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03/20/2023

The Future of Professional Friends

On this week’s podcast we discuss trends in the use of the Family First Act, the pursuit of more federal child welfare data, and a state seeks to lower the age of juvenile justice.

Terri Sorensen, longtime CEO of Friends of the Children, joins to talk about professional mentoring of youth, how her organization’s approach has developed over the years, and the insane run of major gifts that Friends has seen of late.

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Guest Interview

Terri Sorensen has been the CEO of Friends of the Children for the past 20 years. Before that she was controller for the American Red Cross-Oregon Trail Chapter, held key managerial positions with Sprint Corporation and worked in public accounting for Ernst & Young in Kansas City, Mo.

Reading Room

Dear Colleague Letter on Family First Act
https://bit.ly/3TrW8Im

Federal Register Notice, AFCARS Data
https://bit.ly/3TAdMK7

Bill Would Lower Tennessee’s Age of Criminal Responsibility To 17
http://bit.ly/3LBs1fU

Friends of the Children Awarded $33 Million Grant to Bolster Mentoring Program
https://bit.ly/3R0lgVH

Michael Jordan Helps Get a Big Win for Mentoring Program that Works with At-Risk Youth
http://bit.ly/3yS9S5G

Donors Bet Big on Paid Mentoring. Does It Work?
http://bit.ly/3n60clB

National Youth Mentoring Model Faces Rigorous Final Test
http://bit.ly/3mSMxOz

Paid Mentors, Big Plans: Terri Sorensen on Friends of the Children’s Growth Strategy
http://bit.ly/3FBW8A1

Episode Archive

06/05/2023

High Stakes, Silent Systems: Foster Youth and Reproductive Health

On this week’s podcast we discuss some of the figures in the biennial report on state-by-state child welfare spending from Child Trends. Also: looming deadlines on “Family Miranda” laws in two states and a Supreme Court case on ICWA, and more. 

Imprint reporter Michael Fitzgerald joins to talk about his investigative reporting looking into sexual and reproductive health policies for foster youth, an issue brought into sharp focus last year when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

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Guest Interview

Michael Fitzgerald a senior reporter covering state and federal child welfare and youth justice. He was previously an editor for Pacific Standard Magazine, and his writing has appeared in the New Republic, Vice, Outside and other outlets. Fitzgerald is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Reading Room

Child Welfare Financing Survey SFY 2020
https://bit.ly/43EVtHE

San Bernardino Foster Youth File Class-Action Lawsuit
https://bit.ly/42rUp8O

Texas Bill To Increase Rights for Parents Under Investigation Passes State House and Senate
https://bit.ly/3qk9nR5

Another Try for Legislation In New York Giving Parents ‘Miranda’ Rights During CPS Investigations
https://bit.ly/3oQZc5V

California’s Santa Clara County Aims to Keep Girls Out of Juvenile Lockups
https://bit.ly/3Hh2lm3

Four California Counties Join Effort to End the Incarceration of Girls
https://bit.ly/43hWB42

High Stakes, Silent Systems
A three-part investigation on sexual and reproductive health in foster care.
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/high-stakes-silent-systems

05/23/2023

Surprising Findings on Aging Out, Removal Reasons and More

This week we discuss the race between Texas and New York to pass the first “Family Miranda” bill for child welfare investigations, clergy as mandated reporters, and the 28th state to ban juvenile life without parole sentences. 

Serita Cox of iFoster joins to discuss some of the most interesting results from the organization’s second annual foster care survey, including some notable responses from current and former foster youth about reunification or adoption

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Guest Interview

Serita Cox is the co-founder of iFoster, which uses a free platform to ensure that every child growing up outside of their biological home has the resources and opportunities they need to become successful. Before launching iFoster in 2010, Cox spent more than a decade consulting on technology and management in the Bay Area.

Reading Room

Texas Should Tell Parents Their Rights When It Investigates Child Abuse Claims, Lawmaker Proposes
https://bit.ly/3ooLNSy

‘Miranda Warning’-style Bill for Parents Fails in New York City Council
https://bit.ly/3GYmtGz

States Weigh Child Abuse Reporting vs. Clergy’s Duty of Confidentiality
https://bit.ly/3IsyNCk

Minnesota Abolishes Juvenile Life-Without-Parole Sentences
https://eji.org/news/minnesota-abolishes-juvenile-life-without-parole-sentences/

Gov. Walz Signs Bill to End Use of Juvenile Solitary Confinement
https://bit.ly/43eBtLE

Voice of The Foster Care Community
https://voiceoffostercare.org/

05/15/2023

Older Youth in Foster Care, Treating Withdrawal in Newborns, and More Recent Headlines

This week we review some new research on older youth in foster care, and the impact of mother bonding in the treatment of withdrawal symptoms for opioid-exposed newborns.

We also discuss several recent stories published in The Imprint, including the first installment of a series looking at the haphazard rules around sexual and reproductive health for youth in foster care; how a small group of parent activists eventually effected the closure of California’s state-run youth prisons; and more.
Coming Soon: SafeCamp Audio, the forthcoming podcast network from Fostering Media Connections, which will feature terrific audio projects on child welfare, youth justice and more. Click here to join the SafeCamp newsletter!

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Reading Room

Less Older Youth in Foster Care, But Path to Permanency Remains an Issue
https://bit.ly/3pctSOS

A Fourth Path to Permanency: The SOUL Family
https://bit.ly/3QbSiB8

“Eat, Sleep, Console” reduces hospital stay and need for medication among opioid-exposed infants
https://bit.ly/41DtNBg

A Cheaper Preservation Approach to Keep Babies Exposed to Opioids with Mom
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/cheaper-preservation-approach-keep-babies-exposed-opioids-mom/31417

High Stakes, Silent Systems: Foster Care’s Missing Policies For Sexual and Reproductive Health
https://bit.ly/45cMXkP

The Untold Story of How a Stubborn Group of Parents Helped Shutter the Nation’s Largest Youth Prison System
https://bit.ly/3nSUlB3

Washington State Plans to Move Foster Youth Out of Hotels and Offices
https://bit.ly/44Z7Y24

States Nationwide ‘Professionalize’ Foster Parenting to Better Support Youth
https://bit.ly/3pH5Xrd

Minnesota Aims to Better Equip Parents Facing Termination of Parental Rights
https://bit.ly/3Icxffn

As Youth Supporters Rally, Minnesota Lawmakers Pass ‘Trans Refuge’ Bill
https://bit.ly/41zHzpp

These States Have Banned Youth Gender-Affirming Care
https://bit.ly/3O4zJ3j

05/08/2023

People Over Dispositions

A recent law journal article lays out three arguments against the rate at which many child welfare systems terminate parental rights. “The Ties That Bind” lays out data, outcomes and legal reasoning to support that idea. 

We are joined this week by the co-authors of this paper: Christopher Church, a pro-bono attorney for the CHAMPS Clinic at the University of South Carolina School of Law and a co-director for the Appeal for Youth Clinic at Emory Law in Atlanta, and Vivek Sankaran, who directs the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and Child Welfare Appellate Clinics at the University of Michigan.

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Guest Interview

Christopher Church is a pro-bono attorney for the CHAMPS Clinic at the University of South Carolina School of Law and a co-director for the Appeal for Youth Clinic at Emory Law in Atlanta. Vivek Sankaran directs the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and Child Welfare Appellate Clinics at the University of Michigan.

Reading Room

Coming Soon: SafeCamp Audio, the forthcoming podcast network from Fostering Media Connections, which will feature terrific audio projects on child welfare, youth justice and more. Click here to join the SafeCamp newsletter!

The Ties that Bind Us: An Empirical, Clinical, and Constitutional Argument Against Terminating Parental Rights
https://bit.ly/3nB2BVV

Family Court Review
Special Issue: Race, Racism and Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/42vXXY3

05/01/2023

Introducing SafeCamp Audio!

This week we discuss SafeCamp Audio, the forthcoming podcast network from Fostering Media Connections, which will feature terrific audio projects on child welfare, youth justice and more. Click here to join the SafeCamp newsletter!

We also review some recent headlines, including new research on racial disparities in the child welfare process, renewed Congressional interest in congregate care, family separation in Ukraine, and more.

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Reading Room

Bipartisan Bill Introduced To Tighten Oversight of Residential Centers for Youth
https://bit.ly/41WfAjU

Mississippi Governor Touts ‘Culture of Life’ with New Laws
https://bit.ly/3HSgTsr

Abortion Ruling Means More and Riskier Births in Mississippi
https://bit.ly/3oUbbiR

State-Level Variation in the Cumulative Prevalence of Child Welfare System Contact
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36874408/

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Child Protective Services Reporting, Substantiation and Placement, With Comparison to Non-CPS Risks and Outcomes
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36990447/

State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States
https://bit.ly/3LL0Oa4

Think of Us Receives $47.5 Million from TED’s Audacious Project
https://bit.ly/3Nots26

04/24/2023

Congregate Care and Family First, Part 2

Last week we talked to Keri Richmond, manager of child welfare policy for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), about a 50-state look at the new federal rules prompted by the Family First Prevention Services act around the use of group homes, residential programs and other forms of congregate care.

On this week’s podcast we talk to Jim Czarniak about a deep dive on the same topic that focused on New York. Czarniak’s work surfaced very similar findings to the national review done by AAP.

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Guest Interview

Jim Czarniak spent the past 20 years working in the nonprofit and government sectors. Most recently he was the deputy commissioner for the Onondaga County Department of Children and Family Services, and before that worked as director of juvenile justice for the county.

Reading Room

Eighteen Months Later: New York Family First Implementation Shows Little
Change for Foster Care Youth Placed in Group Care
https://bit.ly/3H1oDb1

Family First Implementation: A One Year Review of State Progress in Reforming Congregate Care
https://bit.ly/3L5m3Do

Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act
https://bit.ly/3A4L9vQ

The Imprint’s Complete Guide to the Family First Act
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/complete-guide-the-family-first-act

04/17/2023

Congregate Care and Family First, Part 1

On this week’s podcast we discuss a new California law that grants more time for reunifying families in some child welfare cases; the ever-worsening situation in Los Angeles juvenile facilities; and Congress takes an interest in kids that run away from foster care. 

Keri Richmond, manager of child welfare policy for the American Academy of Pediatrics, joins to discuss AAP’s recent assessment of the new limits on federal funding for group homes, residential care and institutions for foster youth. And we chat about the excellent podcast Keri helps produce, Unbelievably Resilient.

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Guest Interview

Keri Richmond manager of child welfare policy for the American Academy of Pediatrics, and executive director of Unbelievably Resilient.

