Short answer. Yes, but only through a court and for not more than thirty days, in an entity or children's home duly accredited by the proper government agency. It is ordered on petition, not arranged privately, and the parent must still provide the child's support throughout the commitment.

What the law says

the commitment of the child for not more than thirty days in entities or institutions engaged in child care or in children's homes duly accredited by the proper government agency

Family Code, Article 224 — Commitment of the Child as a Disciplinary Measure. Read the full provision →

What the law says

may petition the proper court of the place where the child resides, for an order providing for disciplinary measures over the child. The child shall be entitled to the assistance of counsel, either of his choice or appointed by the court, and a summary hearing shall be conducted wherein the petitioner and the child shall be heard.

Family Code, Article 223 — Court-Ordered Disciplinary Measures. Read the full provision →

Thirty days, and only in an accredited institution

The measure exists and it is bounded on both sides. Article 224 permits the commitment of the child for not more than thirty days in entities or institutions engaged in child care or in children's homes duly accredited by the proper government agency. The ceiling is an outer limit, not an entitlement to thirty days, and the accreditation requirement rules out sending a child to whatever facility a parent has heard of. The court may also terminate the commitment at any point, on petition or on its own instance, whenever that is just and proper.

It is a court measure, not a parental decision

Commitment is one of the measures a court may order under the preceding article, and Article 223 sets the route: parents may petition the proper court of the place where the child resides, for an order providing for disciplinary measures over the child. The child shall be entitled to the assistance of counsel, either of his choice or appointed by the court, and a summary hearing shall be conducted wherein the petitioner and the child shall be heard. The child is heard and represented. A parent cannot deliver a child to an institution as a private act of discipline, however cooperative the institution.

The petition puts the parent's conduct in issue too

This is the part parents rarely anticipate. Article 223 provides that if, in the same proceeding, the court finds the petitioner at fault — irrespective of the merits of the petition — or when the circumstances so warrant, it may order the deprivation or suspension of parental authority or adopt such other measures as it deems just and proper. So the hearing is not a one-way examination of the child's behaviour. Asking a court to discipline your child invites the court to look at the household the behaviour came out of.

The obligation that continues throughout

Article 224 is explicit that the parent exercising parental authority shall not interfere with the care of the child whenever committed but shall provide for his support. Commitment suspends neither the duty to maintain the child nor the parent's responsibility for them; it changes only who is caring for the child day to day. Before considering this route at all, it is worth being honest about what the child's behaviour is a symptom of, and worth getting advice — the proceeding is short, but its consequences reach the parent as well as the child.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.