Wouldn't it be great if before placement of a child, in state or interstate or international, the state required the facility to provide the distance from the place where the children sleep to the nearest Western Union (which can neither be a franchise run by the facility or its owners, managers, nor employees, nor their families, nor on grounds owned or leased by same), then the state calculated the cost for bus or train and/or taxi fares (cheapest reasonable route) from that Western Union location to the kid's home state's capital (plus a one-week bus pass), then required the parents to escrow that amount with the state before placement. And required the parents to sign agreement accepting financial responsibility for any additional amount the state needed to spend to get the kid back to the greyhound station in the state capital. And let the parents know that they could receive a refund upon presenting the kid in person at whatever specified office in the state capital and signing certifying that the kid is 18 OR that the kid has been completely discharged from the facility (at which point the kid, if 18 or older, is free to go from the office and gets papers informing him/her of his/her options).
Then if the state told the kid before they got sent that upon leaving the facility they could get to any telephone and call collect 1-area code-GET-HOME, collect, and the state would get them to the greyhound station in their home state capital and get them a one week bus pass for the state capital's public transit system. And then either refund the excess to the parents or bill them for the difference.
Also tell the kids that they had until their 25th birthday to report anything they deemed abusive and that the state would review the complaint and if they felt it had merit would pursue it for the kid/new adult *if* the statute of limitations had not run (set state statute of lims to 7 years from 18th birthday), and that if they determined the complaint had merit they would no longer allow interstate placements to that facility or any facility that the state AG's office deemed to be substantially the same facility.
Hrms. Also make them escrow a $250 exit cash amount for the kid, to be given to the grown kid with the week's buss pass, refundable if and only if the kid is presented earlier than six months after his/her 17th birthday--so that on the 18th birthday or after the kid *still* gets one paid transit to the state capital from wherever he or she is on or after his/her 18th birthday provided he/she is within 6 months after the 18th b'day or release from a facility, whichever is later. Or before his/her 18th birthday if he/she is kicked out of his/her parent or guardian's home.
And you tell the kid this before they can put him/her in a facility. So if the kid gets kicked out or takes the exit plan that he/she knows for a fact he/she will be able to get to his/her home state with public transit and at least some chance of getting a job. Also let the kid know that they can use the GET HOME number for information on homeless shelters or social services they may be eligible for---including foster care if they've been kicked out underage, or even if they've run away as the delinquency of running away qualifies them for placement in foster care.
Basically, I would love it if my state defined and enforced a *reasonable* plan for exiting from minor status to adult status, at the parent's expense.
That's the societal norm, and I think the law should ensure that parents can no longer get away with ducking it.
Timoclea