Reading Room

Eighteen Months Before Losing Your Kid? California Challenges Some Child Welfare Timelines
https://bit.ly/41yelH0

‘Intolerable’ and ‘Appalling’ — Los Angeles County Juvenile Halls Face New Round of Scrutiny
https://bit.ly/3UHhLoJ

Audit Finds Child Welfare Agencies Often Don’t Report Missing Kids to National Office
https://bit.ly/41dIRpR

Grassley, Cornyn, Colleagues Introduce Bill To Help Missing Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3mAt4T2

Arizona Kinship Support Services
https://bit.ly/43OKHzx

Family First Implementation: A One Year Review of State Progress in Reforming Congregate Care
https://bit.ly/3L5m3Do

Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act
https://bit.ly/3A4L9vQ

The Imprint’s Complete Guide to the Family First Act
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/complete-guide-the-family-first-act

04/10/2023

Poverty and CPS: A Simulation of A Simulation

On this week’s podcast we discuss the lawsuit filed by an Oregon woman who wants to adopt and says the state is infringing on her religious freedom; higher education for incarcerated youth; and a new benefits tracker for people leaving Los Angeles foster care.

Jessica Pac of the University of Wisconsin’s Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work and Sophie Collyer of the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University join to discuss their simulation of what different anti-poverty measures would do to child protection services activity in America.

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Guest Interview

Jessica Pac is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work. Sophie Collyer is a policy student who has a dual degree in social work and public administration from Columbia University and a Master’s of Science from Johns Hopkins School of Education. She is the research director of Columbia’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy.

Reading Room

Family First Clearinghouse Approves New Programs
http://bit.ly/3MxHJZN

Woman Hoping to Adopt Foster Children Sues Oregon Over LGBTQ Expectations
http://bit.ly/3zIsghR

California Expands College Education for Youth in Juvenile Detention Centers
http://bit.ly/3zNwQLX

Los Angeles County Looks to Digital Tools to Assist Young Adults Leaving Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3KeI5TE

2 Men Enter Pleas in Death of Lakeside Academy Student
http://bit.ly/3KKW6c1

The Effects of Child Poverty Reductions on Child Protective Services Involvement
http://bit.ly/3ZYUqjo

The Antipoverty Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit across States: Where Were the Historic Reductions Felt?
https://bit.ly/3ZSYjpV

04/03/2023

Community Mental Health at the Crossroads

On this week’s podcast, we feature an online conversation hosted by Fostering Media Connection about community mental health services for youth in New York State. Sandy Santana, executive director of Children’s Rights, talks about the lawsuit his organization has filed against New York for failing to meet its commitments under Medicaid law when it comes to community mental health services. 

Jose Perez and Amal Kharoufi, both of whom work on the YouthNPower project for the Children’s Defense Fund-New York, spoke to the broader idea of what community mental health should include and how the limitations around mental health services impacts youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

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Guest Interview

Sandy Santana is executive director of Children’s Rights, a national nonprofit that specializes in litigation and advocacy on child welfare.

Jose Perez is a project manager at Children’s Defense Fund-New York.

Amal Kharoufi is a youth action researcher with YouthNPower: Transforming Care, an initiative of the Children’s Defense Fund-New York

It is Time to Prioritize Young People’s Mental Health

Reading Room

Lawsuit: C.K. v. Bassett
http://bit.ly/3zl3Ivp

It is Time to Prioritize Young People’s Mental Health
http://bit.ly/3zlDRDl

03/27/2023

Why Aren’t There More Alternatives to Youth Incarceration?

On this week’s podcast, we break down some recent research about toxicology testing of parents and newborns and how it connects to child welfare, legislative efforts to protect benefits for foster youth, and the troubling state of youth justice in Los Angeles. 

Jeff Fleischer, the recently retired CEO of Youth Advocate Programs and recent founder of Neighborhood Safety Advocates, joins to discuss YAP’s rich history and why he thinks America hasn’t developed more programs dedicated to serving youth who have committed serious crimes in the community.

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Guest Interview

Jeff Fleischer served for more than 20 years as the CEO of Youth Advocate Programs, the Harrisburg-based nonprofit providing alternatives to youth incarceration in 33 states. Fleischer is the recent founder of Neighborhood Safety Advocates.

Reading Room

Disparities in Maternal-Infant Drug Testing, Social Work Assessment, and Custody at 5 Hospitals
https://bit.ly/3Kbvj8c

Incidence of Newborn Drug Testing and Variations by Birthing Parent Race and Ethnicity Before and After Recreational Cannabis Legalization
http://bit.ly/42LzMpM

Novel Implementation of State Reporting Policy for Substance-Exposed Infants
https://bit.ly/3ZmJ5JA

A Growing Number of States Vow to Stop Seizing Benefits Owed to Foster Youth
http://bit.ly/3LTOt3V

Numerous Reforms, Little Time for Los Angeles County to Improve its Juvenile Detention Facilities
http://bit.ly/3MaGq31

Northern California Tribe Alleges California Unfairly Denied Extended Foster Care Benefits to its Youth
http://bit.ly/3LPUrmr

YAP’s New President an Old Hand at Pushing Against Incarceration
http://bit.ly/40x4IIa

Youth Advocate Programs Gets Federal Stamp of Approval
http://bit.ly/40zCP2c

Youth Advocate Programs, Major Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Provider, Gets $20 Million Investment from Ballmer Group
http://bit.ly/42Lzz5F

03/13/2023

We Were Once a Family, with Author Roxanna Asgarian

On this week’s podcast we discuss some updates on the Indian Child Welfare Act front, Minnesota becomes a trans youth refuge, and the blind spot in America’s knowledge of youth justice. 

Imprint alum Roxanna Asgarian joins to discuss her new book, “We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America,” which traces the lives and families of six children killed by their adoptive parents in March of 2018.

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Guest Interview

Roxanna Asgarian is a Texas-based journalist who writes about courts and the law for The Texas Tribune. She is the author of “We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America.”

Reading Room

Indian Child Welfare Act Think Tank to Strategize Legal Protections for Tribal Sovereignty
http://bit.ly/3YHTpeT

With Supporters from Indian Country Looking on, Minnesota Lawmakers Vote to Protect Indigenous Families
http://bit.ly/40jn7Z9

Governor Signs Law that Codifies Indian Child Welfare Act Provisions into State Statute
http://bit.ly/3YWsP21

Calling for ‘Love’ not ‘Hate,’ Minnesota Governor Declares His State a Refuge for Trans Youth
https://bit.ly/3L82c6M

On Point, March 9: Journalist Hannah Barnes on The Inside Story of The Collapse of Tavistock’s Gender Identity Clinic
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510053/on-point

We’re Building a New Path to Prioritize Kin
https://bit.ly/3mriEER

New Mexico Has Lost Track of Juveniles Locked Up for Life. We Found Nearly Two Dozen.
http://bit.ly/3yuTurI

Federal Study on Transfers of Juveniles Delayed, Again
http://bit.ly/3FhI91W

We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America
http://bit.ly/3FkaUuV

Read Roxanna Asgarian’s coverage of child welfare for The Imprint
https://imprintnews.org/author/roxanna-asgarian

03/06/2023

The Family First Act, Five Years Later

On this week’s podcast we discuss some great recent coverage in The Imprint about extended foster care, “second look” laws for youth convicted in adult court, and efforts to improve educational stability for youth in foster care. 

Heather Baker of Public Consulting Group joins us on the fifth anniversary of the Family First Act to discuss the law’s finer points, what conversations states are having about this law today, and more.

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Guest Interview

Heather Baker leads Public Consulting Group’s child welfare and youth services practice, helping state, county, and community-based agencies invest in programs, people, and technologies that improve the lives of children and families. Prior to joining PCG, she worked at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Fiscal Affairs Division.

Reading Room

Register for Mental Health at the Crossroads
http://bit.ly/39LZWPU

Register for Under Construction: Policies that Shape -Policies that Shape the NY Child Welfare System
http://bit.ly/3EAIo80

Hurdles Keep Texas Youth Out of Extended Foster Care Designed to Help Them
https://bit.ly/3lOd533

A Second Look: Cordell Miller and The Criminal Justice System
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/a-second-look

Eight Years After Federal Law to Improve School Stability for Foster Youth, States Still Scrambling
http://bit.ly/3EZiAm6

ICWA Author Sen. James Abourezk Dies at 92
http://bit.ly/3EWvXDE

A Complete Guide to The Family First Act
http://bit.ly/2IoWNue

Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act
http://bit.ly/3mtZo9G

02/27/2023

Ukraine’s Orphans and Families, One Year Later

On this week’s podcast, we talk about the Biden administration’s plan to expand federal funds to support kinship caregivers; promising data on one state’s Raise the Age reform; how COVID-era child tax credits impacted child abuse and neglect; and more.

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Guest Interview

Ian Forber-Pratt, deputy executive director of Children’s Emergency Relief International, joins us on the one-year anniversary of the War in Ukraine, a nation that before the invasion of Russia already had one of the world’s highest orphan populations.

Reading Room

Register for Mental Health at the Crossroads
http://bit.ly/39LZWPU

Register for Under Construction: Policies that Shape -Policies that Shape the NY Child Welfare System
http://bit.ly/3EAIo80

Biden Administration Proposes Easing Foster Care Licensing Barriers for Relatives
http://bit.ly/3m7l3EF

Biden’s Top Child Welfare Official Discusses Her 2023 Priorities with The Imprint
http://bit.ly/3Z6xVJU

Feds Cancel Plan for $10 Million to Prevent Confusion of Poverty with Neglect
http://bit.ly/3kUzfA4

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to Investigate Georgia Child Welfare
http://bit.ly/41qAKXJ

Did “Raise the Age” Lead to More Juvenile Violent Crime?
http://bit.ly/41vIGqL

Impact of Direct Cash Benefits to Low-Income Families Can Be Far-Reaching
http://bit.ly/3kuzaTK

Child Tax Credits Led to Decreased Abuse and Neglect, New Study Shows
http://bit.ly/3xV7ZF6

New York Child Welfare Advocates Call on Lawmakers to Prevent Foster Care Through Community Investment
https://bit.ly/3HKaU7Z

Maryland Eyes Law to Protect Domestic Violence Survivors from “Failure to Protect” Charges
https://bit.ly/3IpGfy9

Impact of War on Ukraine’s Children
https://bit.ly/3IVd0ne

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Data Portal on Ukraine
https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine

Ukraine situation: Regional protection profiling and monitoring factsheet
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/97720

02/20/2023

A Child of the Indian Race: A Conversation with Sandy White Hawk

Part Two: A song for orphans

On this week’s podcast, we begin a two-part interview between Imprint reporter Nancy Marie Spears and Sandy White Hawk, author of the recently released memoir A Child of the Indian Race: A Story of Return. White Hawk’s recounts her own adoption story, which began in 1955, decades before the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed to protect Indigenous families from being separated. 

