, on a written application, on the record.
The clock
Seven court days. "Within seven court days from receipt by the court of a completed request, the juvenile court judicial officer shall either approve or deny in writing a request for authorization… or shall, upon a request by the parent, the legal guardian, or the child's attorney, or upon its own motion, set the matter for hearing."³
The Rule of Court says the same thing and tells you what starts the clock: seven court days "of the receipt of the completed form JV-220 and form JV-220(A) or form JV-220(B)."⁴ A half-completed application does not start it.
The forms, with the numbers checked
| Form | What it is | Who fills it in |
|---|---|---|
| JV-220 | Application for Psychotropic Medication — mandatory | The prescribing physician, medical office staff, child welfare staff, the probation officer, or the child's caregiver⁵ |
| JV-220(A) | Physician's Statement — mandatory attachment | The prescribing physician, personally⁶ |
| JV-220(B) | Physician's Request to Continue Medication | Used instead of JV-220(A) for a renewal of the same medication at the same maximum dose |
| JV-218 | Child's Opinion About the Medicine | The child — "a child may use this to tell the judge about themselves and their opinion about the psychotropic medication that may be ordered for them," and may ask someone they trust for help⁷ |
| JV-219 | Statement About Medicine Prescribed | A parent, guardian, caregiver, CASA or Indian tribe, to tell the court how they feel about the request and about effectiveness and side effects⁷ |
| JV-217-INFO | The plain-language information sheet | Nobody — it is the explainer that must be served with the notice |
Two of those get miscited constantly. There is no form JV-217 — the information sheet is JV-217-INFO, and it is not an input form. The caregiver's input form is JV-219.
The child gets a say, and so does the caregiver
Four court days to file. If form JV-218 or JV-219 is filed, "it must be filed within four court days after receipt of notice of the pending application." And if a hearing is set, either form "may be filed at any time before, or at, the hearing."⁸
You do not have to use a form at all. Input can be given by JV-218 or JV-219, "letter; talking to the judge at a court hearing; or through the social worker, probation officer, attorney of record, or Court Appointed Special Advocate."⁹
What each person actually receives is different, and this surprises caregivers. The notice to the current caregiver and the CASA must include only: a statement of the request and the medication name, a statement that the application is pending, a copy of JV-217-INFO, and blank copies of JV-218 and JV-219.¹⁰ The child's attorney gets the completed JV-220 and JV-220(A) or (B).¹¹ So the caregiver is asked for a view without being sent the clinical statement — which is a reason to ask the child's attorney for it rather than assuming it was withheld deliberately.
After the order, you get a copy. The agency "shall provide a copy of the court order approving or denying the request to the child's caregiver," including the last two pages of the physician's statement and all medication information sheets — delivered in person or mailed within two court days of when the order is signed, and provided again to any new caregiver when placement changes.¹²
The emergency exception is a Rule of Court, not a statute
Worth being exact about, because it changes how it can be challenged.
The word "emergency" appears nowhere in Welfare and Institutions Code §369.5 or §739.5. The emergency exception lives in the California Rules of Court: medication may be administered without court authorisation in an emergency, defined by a physician finding that the child requires it to treat a psychiatric disorder and that the purpose is to address a defined emergency condition.¹³
And it does not last: "Court authorization must be sought as soon as practical but in no case more than two court days after the emergency administration."¹⁴
A rule of court can be amended by the Judicial Council without the Legislature. A statute cannot. That distinction is the kind of thing a lawyer will want to know.
The young person's own rights
The foster youth bill of rights includes, in the child's own name, the right "except in an emergency, to be free of the administration of medication or chemical substances, and to be free of all psychotropic medications unless prescribed by a physician, and in the case of children, authorized by a judge, without consequences or retaliation."¹⁵
Read the last three words. Refusing, or objecting, is not supposed to cost the young person anything.
And ordinary therapy is a different question entirely
Medication needs a judge. Talking therapy does not.
A minor 12 or older may consent to outpatient mental health treatment on their own if the professional finds them "mature enough to participate intelligently" — since 1 July 2024 that is the only condition, because AB 665 removed the old danger-or-abuse prerequisite.¹⁶
But the same statute draws the line in the same place we just did: a minor's own consent does not extend to convulsive therapy, psychosurgery, or "psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian."¹⁶ Can my teen see a therapist? → · What a foster youth is entitled to →
Do this: if you are the caregiver, ask the child's attorney for the completed JV-220(A) — you are not sent it automatically, and it is the document that says why. File a JV-219 within four court days of the notice, or write a letter, or ask to speak to the judge; all three count. If you are the young person, JV-218 is yours, you can ask anyone you trust to help you fill it in, and using it cannot be held against you.
Sources
- Welfare & Institutions Code §369.5(a)(1) — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 812, §1 (SB 528).
- Welfare & Institutions Code §739.5(a)(1) — applies to a ward removed under §726 "and placed into foster care, as defined in Section 727.4."
- Welfare & Institutions Code §369.5(c)(1); identical language at §739.5(c)(1).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(8) — courts.ca.gov.
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(6).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(7).
- Judicial Council forms JV-218 (Child's Opinion About the Medicine, new 1 July 2016, optional) and JV-219 (Statement About Medicine Prescribed, revised 1 January 2018, optional) — selfhelp.courts.ca.gov. JV-220 and JV-220(A) are mandatory, revised 1 January 2018; JV-220(B) is an alternative mandatory form for renewals. There is no form numbered JV-217; the information sheet is JV-217-INFO.
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(2)(B).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(2)(A).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(10)(C)(ii).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(10)(C)(iii).
- Welfare & Institutions Code §369.5(c)(2)(A)–(C); California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(h)(1)–(5).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(i)(1).
- California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(i)(2).
- Welfare & Institutions Code §16001.9(a)(23) — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Current text as amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 564, §2 (AB 896), effective 1 January 2026.
- Family Code §6924(b), (f) and (g) — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Repealed and added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 338, §3 (AB 665), operative 1 July 2024. The parallel provision is Health & Safety Code §124260.
All statutes, rules and forms read on 18 August 2026. Note which is which: the judicial-authorisation requirement and the seven-court-day deadline are statute; the emergency exception and the notice mechanics are Rules of Court; JV-218 and JV-219 are Judicial Council forms. This page is not legal advice.