美国国家公共电台 NPR--A closer look at the practice of billing parents for their child's foster care

A closer look at the practice of billing parents for their child's foster care

Transcript¹

Loss of parental² rights can be the ultimate punishment from a court. Unpaid³ debts for foster care can delay the reunion. Some parents are still getting bills even though the feds told states to stop.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

When parents go through periods of crisis and their children are at risk, the state steps in. Kids go to foster care. A judge tells parents all the things they need to do to get their kids back. For mothers and fathers, it's often a confusing process, especially in one state where NPR investigative correspondent Joseph Shapiro found that parents can follow the court-ordered steps and still lose their children forever.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, BYLINE⁴: This summer, Courtney and Jeremy Johnson of Beaufort County, N.C., lost their battle to get their twin sons home. The ruling from North Carolina's Supreme⁵ Court came days after the Johnsons made their July visit with the boys to celebrate their seventh birthday. They never got to see their boys again or just say goodbye. Courtney Johnson wonders what her boys must be thinking.

COURTNEY JOHNSON: Did my mom just - did my parents just leave us? Do they just, like, not care? And as a mom, you should be able to fix their pain. And not to be able to fix it you just try not to think about.

SHAPIRO: The termination of parental rights is the ultimate punishment of parents for when there's been significant abuse or unfixed neglect. The Johnsons faced allegations of neglect. Child welfare officials said they didn't get their twins to medical appointments and didn't supervise them enough when one boy burned his fingers on a barrel of burning trash.

C JOHNSON: My kids are good kids. And like I said, I'm not a perfect mom. I don't think there is a perfect mom. But my kids are loved. My kids are so loved. And they have - like, they have what they need.

SHAPIRO: In the end. The Johnsons were permanently⁶ separated from their sons on the grounds that they failed to pay a little-known debt to government to reimburse⁷ part of their boys' foster care. Last year, an NPR investigation⁸ raised questions about the practice of billing parents for their child's stay in foster care. And earlier this year, the federal government told states to stop. Yet one month after that new federal guidance, the state court ruled against the Johnsons for nonpayment, even though the Johnsons say they weren't told to pay that money. The county says there was a warning buried in two lines of a court document. But then the county didn't get around to issuing a payment order for another two years, not until after it started the process to terminate the Johnsons' parental rights, where the failure to pay was then used against them. Jeremy Johnson says he didn't find out until the day he was summoned to court.

JEREMY JOHNSON: So I go in there, and I sit down. A person comes to me and tells me that I owe $17,000 in arrears⁹.

SHAPIRO: Seventeen thousand for three years of foster care. That's a lot for a family that's living from paycheck to paycheck. That bill can keep struggling families in debt and delay or even prevent them from being reunited with their children, which is why the federal government this summer recommended that states stop making parents pay. The Johnsons say they would've tried to pay if they've been told.

J JOHNSON: Yeah, it just came out of the blue because if I knew in the beginning, I would've never gotten in arrears.

SHAPIRO: He was already paying faithfully the child support for his teen daughter from a previous relationship. And he steadily¹⁰ paid off that $17,000 even after the twins were taken away. The county garnishes¹¹ his paycheck - he says about $500 a month - and takes his tax returns. After Courtney's earlier relationship with another man ended, she says he and members of his family filed complaints with Child Protective Services about how she disciplined and supervised the four children from that relationship. When the twins were born premature¹² and showed developmental delays, county officials said she didn't take them to all their therapy appointments. Courtney says officials overestimated¹³ the developmental delays and that the boys caught up. The twins went into foster care. The older children went to live with a relative. The Johnsons followed the court's orders to get therapy, to go to parenting classes. They visited the boys regularly and brought presents.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOGS BARKING)

SHAPIRO: And the court said they needed to find this bigger trailer with three bedrooms.

C JOHNSON: The twins' beds because they were - like, had smaller mattresses¹⁴. This is the boys' room.

SHAPIRO: I've seen bunk¹⁵ beds. So not much room up there on top.

C JOHNSON: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: It costs more money, so Jeremy quit his job driving for the nearby egg farm and got a better-paying job on a construction site, even though it's often a five-hour commute¹⁶ round trip.

Lots of toys.

C JOHNSON: Oh, yeah, lots of toys. Legos. This is their Lego table.

SHAPIRO: At one point, the boys came home on a trial placement. But it lasted just five months when one twin burned his fingers...

J JOHNSON: Just a couple fingertips.

SHAPIRO: Couple fingertips.

...On a burn barrel behind his grandfather's trailer.

J JOHNSON: We put burn cream on it and wrapped it up.

SHAPIRO: Child welfare officials put the boys back into foster care and started the termination process. State officials in charge of child welfare declined requests for an interview, but a spokesman said North Carolina intends to follow the new federal guidance to stop charging parents for the cost of foster care. And NPR analysis found laws in at least 12 states that say parents can lose their parental rights for failure to pay some of that cost. In North Carolina, NPR found that ground comes up in about a third of cases to terminate parental rights. We found several families, like the Johnsons, who argued they'd never been told to pay. North Carolina's Supreme Court said it doesn't matter because parents have an inherent obligation to support their children. Basically, it's on the parents to ask what they owe and how to pay. Attorney Timothy Heinle, who teaches child welfare law at the University of North Carolina's School of Government, says that puts parents in an impossible position.

TIMOTHY HEINLE: If I walk up to my social worker and hand her $20 or $50, is she going to take it to the foster parents the next time she sees them?

SHAPIRO: Heinle says the answer is no. The social worker can't take that money.

HEINLE: There's no system in place for that sort of payment.

SHAPIRO: It takes a formal order, a child support order, to set up the government system to make those payments. And by the way, the money that parents are expected to pay - it doesn't even go to foster parents. It goes into the state treasury¹⁷. Last month, the lawyer for Courtney Johnson filed a last-hope petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to tell North Carolina to stop taking children from families like the Johnsons for failing to pay something they weren't told they needed to pay. Joseph Shapiro, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

3 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

7 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 arrears   

n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作

参考例句：

• The payments on that car loan are in arrears by three months.购车贷款的偿付被拖欠了三个月。
• They are urgent for payment of arrears of wages.他们催讨拖欠的工钱。

10 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

11 garnishes   

n.（为色香味而添加的）装饰菜( garnish的名词复数 )；装饰，装饰品v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garnishes are terrific for making good drinks look even better. 装饰可以让好的饮品看上去更好，却不能让挽救不好的饮料。 来自互联网
• A slender skewer, usually ornamented at the top, used decoratively, especially in serving garnishes. 一种细长的叉状物，通常顶部有点缀，用作装饰，尤其在食品装饰中。 来自互联网

12 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

13 overestimated   

对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They overestimated his ability when they promoted him. 他们提拔他的时候高估了他的能力。
• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。

14 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

15 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

16 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

17 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。