ATLANTA (AP) — Hundreds of low-income parents in Georgia whose kids were sent to foster care have been billed years of child support they say they can’t afford , and one mother filed a civil rights lawsuit against the state this week seeking to end the practice completely.

Between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, Georgia removed children from 700 families because of “inadequate housing” — likely meaning they were either homeless or didn’t have stable housing much of the time — the class action lawsuit says, citing reporting from WABE and ProPublica.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that state agencies knew these families were impoverished and couldn’t afford to pay the foster care fees but charged them anyway. 4

“Georgia’s system is one of the most onerous and punitive that we’ve seen

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