A lot of people grow around here. He doesn't need money for it; it's everywhere. He was tested in elementary for ADHD; he doesn't have it. He's actually pretty brilliant, he loves history and politics and writing. He's a strong creative writer; I bought him Stephen King's "On Writing" for Christmas already. because he loves SK and I thought it might help inspire him to write more. If he has a learning disability, it's arrogance.
Good point about the laws; I'm not worried, since we live in a tight-knit community. I actually know that he's gone 1 of 3 places tonight, and they are all within 6 blocks of my home. In a way that's unfortunate, because I think if he actually had to sleep in a park for a night or two he'd get wise. But he doesn't, I live in a neighborhood full of enabling, stoner parents that are "cool" with their kids getting GEDs or scraping through high school so they can spend their time getting high and playing video games. None of our kids are "ours"; I brought two, my husband brought one. There's no weird insecurity there amongst the kids that i know of. It probably effects him the most, though, since he's the only one that really remembers a time before our current family situation.
He doesn't see his bio dad. His bio dad was...not a good man. Violent. Addict. Went to prison for DV, against me, for years, and I haven't seen him since the trial, many years ago. I let my son go see his grandmother-ONCE-for a summer visit and she immediately turned the visit over to her son (the bio dad), without my consent, and without my knowledge until after the fact. It twisted him up. Bio dad had a great time filling his head full of horrific, horrific stories and tall tales about me that took my son MONTHS after to finally tell us. The saddest part was that bio dad did it just to get back at me; he never gave a thought to how it might affect his impressionable, highly emotional, and very young 14 year old son who hadn't seen his dad since he was a toddler. This is where most of our problems began, and I know that, and I don't know how to resolve it at this point.
There is not a single branch of the military that will take a kid that doesn't have a diploma, and who can't pass a piss test. Plus the kid is very politically aware, and not the least bit interested in being a soldier under either a Clinton or a Trump administration. He's a royal pain in the ass, but he's not dumb.