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

[Eugene]

Source: NBC News

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

"This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child's right to food," the Pennsylvania district wrote.

July 19, 2019, 10:49 AM EDT / Updated July 19, 2019, 11:36 AM EDT
By Minyvonne Burke

An eastern Pennsylvania school district is coming under fire for sending letters to parents demanding they pay their school lunch debt or risk having their children placed in foster care.

In one letter shared on social media and obtained by NBC affiliate WBRE, the parents are informed that their child has a balance of $75.25 and if they do not pay it, the parents could be reported to Luzerne County dependency court.

"Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without breakfast and/or lunch. This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child's right to food," the July 9 letter reads.

If the parent is taken to court, they risk their child being removed "and placed in foster care," according to the letter.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/parents-are-warned-their-children-could-be-put-foster-care-n1031721


A letter from the Luzerne County school district demanded parents pay delinquent lunch bills for their children or face the risk of having their children placed in foster care. (WBRE)

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From the New York Times:

David Usavage, the vice president of the school board, said on Saturday that when he first read the letter, he had thought it was a “joke.”

“It was not approved by anyone,” Mr. Usavage said of the letter. “We have a policy that says everything should go through the superintendent.”

He said the letter was written by Mr. Muth and the district’s lawyer, Charles R. Coslett. Mr. Usavage said Mr. Muth has apologized. Attempts to reach Mr. Muth and Mr. Coslett on Saturday were unsuccessful.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/20/us/school-lunch-bills-overdue-payment.html

[shraby]

1. This appears to be punishing the kids for the "sins" of their parents.

Isn't that a no-no?

[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.

[YOHABLO]

2. What happened to ''It takes a Village'' to raise our children?

[forgotmylogin]

3. Why in the world are public school lunches not funded by our taxes?

When I worked in the cafeteria in Jr. High, they always threw away extra food at the end of the day, so I have a hard time believing it's a shortage issue.

I'm not saying special items should be free if the school sells them, but a basic lunch tray of food from the cafeteria line should be provided if the student wants it.

[Eugene]

7. School lunches are *subsidized* by the USDA.

Extreme examples of how schools districts collect the difference range from Dickensian to Orwellian. If we can believe the administrators, the district's paid shark went rogue.

[Sherman A1]

4. I believe that whoever sent out this letter

needs to be looking for another line of work and likely very soon.

[3Hotdogs]

6. His name is Joe (can't read surname).

He is the director of federal programs.

A few phone calls to the board office in order?

[magicarpet]

5. The lunch room GESTAPO is here to serve your every need.