Benita Robollo, 23 years old, moved back into her parents' house when she lost her job — the fourth job she has lost in two years. She has a DWI arrest and has been promising to start treatment. She drinks heavily during the day, uses drugs when her parents are out of the apartment, and parties all night.

Recently, Mrs. Robollo discovered that Benita took a credit card and ran up more than $6,000 in debt. Hearing this, Mr. Robollo became frightened. He wants to pay off the debt and tell Benita that this type of behavior would be unacceptable in the future. Mrs. Robollo insists that they call the police and tell them that her daughter stole her family's credit card.

Unable to come to an agreement, the parents consulted a substance use counselor who encouraged them to report the situation to the police, and ask the court for leniency since this was Benita's first offense. Mr. and Mrs. Robollo had no warning about what Benita was going to do, so they had no consequences worked out ahead of time. Their situation was especially difficult because they had to begin with fairly severe consequences.

Source: Mary Ann Amodeo, Join Together