This conversation comes just months after the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case called Brackeen v. Haaland, in which several non-Indigenous families and the State of Texas have claimed that ICWA is unconstitutional. A decision in the case is expected to be delivered this summer.

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Guest Interview

Sandy White Hawk is a Sicangu Lakota adoptee from the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. She is the founder and director of First Nations Repatriation Institute

Reading Room

An Indigenous Adoptee Reclaims Her Culture
http://bit.ly/3YI0oF9

First-of-its-kind Survey Examines Trauma and Healing Among Indigenous Survivors of Family Separation
http://bit.ly/3e3XHfd

How a Chippewa Grandmother’s Adoption Fight Ended Up in the U.S. Supreme Court
http://bit.ly/3VLeS6k

The Imprint’s Coverage of Brackeen v. Haaland
http://bit.ly/3ttyzTy

02/13/2023

A Child of the Indian Race: A Conversation with Sandy White Hawk

Part One: “Here’s Your Mother…She’s Been Waiting for You”

On this week’s podcast, we begin a two-part interview between Imprint reporter Nancy Marie Spears and Sandy White Hawk, author of the recently released memoir A Child of the Indian Race: A Story of Return. White Hawk recounts her own adoption story, which began in 1955, decades before the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed to protect Indigenous families from being separated.

This conversation comes just months after the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case called Brackeen v. Haaland, in which several non-Indigenous families and the State of Texas have claimed that ICWA is unconstitutional. A decision in the case is expected to be delivered this summer.

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Guest Interview

Sandy White Hawk is a Sicangu Lakota adoptee from the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. She is the founder and director of First Nations Repatriation Institute

Reading Room

An Indigenous Adoptee Reclaims Her Culture
http://bit.ly/3YI0oF9

First-of-its-kind Survey Examines Trauma and Healing Among Indigenous Survivors of Family Separation
http://bit.ly/3e3XHfd

How a Chippewa Grandmother’s Adoption Fight Ended Up in the U.S. Supreme Court
http://bit.ly/3VLeS6k

The Imprint’s Coverage of Brackeen v. Haaland
http://bit.ly/3ttyzTy

02/06/2023

Parents Paying the Bill for Foster Care

On this week’s episode, we discuss a potentially landmark law on legal counsel in Washington, another state with an ICWA bill, and the Justice Department allegedly takes interest in a controversial child welfare algorithm.

Nearly 40 years ago, federal child support laws were rewritten and included new instructions for states when it comes to parents with children in foster care. NPR investigative reporter Joe Shapiro joins to talk about his coverage of the nationwide practice of charging parents for the cost of foster care. 

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Guest Interview

Joseph Shapiro is a NPR News Investigations correspondent with decades of experience covering health, aging, disability, and children’s and family issues. He is the author of the award-winning book NO PITY: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement.

01/30/2023

Mental Health Litigation Boom in Child Welfare, and More Headlines

On this week’s episode we catch up on some headlines from the last few months in child welfare and youth justice, including: a flood of mental health litigation; adoption reckoning in South Korea; a federal effort to help states differentiate poverty and neglect; the nexus between money and maltreatment; the Finish the 5 campaign in Texas; and more.

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Reading Room

South Korea Sets Up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to Investigate Adoptions
http://bit.ly/3Joq5Gc

Feds Plan $10 Million to Prevent Confusion of Poverty with Neglect
http://bit.ly/3kUzfA4

Nevada Eyes State Bill to Codify ICWA
http://bit.ly/3WRSIie

Wyoming Considers Codifying Indian Child Welfare Act Protections in State Law
http://bit.ly/3YbdOJH

With ICWA Under Threat, More States Shore Up Laws to Protect Native Families from Foster Care Separation
http://bit.ly/3WJ7SGt

Maryland and Iowa Are the Latest to be Sued Over Youth Mental Health Services
https://bit.ly/3wipDBP

Justice Department Slams Alaska for Over-Institutionalizing Youth with Disabilities
http://bit.ly/3RjcNwY

Disabled Foster Youth Sue North Carolina for ‘Segregating’ Them in Institutions
http://bit.ly/3XLS6w1

New York Let Residences for Kids With Serious Mental Health Problems Vanish. Desperate Families Call the Cops Instead.
http://bit.ly/3XXReEa

‘We’re at a Crisis Point’: NY Attorney General Hearing Spotlights Child Mental Health Care Failures
http://bit.ly/3XOg21y

Sabrina’s Parents Love Her. But the Meltdowns Are Too Much.
http://bit.ly/3kSH35B

The Imprint Weekly Podcast: Ohio Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran
http://bit.ly/2ObtLAV

Impact of Direct Cash Benefits to Low-Income Families Can Be Far-Reaching
https://bit.ly/3kuzaTK

Texas Teens Embark on An Idealistic Quest to Shut Down the State’s Last Five Youth Prisons
http://bit.ly/3HDjGpA

Youth and the Juvenile Justice System 2022 National Report
https://bit.ly/3RhIWov

How Youth Incarceration Undermines Public Safety: Reviewing the Evidence
https://bit.ly/40eSk00

01/23/2023

The Last Dissent of Bridget Mary McCormack

On this week’s episode Bridget Mary McCormack, the recently retired chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, joins us to discuss appellate work and child welfare, and a scathing assessment of the system she was once responsible for overseeing. 

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Guest Interview

Bridget Mary McCormack served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 2013 to 2022, first as an associate justice, and as chief justice from 2019 to 2022.

Reading Room

McCormack’s Dissent
http://bit.ly/3THF8fC

In re G.M. Dixson Dissent
https://bit.ly/3XS3y8R

01/16/2023

The Steady Decline of Youth Incarceration, with Melissa Sickmund

On this week’s episode, Melissa Sickmund, director of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, joins us to dive into the decades-long plummeting of youth arrests and incarceration, juvenile justice in the age of Covid-19, data blind spots and more.

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Guest Interview

Dr. Melissa Sickmund joined the National Center for Juvenile Justice in 1986 and has been at its helm since 2012

Reading Room

Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/

Juvenile Residential Facility Census Databook
https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/jrfcdb/

Juvenile Justice Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics
https://www.jjgps.org/

01/09/2023

The Child Welfare Playbook, with Marina Nitze

On this week’s episode we discuss some notable changes in Congress’ 2023 spending deal, a new study on equity in services, and the release of The Imprint’s 2022 foster care capacity data.

Marina Nitze, author of Hack Your Bureaucracy and a co-founder of the Child Welfare Playbook, joins to discuss strategies for improving child welfare, why she’s optimistic about the future of kinship care, and more.

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Guest Interview

Marina Nitze, co-author of Hack Your Bureaucracy and a co-founder of the Child Welfare Playbook, joins to discuss strategies for improving child welfare, why she’s optimistic about the future of kinship care, and more.

Reading Room

2023 Spending Deal: What’s In It for Youth and Families
https://bit.ly/3X7IgUa

House Rules for the 118th Congress
https://bit.ly/3Iy7RSl

ACF Equity Study to Examine Six Child Welfare Systems
https://bit.ly/3vy1eaO

Child Welfare Official Confirmed by Senate
https://bit.ly/3VjB9Hf

Who Cares: A National Count of Foster Homes and Families
https://www.fostercarecapacity.com/

Number of Foster Youth, and Foster Homes, Declined Again in 2022
https://bit.ly/3I1NkFH

Child Welfare Playbook
https://www.childwelfareplaybook.com/

Hack Your Bureaucracy, by Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai
https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/

01/02/2023

Featured Episode: After Life, with Julie Reynolds

We will get back to our regular podcast format next week, but today we are featuring the work of Julie Reynolds, who is The Imprint’s new Associate Editor. 

Reynolds has produced and released the second season of her Podcast Grey Area.  This new season, called After Life, explores one man’s journey into and then out of the California penal system, the latter part of which might not have happened but for changes over time in the state’s view about a second chance for young offenders. 

First you will hear a brief interview with Julie about the new season, and then we will present Episode 1 of AfterLife.

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Guest Interview

Julie Reynolds is the associate editor of The Imprint, an investigative journalist and author of “Blood In The Fields,” a book documenting the lives of young gang members in the Salinas Valley that was a finalist for the 2015 International Latino Book Award.

Reynolds co-founded the nonprofit news site Voices of Monterey Bay and produces the podcast “Gray Area: a Show About Justice and Redemption.”

Reading Room

After Life: A 10-part audio documentary on life after a life sentence
https://voicesofmontereybay.org/afterlife

Imprint coverage by Julie Reynolds
https://imprintnews.org/author/julie-reynolds-martinez

12/19/2022

The Best of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, 2022 Edition

We had some amazing guests join us on The Imprint Weekly Podcast this year, and we reviewed the entire 2022 archive to bring you clips from some of the very best! This episode includes clips of 20 interviews from this year. 

If you enjoy this podcast, or the great work our reporters do at The Imprint and Fostering Families Today, and the work that our Youth Voices Rising team does, please consider making a donation. And if you do so this month, during Newsmatch, your donation will get doubled!

Fostering Media Connections is very lucky to have some terrific philanthropic supporters, advertisers and sponsors, and subscribers to our business and policy section that help make this organization go. But we really cannot do it without donors like you who read our stuff, listen to our podcasts and attend our online events. 

There are tons of really great nonprofit, independent news outlets to support out there, and we hope you consider us one of them. To give today it’s easy! Visit www.imprintnews.org/donate.

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Guest Interview

Guests include:
Les Gara, former gubernatorial candidate in Alaska
Ruth White, executive director, National Association for Housing and Child Welfare
Andrea Elliott, author, Invisible Child
Chief Cadmus Delorma, Cowessess First Nation
Jess Dannhauser, commissioner, New York City Administration for Children’s Services
Karl Wyatt, digital artist
Jason Smith, executive director, Michigan Center for Youth Justice
Carrie Etheridge, director of social work, Sheppard Pratt
Len Edwards, author and former judge, Santa Clara County, California
Colleen Henry, associate professor and researcher, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
Patty Duh, associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Lemn Sissay, author and former chancellor of the University of Manchester
Diane Redleaf, lawyer and founder, United Family Advocates
Sixto Cancel, founder, Think of Us
Dee Wilson, author, The Sounding Board
Kristen Ethier, research fellow, University of Chicago
Marsha Levick, chief legal officer, Juvenile Law Center
Liz Ryan, administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Tara Reynon, child welfare director, National Indian Child Welfare Association
Leslie Lacy, founder, Fostering Hope Louisiana

12/12/2022

The Sex Trafficking Exception

On this week’s podcast we talk about a racial equity audit New York City never made public; welfare payments and foster care; and the emergence of lifebooks. 

