Jill Berrick on NPR: The federal government will allow states to stop charging families for foster care

New guidance from the federal government will make it easier for states to stop a controversial practice that keeps impoverished families in debt when their child is placed into foster care.

When children go into foster care, there's often a surprise for their parents: Many will get a bill from the state or county for "child support," to share the cost of their child's care.

Professor Jill Duerr Berrick, who has been advocating for an end to this practice, predicts that "With the new rules, we're going to see a checkerboard. We will have some states that are more generous and other states that are not generous."