…When juveniles are incarcerated at the Sununu Youth Services Center or other treatment centers, are enrolled in Children in Need of Services (CHINS), [or] are placed into foster care, an elaborate system kicks in to force parents to contribute to the cost of that care.

Formulas come into play, Social Security benefits can be requisitioned, liens can be put on property, people can be hauled into court. Four thousand cases are currently open, the state says.

…Fees rack up quickly. An overnight stay at a secure or intensive facility can top $700 a day, and the state levies charges for services that range from family counseling ($86 an hour) to transportation ($21 an hour) to foster care ($23 per day). Collections continue four years after services end, meaning a person can be well into adulthood while a parent is still paying for their childhood misbehavior or other services.

…Most services continue to fall under the law requiring parental reimbursement: CHINS, whether voluntary or court-ordered; children judged delinquent and placed in the Sununu Center or other residential programs, whether voluntarily or court-ordered; and court-ordered services in cases of abuse and neglect.

…Parents of a minor who is a mother are responsible for their grandchild, if the child is housed at the facility where the minor mother lives. No mention is made of responsibility for the child’s father or his parents.

…When youth become involved with the juvenile justice system, their parents can be desperate for help, she said. They will sign anything without realizing the implications, she said. Then the bill arrives.

Pay-to-Stay: Families of juvenile offenders are forced to pay for costs of care | Crime | unionleader.com

Jeezus….

Oh, and the mother who signed her kid away to the courts only to spend all of her time begging the courts to give the kid back? This is what happens when you think the police and courts are going to help you parent. They’re not. They’re really, really not.