Robin Rosenberg, deputy director of Florida’s Children First, joins us to discuss Florida’s implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. In particular, we focus on a sex trafficking exception to federal limits on congregate care funding that Florida is using to place hundreds of youth in group settings.

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Guest Interview

Robin Rosenberg, deputy director of Florida’s Children First, joins us to discuss Florida’s implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. In particular, we focus on a sex trafficking exception to federal limits on congregate care funding that Florida is using to place hundreds of youth in group settings.

12/05/2022

The Storyboard Project

On this week’s podcast we talk about some interesting stories in The Imprint last week, an interesting filing in a faith-based discrimination case, juvenile diversion and fathers.

Mira Zimet, founder of The Storyboard Project, joins to discuss her three seasons of profiling youth and young adults who have experienced the foster care system in America.

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Guest Interview

Mira Zimet founder The Storyboard Project in 2014, and recently completed a third season of her work profiling young adults who have experienced foster care. She joins to discuss her three seasons of profiling youth and young adults who have experienced the foster care system in America.

Reading Room

Break Free Education’s Holiday Card Project
https://www.breakfree-ed.org/care-mail

Foster Care Failed to Protect Two Texas Teens from Sexual Assault
https://bit.ly/3VQcri6

Philadelphia Starts Ombuds Office for Youth in Residential Facilities
https://bit.ly/3OVkoR7

Research Shows Tribal Universities Twice As Likely To Provide Child Care on Campus
https://bit.ly/3EM6M5Y

Gov. Henry McMaster Fights Attempt to Shutter South Carolina’s Faith-Based Foster Agencies
https://bit.ly/3F3mN7P

Motion for Summary Judgment, Rogers v. HHS
https://bit.ly/3EZvWhE

Increase Successful Diversion for Youth of Color
https://bit.ly/3B6SoUI

Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/3uo0N2q

The Storyboard Project
https://thestoryboardproject.com/

11/21/2022

“Straightening Out” Foster Youth

On this week’s podcast, we discuss a big state court opinion on juvenile life sentences, some more workforce crisis stories, and one state supreme court chief justice’s scathing dissent in perhaps her last case involving a foster youth.

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Guest Interview

Leslie Lacy of Fostering Hope Louisiana, who used to represent parents and children in child welfare cases as an attorney, joins us to discuss her organization’s effort to get braces for youth in foster care as part of a broader mental health and life skills strategy.

Reading Room

Strategies for Youth’s Youth Voices Contest
Details: http://bit.ly/3Xhh5HB; Entry form: http://bit.ly/3TSNxwU

State of Tennessee vs. Tyshon Booker
http://bit.ly/3gfq4IN

Louisiana Should Remove Incarcerated Youth from Angola Immediately, Federal Official Says
http://bit.ly/3ErGAgy

Head of Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice resigns amid crisis in state’s youth jails
http://bit.ly/3gfMdGY

‘Child Without Placement’ Rotations Stretch Texas CPS Workforce
https://bit.ly/3UYWO7J

Funding, Staffing Shortages Beleaguer Youth Psychiatric Facilities
http://bit.ly/3XeuZKD

Child Welfare Caseloads Grow in Omaha Area After Troubled Private Contract Ends
http://bit.ly/3Xf2nAN

McCormack’s Dissent
https://bit.ly/3THF8fC

Fostering Hope Louisiana
https://www.fhlouisiana.org/

11/14/2022

Election Night for Youth and Families; Five Scenes from Brackeen v. Haaland

Youth-related funding and policy was on the ballot in several states last week, and Olivia Allen of the Children’s Funding Project joins to help us break down what happened with those measures.

Then, we break down five different exchanges that capture the essence of the Supreme Court’s three hour oral arguments over the Indian Child Welfare Act last Wednesday, and share some thoughts on what seemed to be on the mind of the likely “swing votes” in the case.

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Guest Interview

Olivia Allen is the strategy director of the D.C.-based Children’s Funding Project. She joined us to discuss the details and outcomes for six funding measures on the ballot in various states and counties this year, and talk about the push for more states to enable local children’s funding mechanisms.

Reading Room

What’s On The Ballot for Youth and Families
https://bit.ly/3DJpLxi

Supreme Court Probes Constitutionality of Indian Child Welfare Act
https://bit.ly/3NQ50F3

In Prayer and Protest, People of Indian Country Gather Outside the Supreme Court to Defend the Indian Child Welfare Act
https://bit.ly/3hvL0Lz

Brackeen v. Haaland: The Imprint’s Coverage from 2018-Present
http://bit.ly/3ttyzTy

11/07/2022

Understanding ICWA Part 4: What’s At Stake in Brackeen v. Haaland

The number of youth in foster care is below 400,000 for the first time in nearly a decade. On this week’s podcast, we break down the new data released by the Department of Health and Human Services, Florida’s ban on trans medicine for minors, and the worsening news out of Louisiana’s juvenile justice system.

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Guest Interview

Kate Fort, director of clinics at the Michigan State University College of Law, joins us to break down the constitutional questions and potential outcomes of Brackeen v. Haaland, which could decide the fate of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Reading Room

Number of Youth in Foster Care Dropped Again in 2021
https://bit.ly/3zB8YLL

Florida to Ban Transgender Health Care Treatments for Minors
https://bit.ly/3E747Vu

Dying Inside: Chaos and Cruelty in Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center
https://nyti.ms/3TbkYuv

Louisiana Governor Calls for Inquiry Into Abuses at Juvenile Detention Center
https://nyti.ms/3hgacWw

Listen to Oral Arguments in Brackeen v. Haaland
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/oral_arguments.aspx

The Fate of Indian Child Welfare Before the Supreme Court: Race, Commerce and Commandeering
https://bit.ly/3sQN1Vj

The Imprint’s Coverage of the Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/topic/icwa

10/31/2022

Understanding ICWA Part 3: Placement Preferences, with Chrissi Ross Nimmo

On this week’s podcast we discuss a landmark case out of New York over the rights of biological parents, connecting homeless children to early childhood programs, a federal end-around on monitoring unaccompanied minors, an AI Bill of Rights, and the placement preferences required by ICWA.

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Guest Interview

Chrissi Ross Nimmo, deputy attorney general of Cherokee Nation, joins us to discuss the placement preferences required by the Indian Child Welfare Act when a child is going to be adopted or placed in foster care.

Reading Room

New York High Court Favors Out-of-State Parents Seeking Custody of Foster Children
https://bit.ly/3W9JVJu

Michigan Children Without Homes Rarely Enrolled in Early Learning Programs
https://bit.ly/3UcbxMk

Infant and Toddler Homelessness: Report Coming Soon
https://schoolhouseconnection.org/infant-and-toddler-homelessness/

Biden Administration Wants to Take Over Monitoring of Unaccompanied Minors in Florida, Texas
https://bit.ly/3Dh9HCM

White House Issues Plan for Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights
https://bit.ly/3TaDp2J

The Imprint’s Archive of coverage on the Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/topic/icwa

Imprint Weekly Podcast, April 2021: Is the Indian Child Welfare Act Headed Back to the Supreme Court? Featuring Chrissi Ross Nimmo
https://bit.ly/3d9p1FP

10/24/2022

Understanding ICWA Part 2: Qualified Expert Witnesses, with Tara Reynon

On this week’s podcast we discuss Maine’s legislature suing its child welfare agency over fatality records, the Angola transfer begins in Louisiana, and what low-income families used the enhanced child tax credit for.

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Guest Interview

Tara Reynon, a member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and child welfare director for the National Indian Child Welfare Association, joins to discuss the role of qualified expert witnesses when Native children face family separation or termination of parental rights. 

Reading Room

How a Chippewa Grandmother’s Adoption Fight Ended Up in the U.S. Supreme Court
https://bit.ly/3VLeS6k

Maine Lawmakers Vote to Sue DHHS in Bid to See Child Protective Records
https://bit.ly/3CZWKgL

L.A. County Reaches $32 Million Settlement in Anthony Avalos Case
https://bit.ly/3MGk8nT

New York Officials, Advocates Debate Youth Justice Reform Amid Crime Fears
https://bit.ly/3TK8UkH

Louisiana Begins Moving Child Inmates to Notorious Angola Prison’s Former Death Row Unit
https://yhoo.it/3CYR1I2

Freedom to Dream: A World Without Family Policing
https://upendmovement.org/event/virtual-convening2022/

Evidence from the 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit
https://bit.ly/3z6opvi

10/17/2022

Understanding ICWA Part 1: Active Efforts, with Shannon Smith

On this week’s podcast we discuss a scandal that sparked new mandated reporting laws, the Biden administration’s kinship care ideas, and a new adoption information system in Ireland.

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Guest Interview

Shannon Smith of Minnesota’s ICWA Law Center joins us to talk about the active efforts provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act something she sees in play everyday in one of America’s only ICWA courts.

Reading Room

Mandatory Reporting Was Supposed to Stop Severe Child Abuse. It Punishes Poor Families Instead.
https://nbcnews.to/3yLi08p

CPS Workers Search Millions of Homes a Year. A Mom Who Resisted Paid a Price.
https://nbcnews.to/3TJcyeD

Can ‘Kinship Care’ Help the Child Welfare System? The White House Wants to Try
https://nyti.ms/3yKDJNV

Biden Proposes Major Spending Shifts to Prioritize Kin, Foster Care Prevention
https://bit.ly/3iL0U26

Prioritizing Kinship Care with Kim Clifton
https://bit.ly/3EvWFSb

Irish Leader Apologizes for Adoptions That ‘Robbed Children’ of Their Identity
https://nyti.ms/3VBAhij

Ireland Opens Decades of Secret Records to Adoptees
https://nyti.ms/3Vyrtdi

A Seattle Agency Digs Deep into Unanswered Questions About Past Adoption Practices, and its Obligations to Families
https://bit.ly/30I2KLO

Minneapolis Lawyers Rely on ‘Gold Standard’ Law to Keep Native American Families Together
https://bit.ly/2QwINme

Supreme Court Set to Consider Fate Of Indian Child Welfare Act in November
https://bit.ly/3BIVPlC

10/10/2022

See the Girl, with Lawanda Ravoira

On this week’s podcast we introduce listeners to Nancy Marie Spears, who will be covering Indigenous children and families for The Imprint and talk a bit about the upcoming Supreme Court case that could determine the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

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Guest Interview

 

Lawanda Ravoira of the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center joins to talk about how juvenile justice systems continue to miss on designing effective interventions and solutions for girls, and to discuss her organization’s new See the Girl manifesto aimed at improving things on that score.

