‘Affluenza’ Teen Rehab Costs Family Only $1,200 a Month

The family of a Texas teenager sentenced to probation after killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck will pay for only a fraction of his court-ordered treatment.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports a juvenile court official testified Friday that Ethan Couch’s parents will be charged $1,170 a month. Couch was placed in a state hospital where his treatment costs $715 a day.

Couch’s case drew national attention after his attorneys argued that his wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility, a condition one witness called “affluenza.”

His parents originally offered to pay for a pricey rehabilitation center in California to help their then-16-year-old son avoid juvenile detention.

He was sentenced to 10 years’ probation for the wreck last year that also injured several people near Fort Worth.