Parents are warned their children could be put in foster care over lunch debt

[Igel]

8. Happens all the time.

Dad beats up mom, who turns to drugs. One becomes an addict, the other's in prison.

What happens to the kids?

Oh, they get "punished" by being put in foster homes or group homes. For, of course, the "sins" of their parents.

I guess the appropriate response is to stop punishing the kids. Disband group homes and get rid of the entire foster home system. But that seems a bit extreme--the system is sometimes abusive, but only sometimes.

The problem with the letters are many, but one is the "could" part. No case worker's going to send the kid off to a foster home because of a $76 debt. However, it might be an indication of something more important. It's not like the case workers know of every troubled family. If they did, there'd be no need for people like teachers being declared mandatory reporters.