Reading Room

The Imprint Launches National Indigenous Family Reporting Beat
https://bit.ly/3UnSCih

See the Girl Summit: The Power of Voice
https://www.seethegirl.org/

Advocates Call for Federal Investment in Girl-Focused Juvenile Justice Programs
https://bit.ly/3MpQhjl

Lawanda Ravoira, Advocate for Girls in the System, Going Local to Help Nationally
https://bit.ly/3CEtvjt

10/03/2022

The Impact of “Drugging Our Kids” with Karen de Sá

On this week’s episode we discuss new child mental health legislation, an investigation into abuse at Head Start programs, and child poverty in America continuing to plummet.

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Guest Interview

A recent study found that the use of antipsychotic medications on California foster youth has dropped by more than 50%. The Imprint’s executive editor, Karen de Sá, joins to discuss her investigative series Drugging Our Kids, which nearly a decade ago helped to prompt a number of policy changes in the state when it came to powerful psychiatric meds and youth in foster care. 

Reading Room

Statement of Administrative Policy on the Mental Health Matters Act of 2022
https://bit.ly/3SuHaAh

ACF Should Improve Oversight of Head Start To Better Protect Children’s Safety
https://bit.ly/3rlyvUP

Expansions to Child Tax Credit Contributed to 46% Decline in Child Poverty Since 2020
https://bit.ly/3roMfOI

After Prison, He Became a Poodle Professional
https://bit.ly/3RqmN5L

As His Influence Peaks in Child Welfare Field, A ‘Family Defenders’ Leader Retires
https://bit.ly/3BUpdDZ

Drugging Our Kids
Series: https://extras.mercurynews.com/druggedkids

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7lHeosq-FY

Prescribing Antipsychotic Drugs to California Foster Youth Declines Dramatically
https://bit.ly/3BcmTaW

09/26/2022

Episode 100! Biden’s Juvenile Justice Agenda with Liz Ryan

On our 100th episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, we discuss a raft of new youth-related legislation introduced by Congress, moving teens to one of America’s largest adult prisons, and a new investment in adoption training.

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Guest Interview

Liz Ryan, administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, joins us to discuss the Biden administration’s priorities for juvenile justice.

Reading Room

A Federal Bill Could Boost Funds for Home Visiting Program for Parents
https://bit.ly/3ByFPBc

Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2022, Section-by-Section
https://bit.ly/3DTaRWY

Strengthening Tribal Families Act of 2022
https://bit.ly/3DRnvFY

Federal Judge Allows Louisiana to Move Incarcerated Teens to Angola
https://bit.ly/3C9BFBa

Decarceration Advocate Liz Ryan to Lead Juvenile Justice for Biden Administration
https://bit.ly/37hzj6A

Nation’s Top Juvenile Justice Official Disputes ‘Youth Crime Wave’ Narrative
https://bit.ly/3xR7k7X

09/19/2022

The Fall of Child Poverty, and Home Visiting’s Looming Fiscal Cliff

On this week’s podcast we discuss a major drop in the use of powerful psych meds on California foster youth, and discuss how child welfare metrics behaved during the prolonged decline in child poverty that was recently analyzed by Child Trends.

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Guest Interview

Jenny Harper joins to talk about the looming federal cliff facing a program aimed at supporting new and expectant mothers, and what advocates are hoping will happen in the near future. 

Reading Room

Prescribing Antipsychotic Drugs to California Foster Youth Declines Dramatically
https://bit.ly/3BcmTaW

Psych Meds in Jail
https://bit.ly/3DDsKci

Philly Took $5 Million in Foster Children’s Social Security Payments Without Telling Them
https://bit.ly/3BtH843

Lessons From a Historic Decline in Child Poverty
https://bit.ly/3Bo3ZOx

Expanded Safety Net Drives Sharp Drop in Child Poverty
https://nyti.ms/3f0Srcs

Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program
https://bit.ly/3eXjDsH

Home Visiting: MIECHV Delay Already Hurting State, Local Programs
https://bit.ly/3qN2tkd

09/12/2022

Closing the Book on “Kids for Cash”

On this week’s podcast we discuss developments in the legal battles over access to gender-affirming care for youth, the U.N.’s critique of American child welfare laws, and problems with the planned closure of California’s state-run youth prisons. 

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Guest Interview

Last month, a U.S. district court ordered two former judges to pay damages totaling $206 million to families that were caught up in what came to be known as the Kids for Cash Scandal in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Marsha Levick of the Juvenile Law Center, who helped expose the scandal, joins to reflect on the lessons of this insanely dark moment in juvenile justice history.

Reading Room

Court: Arkansas Can’t Ban Treatment of Transgender Kids
https://bit.ly/3RPZYJe

A Proposed Law Would Give Trans Youth Refuge in California
https://bit.ly/3L3cdQN

UN Committee Suggests the US Change or Repeal Major Child Welfare Policies
https://bit.ly/3RZNLlz

Washington Will Stop Using Child Support to Fund Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3RQ08jO

California’s Historic Shuttering of State-run Youth Prisons is Moving Forward, But Remains Far From its Progressive Vision
https://bit.ly/3BsePTZ

Child Welfare Ideas from The Experts
https://bit.ly/3AVgYae

Judges in “Kids for Cash” Scandal Must Compensate Families
https://bit.ly/3U3VsbY

Zero Tolerance Breeds Zero Justice
https://bit.ly/3RzuSG1

08/15/2022

Summer Roundup, Fall Preview

No interview this week! We’ll be back with more great guests after Labor Day. On this episode, we catch up on a whole slew of headlines in child welfare and juvenile justice from the summer. Then, we highlight five things to keep an eye on this fall in terms of federal law and policy.

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Reading Room

Pennsylvania Parents Sue State Over “Unconstitutional” Child Abuse Registry
https://bit.ly/3QGIfDD

California Bill Would Bar Police from Lying to Kids During Interrogations
https://bit.ly/3SPIGxn

Fewer Hennepin County Children in Foster Care are Reunified with Family
https://bit.ly/3c0Ign7

Foster Care Numbers Up for Fifth Straight Year, Federal Data Released Today Shows
https://bit.ly/3JXSBNd

American Bar Association Resolution 606
https://bit.ly/3doqPgB

Arrests of Youth Declined Through 2020
https://bit.ly/3QHUOyv

Patterns of Juvenile Court Referrals of Youth Born in 2000
https://bit.ly/3w3s2Ra

Supreme Court Set to Consider Fate Of Indian Child Welfare Act in November
https://bit.ly/3BIVPlC

Briefs Filed in Brackeen v. Haaland
https://bit.ly/3Pp3Ord

The Imprint’s coverage of the Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/topic/icwa

Federal Bill Aims to Better Measure, Retain States’ Foster Homes
https://bit.ly/3Qk2MOu

08/08/2022

Getting Proactive About the Workforce Crisis

On this week’s podcast, we feature an online event hosted by Fostering Media Connections called “Stability Now: Getting Proactive About The Child Welfare Workforce.” This conversation features several child welfare experts who in different ways have worked on putting either their organization, or the system in general, in a better position to retain and support good workers.

Thanks to our sponsor, Binti, for supporting this important discussion.

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Guest Interview

Featured in this conversation are:

Andry Sweet, CEO, Children’s Home Society of Florida
Leslie Calloway, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Child Welfare, Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services
Barry Chaffkin, CEO, Fostering Change for Children
Dr. Jay Miller, Dean, University of Kentucky School of Social Work

Reading Room

Pack to the Future: Youth Voice 2022 Summer Fundraiser
https://bit.ly/2022BackpackDrive

Jackie Walorski, Congressional Leader on Child Welfare Issues, Dead at 58
https://bit.ly/3zCPFB4

Little Rock, in a Child Welfare Crisis, Becomes First Test for Family Integrity & Justice Works
https://bit.ly/3cE7B30

A Need for Fresh Ideas on Training the Child Welfare Workforce
https://bit.ly/3bD7kAC

Social Work Supervisors Are Key to Stable Workforce
https://bit.ly/3A4bZVw

08/01/2022

Fathers in Foster Care

On this week’s episode we discuss a new bill to protect the rights of disabled adults involved in child welfare cases, and the resurgence of a lawsuit in West Virginia.

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Guest Interview

Researchers and social workers Justin Harty and Kristen Ethier join us to talk about what they found when they tried to unearth anything about fathers and fathering while in foster care.

Reading Room

House Bill Would Establish Protections for Disabled Parents
https://bit.ly/3OOWoNA

The Office of Family Assistance Gets New Director, Ann Flagg
https://bit.ly/3OHy0O9

Foster Youth Interning in Congress Envision Laws Improving Health Care, Greater Access to Benefits
https://bit.ly/3OJquSJ

Letter to Colleagues from Administration for Children and Families
https://bit.ly/3cWBPBS

West Virginia Child Welfare System Hit with Class-Action Lawsuit
https://bit.ly/3Bru4hv

Judges Toss Class Actions Against Ohio, West Virginia
https://bit.ly/3ii6lpS

A Federal Appeals Court Just Breathed New Life into a Lawsuit that Aims to Force W.V. to Reform its Foster Care System
https://bit.ly/3PPJhNs

July Decision in Jonathan R. v. Justice
https://bit.ly/3bjrUFX

Fatherhood in Foster Care: A Scoping Review Spanning 30 Years of Research on Expectant and Parenting Fathers in State Care
https://bit.ly/3JoAmjL

07/25/2022

Radically Reforming Reunification and More with Dee Wilson

Dee Wilson is a former leader in Washington’s child welfare system who writes the monthly child welfare commentary Sounding Board. Wilson joined us to discuss a range of topics, including his view on the abolition movement, his ideas around boosting reunification efforts, the Family First Prevention Services Act, and professional foster parenting.

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Reading Room

Sounding Board Commentary
https://bit.ly/3RXR919

Washington Settles Lawsuit Involving Foster Youth Left Sleeping in Offices and Hotels
https://bit.ly/3O5TjsO

The Imprint’s Complete Guide to The Family First Prevention Services Act
https://bit.ly/2IoWNue

07/18/2022

Centering Lived Experience with Sixto Cancel

On this week’s episode, we discuss new findings that connect anti-poverty measures to reducing child maltreatment, the Democrats’ plan for unaccompanied minors at the border, and the Road to Healing Tour.

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Guest Interview

Sixto Cancel, founder and CEO of Think of Us, joins to discuss his organization’s new Center for Lived Experience, kinship care, and authentic vs. performative gestures in the child welfare arena.

