Parents who have their kids placed in foster care often get a bill to reimburse the state for part of the cost. NPR found that in at least 12 states there are laws that say parents could lose their kids forever if they fail to pay it.

We hear about one family in North Carolina who had a child taken away because of an unpaid bill. And NPR investigative correspondent Joseph Shapiro takes a closer look at the laws behind such cases.

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