Reading Room

Association Between State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Policies, Child Protective Services Involvement, and Foster Care in the US, 2004-2016
https://bit.ly/3zduTJa

Money and Maltreatment
https://bit.ly/3hcelIU

Children’s Safe Welcome Act
https://bit.ly/3PuOPMS

About The Children’s Safe Welcome Act
https://bit.ly/3PApMYR

Children and Family Services Workers Allege Rape, Unsafe Conditions for Youth and Staff at The County Office
https://bit.ly/3PzOPeF

Historic ‘Healing Tour’ Launched in Oklahoma Honors Survivors of Indian Boarding Schools
https://bit.ly/3ylwKtO

The Indian Child Welfare Act: What’s At Stake with Brackeen v. Haaland
https://bit.ly/3talYW3

07/11/2022

What We’ve Learned About Supporting Adoptions

On this week’s episode, we discuss the federal about-face on child support payment policies for youth in foster care; how the workforce crisis is impacting Texas juvenile justice; and the latest on localizing juvenile justice in California. 

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Guest Interview

Debbie Riley, CEO and co-founder of the Center for Adoption Support and Education, joins us to talk about what we’ve learned about post-adoption support in America and the recent data on adopted youth returning to foster care unearthed by USA Today this year.

Reading Room

The Federal Government Will Allow States to Stop Charging Families for Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3uC2rOz

Coming Soon to Congress: Discussion on Child Support Clawback
https://bit.ly/3oJjvgH

Understaffed, and Under Federal Investigation, Texas Juvenile Detention System Halts Intake
https://bit.ly/3uED1Q9

How Hidden Foster Care Harms Children and Parents of Color
https://bit.ly/3OSneW1

The Imprint’s Hidden Foster Care Series
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/hidden-foster-care

California Budget Plan Supports Shifting Youth from State Prisons to Juvenile Halls, Amid Opposition
https://bit.ly/3OxSPfx

Los Angeles County Launches New Youth Development Department to Deter Crime
https://bit.ly/3oaI0ol

For tens of thousands of children in the U.S., their “forever family” doesn’t last long. USA TODAY investigates: Why do adoptions fail?
https://bit.ly/3sPiveP

Connections Matter: Relationships with Birth Families are Important for Foster, Adopted Children
https://bit.ly/3NXdp7O

Free Online Training Platform Launched for Adoption and Guardianship Workers
https://bit.ly/3RkE4yu

06/26/2022

Narrowing Neglect in The Law with Diane Redleaf

On this week’s episode, we discuss some alarming high school graduation data for foster youth in one of America’s largest cities; Oregon’s move away from an algorithm; and how the bipartisan gun bill could bring accountability to Medicaid services for children. 

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Guest Interview

Longtime child welfare legal expert (and poet!) Diane Redleaf joins to discuss her career, recent legislation to change neglect statutes in state law, and how they tie into her recent work on children’s rights. 

Reading Room

New York City Foster Youth Graduation Rates Found Far Lower Than Previously Known
https://bit.ly/3HQu77L

Oregon Is Dropping An Artificial Intelligence Tool Used in Child Welfare System
https://bit.ly/3HSFhZr

An Algorithm That Screens for Child Neglect Raises Concerns
https://bit.ly/3xU4BJZ

Findings from a Qualitative Analysis of Racial Disproportionality and Disparity for African American Children and Families in Michigan’s Child Welfare System
https://on.ny.gov/3HQKAZy

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment
https://bit.ly/3btZ3yt

Youth Advocates Eye 2020 for Revolution on Children’s Mental Health in California
https://bit.ly/39TWBkc

When the Backlash Came for Title IX, She Fought Back
https://nyti.ms/3bxS1ZH

Former Rep. Patsy Mink’s comments on the Adoption and Safe Families Act
https://bit.ly/3u2pvps

The Challenge of Changing America’s Amorphous, Limitless Neglect Laws
https://bit.ly/3PhFQ2t

Building Resilience: Group Pushes for Looser Neglect Laws, More Child Autonomy
https://bit.ly/3xSuNot

06/20/2022

An Identity Erased: Lemn Sissay, Author of “My Name Is Why”

On this week’s episode we discuss the Biden administration’s possible crackdown on the use conversion therapy, Los Angeles’ new child welfare director, and a promising new legal clinic for mothers of newborns.

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Guest Interview

Lemn Sissay, chancellor of the University of Manchester, was stolen from his mother by the U.K. care system, renamed Norman, and placed with a family he was told was his forever but who callously discarded him as an adolescent. The award-winning poet and writer joins us to talk about growing up in care, the social worker who made a difference in his childhood, and much more.

Reading Room

Stability Now! Getting Proactive About the Child Welfare Workforce

Register for Free!
https://imprintnews.org/webinars

Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals
https://bit.ly/3OtkbDj

Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth
https://bit.ly/3bbXhlp

HHS Leader Rafael López: It’s Time to Flip the Script on Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/3QvTC1N

Child Welfare Leaders Sign on to Letter Urging States to Ban Conversion Therapy
https://bit.ly/3bavMst

Decision Backing Conversion Therapy Inches Controversy Closer to U.S. Supreme Court
https://bit.ly/3zNRMnc

Longtime County Official Tapped to Lead Los Angeles Child Welfare Agency
https://bit.ly/3tC9YMA

Keeping Moms With Their Newborns: A Team of Washington Lawyers and Advocates Works to Avoid Foster Care Separation at Birth
https://bit.ly/3MWZApE

My Name Is Why, by Lemn Sissay
https://bit.ly/3OkSVXt

06/13/2022

A Fourth Path to Permanency: The SOUL Family

On this week’s episode we discuss the worsening capacity crisis when it comes to older youth in foster care, calls for better juvenile judge training, and an update on the legal battle over investigating gender affirming care as abuse in Texas.

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Guest Interview

After a youth enters foster care, there have traditionally been three paths to a more permanent setting: reunification, adoption and guardianship. Patty Duh of Epic ‘Ohana and Leslie Gross of the Annie E. Casey Foundation join to talk about a proposed fourth version of permanency: the “SOUL Family,” an approach one state has already agreed to try out.

Reading Room

Stability Now! Getting Proactive About the Child Welfare Workforce
https://imprintnews.org/webinars

Illinois is Routinely Housing Wards of The State in Chicago’s Jail for Kids
https://bit.ly/3MJaKhF

Illinois DCFS Director Marc Smith Held in Contempt of Court for Ninth Time for Improperly Placing Teen
https://cbsn.ws/3xLbajr

The Chicago Judge Who Held Child Welfare Directors In Contempt Dozens of Times
https://bit.ly/3tuMXuU

Washington Settles Lawsuit Involving Foster Youth Left Sleeping in Offices and Hotels
https://bit.ly/3O5TjsO

Juvenile Courts Need National Training Standards, Webinar Told
https://bit.ly/3xqR6kO

More Families of Trans Teens Sue to Stop Texas Child Abuse Investigations
https://bit.ly/3MI5Pxp

Judge Temporarily Blocks Some Texas Investigations into Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Kids
https://bit.ly/3NNCEdN

SOUL Family Permanency Option for Older Youth in Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3Qhl43y

SOUL Family Relationship Wheel
https://bit.ly/3xJ3LAX

SOUL Family Comparison to Existing Legal Permanency Pathways
https://bit.ly/3mImoi4

06/06/2022

Assessing Foster Care from Within

On this week’s episode, we discuss a scary error in California’s abuse registry process, more on state efforts to end gender-affirming care for youth, Louisiana’s “Lower the Age” bill and a new ombuds office for youth in foster care in Ohio.

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Guest Interview

Serita Cox of iFoster joins to talk about how an email her organization sent to partners about what the Biden administration should prioritize in child welfare may have planted the seed for an annual nationwide survey about foster care.

Reading Room

California’s Child Abuse Registry is Missing Upwards of 22,000 Abuse Suspects, Audit Finds
https://bit.ly/3NRv4hR

Texas Resumes Investigations into Parents of Trans Children, Families’ Lawyers Confirm
https://bit.ly/3lLCS8R

DeSantis Moves to Ban Transition Care for Transgender Youths, Medicaid Recipients
https://nbcnews.to/3GSTpkZ

In New Orleans, City Officials Are No Longer Holding Juveniles in the Adult Jail. A Proposed State Law May Force Them To
https://bit.ly/3Q3YYRZ

Honoring the Life of Ma’Khia Bryant: An Ombudsperson for Foster Youth in Ohio
https://bit.ly/3v153pP

Ohio Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office Opens
https://bit.ly/3NBIS0l

Governor Appoints Two Ombudsmen to Lead New Office
https://bit.ly/396YKsw

Survey Shows Frustration with Foster Care from Within The System
https://bit.ly/3MkmSp2

Voice of the Foster Care Community
https://voiceoffostercare.org/

Year 2 Survey for Voice of the Foster Care Community
https://bit.ly/3NPtBbI

05/30/2022

Marginalizing Mothers: Behind The Sprawl of Abuse and Neglect Registries

On this week’s episode, we go straight to the interview! Colleen Henry, of the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, joins us to talk about the origin story of abuse and neglect registries and how they have changed in size and impact over the decades since they were first introduced. We close with some thoughts from Henry about some common-sense changes that systems should be considering in regard to these things.

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Guest Interview

Colleen Henry is an Assistant Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College at the City University of New York. Her research examines child welfare policy and practice with a focus on family violence.

Dr. Henry is the Principal Investigator for the Family Violence Research Project and a Visiting Research Investigator at the Mack Center where she works on the Child Welfare Qualitative Data Mining Project. She has worked on several research projects associated with the Center for Social Services Research and the California Social Work Education Center, including the California Child Welfare Indicators Project and the Standardized Core Project for California Child Welfare Workers.

California’s Child Abuse Registry is Missing Upwards of 22,000 Abuse Suspects, Audit Finds

Reading Room

Marginalizing Mothers: Child Maltreatment Registries, Statutory Schemes, and Reduced Opportunities for Employment
https://bit.ly/3M5AJjb

“It’s Like A Leech On Me”: Child Abuse Registries Punish Unsuspecting Parents Of Color
https://bit.ly/3G5YmGQ

Biden Needs to Consider Child Abuse Registry Reforms as an Agenda Item
https://bit.ly/3sZj8mc

Georgia Dissolves Child Abuse and Neglect Registry
https://bit.ly/3wOG0Gc

New York Limits Access to Parents’ Names on Child Abuse And Neglect Registry
https://bit.ly/3wQjnB2

Child Welfare Ideas from the Experts #9: Standardized Registry of Maltreatment Reports
https://bit.ly/3adMGWv

05/23/2022

New Numbers on Broken Adoption and Child Maltreatment Registries

On this week’s podcast we discuss the recent series and data reporting by USA Today on youth who experience adoption from foster care and return to the system, the recent federal investigation on America’s use of Indian boarding schools; and news on lawsuits in Alaska and Indiana.

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Guest Interview

Buzzfeed reporter Scott Pham joins to discuss his data reporting work on state-rund child abuse and neglect registries, which led him to conservatively estimate that 3 million people are currently on them.

Reading Room

Free registration! Tough Conversations: Navigating Relationships with Biological Family
Sponsored by iFoster
https://bit.ly/3NLFWxR

For tens of thousands of children in the U.S., their “forever family” doesn’t last long. USA TODAY investigates: Why do adoptions fail?
https://bit.ly/3sPiveP

Bill Aims to Prevent Adoptive Parents from Abusing Subsidy Program
https://bit.ly/39KP0nB

Child Welfare Ideas from the Experts, #10: Better Policing of Adoption Subsidies
https://bit.ly/3MCkdrH

Time for New Numbers on Adoption Disruption
https://bit.ly/3wA5tE8

A First, But Incomplete, Measure of Adoption Success
https://bit.ly/38V0Pnj

The U.S. Government Releases Landmark Investigation Into the Brutal Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
https://bit.ly/3sPBgyV

Following Landmark Report on Indian Boarding Schools, Survivors Call on Congress for Broader Inquiry
https://bit.ly/3Pcrro2

Lawsuit Alleges End to End Failures in Alaska’s Child Welfare System
https://bit.ly/3Gnd9ND

Firm Files Lawsuit Against Indiana’s Child Welfare System
https://bit.ly/3wEBJFe

7th Circuit Dismisses 2019 Lawsuit Seeking Sweeping Changes to Indiana DCS Policies
https://bit.ly/3PAgfSr

Judges Toss Class Actions Against Ohio, West Virginia
https://bit.ly/3ii6lpS

“It’s Like A Leech On Me”: Child Abuse Registries Punish Unsuspecting Parents Of Color
https://bit.ly/3G5YmGQ

05/16/2022

College Ready, Career Prepared: Foster Youth and Higher Education

On this week’s podcast, we discuss the return of federal earmarks and which youth and family organizations benefitted, Florida’s new Family Navigator plan, and the findings of the first Voice of The Foster Care Community survey.

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Guest Interview

Instead of a guest interview, we’re featuring a great conversation on connecting youth in foster care to higher education and careers. This discussion was hosted by our team at Fostering Families Today, a bimonthly magazine delivered straight into the homes of foster and kinship caregivers, and was moderated by Ivory Bennet, who has been a guest on this podcast before and served as a special advisor in the creation of the recent special issue of Fostering Families Today entitled College Ready, Career Prepared: A Guide to Postsecondary Education for Youth in Foster Care.

Reading Room

The Return of Earmarks: Winners from Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice and Youth Homelessness
https://bit.ly/3yyrGnI

DCF Announces Robust Child and Family Well-Being Initiative to Better Support Families
https://bit.ly/3yBOfYz

Voice of The Foster Care Community
https://voiceoffostercare.org/

College Ready, Career Prepared: A Guide to Life After High School
https://bit.ly/3JZFWsr

05/09/2022

America’s New Juvenile Justice Leader; Reasonable Efforts in Child Welfare with Judge Len Edwards

On this week’s podcast, we discuss the Justice Department’s entry into the legal battle on trans medicine for youth; Biden’s new juvenile justice leader, decarceration advocate Liz Ryan; and the first state in decades to pursue lowering the age of its juvenile justice system.

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Guest Interview

Judge Len Edwards joins us to talk about the “reasonable efforts” standards in child welfare policy, his book on that topic, the rise of relatives in the system, and the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act. 

Reading Room

Free Event!

Safe Space When There’s No Safe Place: Tips from Youth Who Faced Maltreatment
Register: https://bit.ly/38ZmChi

Decarceration Advocate Liz Ryan to Lead Juvenile Justice for Biden Administration
https://bit.ly/37hzj6A

U.S. Department of Justice files challenge to Alabama transgender law
https://bit.ly/3vVKkEm

Louisiana Stopped Putting 17-Year-Olds in Adult Prisons. It May Start Doing It Again.
https://bit.ly/37u85da

Texas Juvenile Justice Leader Departs with State Agency at Critical Juncture
https://bit.ly/3w5mqVG

Ignoring Reasonable Efforts: How Courts Fail to Promote Prevention
https://bit.ly/3kRhYEY

Timely Permanency and the Appellate Process
https://bit.ly/3LWGxfs

05/02/2022

Stuck Kids: How Foster Youth End Up In Hospitals for Months

On this week’s podcast, we discuss some of the significant changes to federal child welfare policy proposed in President Biden’s budget for the next fiscal year, which includes new incentives to prioritize kinship care placements and more generous federal support for foster care prevention.  

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Guest Interview

Erin Dorrien, vice president of policy for the Maryland Hospital Association and Carrie Etheridge, director of social work at Sheppard Pratt, join to talk about why foster youth are getting stuck in hospitals long after such a restrictive sitting is necessary, a problem that seems to be very acute in Maryland but we are also hearing is a major capacity symptom in other states as well.

Reading Room

Biden Proposes Major Spending Shifts to Prioritize Kin, Foster Care Prevention
https://bit.ly/3iL0U26

FMAP: Four letters that drive the biggest source of federal funding for state child welfare services
https://bit.ly/3wD1dk2

Maryland H.B. 406: Children in Out-Of-Home Placements
https://bit.ly/3P1Xp6y

Stranded in the ER: Can California Change its Treatment of Kids in Crisis?
https://bit.ly/3B41pMu

04/25/2022

Wellness In The Workforce with Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran

On this week’s podcast we discuss what’s happened in Ohio since the death of Ma’Khia Bryant a year ago, how child welfare might figure into California’s ideas around reparations, Connecticut’s new approach to helping families, and more.

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Guest Interview

Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran, who both lead legal clinics at the University of Michigan Law School, join to discuss the importance of organizational support for the wellbeing of people who work in trauma-filled professions.

Reading Room

Honoring the Life of Ma’Khia Bryant: An Ombudsperson for Foster Youth in Ohio
https://bit.ly/3v153pP

Child Welfare Ideas from the Experts: Housing Help to Keep Siblings Together
https://bit.ly/3xYvxWX

Life Altered for One Texas Family Determined to Protect Transgender Child
https://bit.ly/3Ou1tfm

In California, First-Ever Task Force Envisions Reparations for Black Residents
https://bit.ly/3xz5Tvz

Violence & Vanishing Supervisors At Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall
https://bit.ly/3MiCGcq

Reports Without Surveillance: Connecticut’s New Child Welfare Experiment
https://bit.ly/3xCSjal

Measuring What Actually Matters
https://bit.ly/37VWL9w

LawLifeProf Coaching
http://lawlifeprofs.com

04/18/2022

Prioritizing Kinship Care with Kim Clifton of HALOS

On this week’s podcast we discuss a new kinship prioritization in Washington, New York gets sued (twice), privatization ends in Nebraska, and controversial new legislation in Alabama and Tennessee. 

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Guest Interview

Kim Clifton of HALOS in South Carolina, joins us to talk about kinship care, what federal funding for kinship navigators could mean for her state, and hidden foster care.

Reading Room

Washington Supreme Court: ‘Meaningful Preference’ for Kin Is Required
https://bit.ly/3IcVdp1

Keeping Families Together Act
https://bit.ly/3vs1MP4

Lawmakers Pass Child Welfare Changes, Teacher Incentives, Tax Break on Tampons
https://bit.ly/3jPfxSw

Alabama Lawmakers Vote to Make Providing Gender-Affirming Care to Trans Youth a Felony
https://politi.co/3MhinMB

New Law Shields Religious Foster, Adoption Agencies from Discrimination Lawsuits
https://bit.ly/392ordz

New York State Failed to Provide Legally Required Mental Health Care to Kids, Lawsuit Claims
https://bit.ly/3JOdSav

Lawsuit Alleges New York Created ‘Extremely Harmful’ Shadow Foster Care System
https://bit.ly/3xvWoxa

January Contreras Confirmed to Biden’s Top Child Welfare Post
https://bit.ly/3JKsYh5

Hidden Foster Care: Continuing Coverage in The Imprint
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/hidden-foster-care

04/11/2022

Homeless in Foster Care: What Would Really Keep Foster Youth from Sleeping in Offices

Today on The Imprint Weekly Podcast we feature a great conversation that Fostering Media Connections hosted last month called “Homeless in Foster Care: What Would Really Keep Foster Youth from Sleeping in Offices.”

As the title suggests, the motivation for this discussion was the reality that youth living in foster care are sleeping in offices, sometimes in hotels or even in rare cases cars, with systems struggling to find more appropriate shelter for them…and all of these kids had been removed from their home at one point or another due to safety concerns, which makes leaving them in such an unstable position is truly failure in its most clear form. 

This has gotten attention of late because several states saw the number of youth in this situation increase during the last year or so, likely in part to the pandemic and its impact on the child welfare workforce and more generally on foster care capacity. 

But this is not by any means a new problem in child welfare. This conversation was meant to discuss not the emergency solutions for it, but rather the upstream issues with how child welfare systems proceed that end up leaving youth open to these circumstances.

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Guest Interview

This conversation includes  Molly Tierney of Accenture, who worked in child welfare leadership in Illinois and in Baltimore; BJ Walker, former director of the state child welfare systems in Georgia and Illinois, and Gary Ivory, the President of Youth Advocate Programs, which for decades has been focused on serving as a community alternative to things incarceration and foster care.

03/28/2022

Raising the Age, Cleaning the Slate with Jason Smith

We discuss several headlines related to litigation in the child welfare space, including two states exiting class-action lawsuits after decades and a new legal center aimed at fighting removals into foster care. Also: MacKenzie Scott drops unrestricted grants on youth organizations, and a great new visualization tool on racial and ethnic disproportionality in foster care. 

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Guest Interview

Jason Smith, executive director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice, joins to discuss how Michigan’s recent reforms of its juvenile justice system, and what’s changed since the 2020 death of Cornelius Fredericks.

Reading Room

Agreement Reached on New Jersey Plan to Exit Decades-Old Child Welfare Lawsuit
https://bit.ly/3JM2Gfg

Federal Court Approves End to Child Welfare Lawsuit in Connecticut, Citing Dramatic Improvements for Children and Families
https://bit.ly/36sQhPc

South Carolina Short Term Action Plan
https://bit.ly/3DdnJVM

New Civil Rights Organization Dedicated to Families’ Rights Launches in New York City
https://bit.ly/356ToLZ

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott Supports Child Welfare, Youth Justice Organizations
https://bit.ly/3NejTAi

Disproportionality Rates for Children of Color in Foster Care Dashboard (2010-2020)
https://bit.ly/3JMDZ2f

Michigan Raises the Age, Includes 17-Year-Olds in Juvenile Justice System
https://bit.ly/3JJPCad

Michigan Raise The Age Law on Track to Pass, Leaving Three States with Juvenile Age Under 18
https://bit.ly/36NsWHB

03/21/2022

Digital Artist Karl Wyatt on Foster Care, NFTs and The Blockchain

We discuss what’s in the $1.5 trillion federal spending deal for youth and families, a court challenge to Canada’s new Indigenous child welfare law, and Colorado seeking to “raise the floor” for juvenile justice.

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Guest Interview

Digital artist and poet Karl Wyatt joined the podcast and talked about his own experience as a youth in foster care, his more recent adventure as a foster parent, and took us into the world of NFTs and how that technology might have value in child welfare. 

Reading Room

“When 911 Isn’t Your Only Option,” brought to you by Fostering Families Today
Register for free: bit.ly/ToughConversations0324

What’s in the 2022 Federal Spending Deal for Children and Families
https://bit.ly/3qcZ26w

Ottawa backs Indigenous child welfare law after Quebec court declares parts of it unconstitutional
https://bit.ly/3IpPknq

Ottawa appeals Quebec court decision finding parts of Indigenous child welfare law unconstitutional
https://bit.ly/37LKYdS

“Decolonization Is Only The Beginning”: Indigenous Child Welfare in Canada
https://bit.ly/3rNEP8x

Colorado Considers a Raise the Age Youth Justice Bill
https://bit.ly/3qlfG3W

Humanitarian Support in Ukraine Should Prioritize Children Without Stability
https://bit.ly/3qaiiBo

This is Not How You Fix Things: Testimony from A Transgender Teen in Texas
https://bit.ly/3CJ7Kyz

The Orphan’s Plea NFT Collection, by Karl Wyatt
https://opensea.io/collection/orphansplea

03/14/2022

The Indian Child Welfare Act: What’s At Stake with Brackeen v. Haaland

We discuss the latest developments in the fight in Texas over Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to treat medical services for transgender youth as abuse, a major lawsuit over sexual abuse in L.A.’s juvenile justice system, hidden foster care in North Carolina, and more. 

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Guest Interview

Journalist Rebecca Nagle, host of the podcast This Land, joins to help us break down the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case about the Indian Child Welfare Act, and what’s riding on their decision for Native American kids and families.

Reading Room

Free Event! Better Tech, Better Outcomes: How Technology Collaboration Can Improve Foster Care
Thursday, March 17 – 11am PST, 2pm EST
Register: bit.ly/techchildwelfare

The Imprint Tracks Political Actions Against LGBTQ Youth in Texas
https://bit.ly/3tNGIBP

The Imprint Tracks Political Actions Against LGBTQ Youth in Texas
https://bit.ly/3pXHGdU

‘Delete this form and never use again.’ DSS agencies remove kids without judge’s order.
https://bit.ly/3q0L9bD

Calls to Roll Back Raise the Age Laws Reach NY Statehouse, But Find Little Traction
https://bit.ly/3hRklWB

Don’t Let Foster Care Contracts Open a Back Door to Discrimination
https://bit.ly/35MbKSB

The Imprint’s coverage of the Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/topic/icwa

03/07/2022

Getting Foster Youth to Higher Education, and Helping Them Stay There

We discuss the latest on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to treat medical services for transgender youth as abuse; the Supreme Court set to decide fate of Indian Child Welfare Act (much more on that next week); and a bill aimed at reducing the need for congregate care placements in foster care.

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Guest Interview

Ivory Bennett, a playwright and educator, joins us to discuss her own pursuit of higher education after foster care, what systems should be doing differently, and we talk about our forthcoming project that she served as a guest editor for: College Ready, Career Prepared: A Guide to Postsecondary Education for Youth in Foster Care.

To pre-order the guide: https://bit.ly/caready

Want to give a copy to all the foster youth or caregivers in your life? E-mail  [email protected]

 

Reading Room

Better Tech, Better Outcomes: How Technology Collaboration Can Improve Foster Care
Sponsored by Binti
Register for free: https://imprintnews.org/webinars

Threatened with Investigations and Foster Care, Texas Parents and Advocates Fight for Transgender Youth
https://bit.ly/3MoRTcK

Biden Blasts Texas Leaders’ ‘Cynical and Dangerous’ Targeting of Transgender Youth and Their Parents
https://bit.ly/3IIeRJC

Alabama bill seeks to ban hormone treatments for trans youth
https://bit.ly/3CjQvDt

Human Rights Campaign Condemns Arizona Lawmakers for Advancing Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills, Putting the Well-Being of Youth At Risk
https://bit.ly/3vFUIQM

Supreme Court Will Hear Indian Child Welfare Act Case
https://bit.ly/3vvea2v

Senators Baldwin, Portman Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Improve Access to Treatment Family Care Services for America’s Most Vulnerable Youth
https://bit.ly/3tzsRir

Read Ivory Bennett’s contributions to The Imprint: https://imprintnews.org/author/ivory-bennett

02/28/2022

Foster Care in India, Kinship in America, and More with Ian Forber-Pratt

We discuss the seeming contradiction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to consider medical services to trans kids as abuse, and the Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling that sets heightened expectations around kinship in the child welfare system.

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Guest Interview

Ian Forber-Pratt, the director of Global Advocacy & Growth for Children’s Emergency Relief International, joins to discuss his long, international path through child welfare. Forber-Pratt was adopted from his home country of India, grew up in Missouri and has since worked on child welfare reform in both nations.

We talked about his childhood, his effort to create a foster care system in India (which previously saw abuse/neglect handled informally in the community or with big orphanages and institutions), and kinship care in America.

Reading Room

Free Online Event!
Homeless in Foster Care: What Would Really Keep Foster Youth from Sleeping in Offices
To Register: https://imprintnews.org/webinars

Pre-Order Today!
College Ready, Career Prepared: A Guide to Postsecondary Education for Youth in Foster Care
https://bit.ly/caready

Texas Governor Calls on Citizens to Report Parents of Transgender Kids for Abuse
https://nbcnews.to/3JYeN8F

5 Texas DAs Defy Gov. Greg Abbott, Won’t Treat Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth As Child Abuse
https://bit.ly/3HkKYO0

Washington Supreme Court: ‘Meaningful Preference’ for Kin Is Required
https://bit.ly/3IcVdp1

Keyon’s Case Heads to Washington Supreme Court
https://bit.ly/3sAirg1

A New Era of Community-Based Social Work – Lessons Learned from Impossible Odds
https://bit.ly/35AcREI

Nonprofit Launched to Replicate Missouri Family-Finding Program
https://bit.ly/35xCt4O

02/21/2022

America’s Most High Profile Child Welfare Job: Jess Dannhauser’s Plan for New York City

On this week’s podcast we discuss a recent roundtable on child welfare held by the Biden administration, and the legislative responses that have popped up in Illinois after the killing of a caseworker while responding to an abuse and neglect call.

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Guest Interview

Jess Dannhauser, the new commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services, joins to discuss his early priorities, his thoughts on several parental rights issues, and more.

Reading Room

Readout of HHS Secretary Becerra’s Roundtable on Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/3p3yR1D

Path to Federal Foster Care Prevention Funds Overlooks Tribal Programs, Experts Say
https://bit.ly/3JTSySp

New legislation Would Arm Child Welfare Workers with Mace
https://bit.ly/3JTSySp

Illinois Foster Care Numbers Climb During Pandemic, Bucking National Trend
https://bit.ly/3HOho4l

Eric Adams Taps Jess Dannhauser to Lead City’s Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice System
https://bit.ly/3zes219

02/13/2022

“Decolonization Is Only The Beginning”: Indigenous Child Welfare in Canada

On this week’s podcast we discuss what was on Senators’ minds during the confirmation hearing for Biden’s top child welfare officials; more federal scrutiny on for-profit colleges; and the human consequences of family court shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Guest Interview

Last month, the Canadian government announced a historic, $31.5 billion agreement with Indigenous people to compensate them for three decades of discriminatory treatment by the child welfare system. Chief Cadmus Delorme of Cowessess First Nation joins to discuss the long, dark history that led to this settlement.

Reading Room

During Confirmation Hearing for Top Biden Child Welfare Officials, Senators Voice Their Own Priorities
https://bit.ly/3gKAWe4

Confirmation Hearing of January Contreras and Rebecca Jones Gaston
https://bit.ly/3Ls0dYV

Consumer Finance Agency Digs Into Questionable Direct Student Loan Practices
https://bit.ly/3uNwxzc

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Examine Colleges’ In-House Lending Practices
https://bit.ly/3rNyZUs

New York City Court Dysfunction Found to Have ‘Caused Harm to Thousands of Families’
https://bit.ly/3gGA0Y7

Historic $31.5 Billion Settlement to End First Nations Suits Against the Child Welfare System in Canada
https://bit.ly/3JjL2Po

02/07/2022

“Only Together Do We Survive”: Andrea Elliott, Author of Invisible Child

On this week’s podcast we discuss more troubling indicators on the workforce crisis in child welfare and juvenile justice, and a new bill introduced in Congress that would bring federal scrutiny around the use of automated decision making tools in America.

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Guest Interview

New York Times reporter Andrea Elliott joins to discuss her new book “Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City,” which chronicles Dasani Coates and her family in New York City. Elliott talks about her thoughts on how the social safety net, and the city’s child welfare system, did (or did not) help the family.

Reading Room

Nonprofits in New York City Struggle to Keep Child Welfare Workers
https://bit.ly/3IIM5rM

The Employment Situation – January 2022
https://bit.ly/3shJz5u

The Scope and Impact of Nonprofit Workforce Shortages
https://bit.ly/34lKwBI

Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022 Section-by-Section
https://bit.ly/3GvmZvb

The Foster Care System Turns to Big Data: Promising or Profiling?
https://bit.ly/3GnHp9o

Girl in the Shadows: Dasani’s Home Life
https://nyti.ms/34oLuwV

Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
https://bit.ly/35XENTf

01/31/2022

Child Welfare in The Early Pandemic; Remembering Edgar Cahn, Juvenile Justice Visionary

On this week’s podcast, we try to tie three different sets of federally collected numbers together in regard to child welfare during the earliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic between March and September 2020, when lockdowns were ubiquitous, schools were mostly closed and vaccines were still in the offing. We also talk about some well-timed research on the nexus between income support for poor parents and child well-being.

Later in the podcast we talk what could be the first collateral consequence of last year’s Supreme Court decision on faith-based discrimination in child welfare; where things stand with a court challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act and auditing L.A.’s child welfare agency. We end with a discussion of Edgar Cahn, a giant in the legal community whose legacy includes two innovative ideas in juvenile justice.

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Reading Room

Child Maltreatment 2020
https://bit.ly/3rdgets

2020 Child Maltreatment Data: A Breakdown
https://bit.ly/3u5vfiI

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System
https://bit.ly/3udG5n0

Trends in U.S. Emergency Department Visits Related to Suspected or Confirmed Child Abuse and Neglect
https://bit.ly/3rdEuvJ

Cash Aid to Poor Mothers Increases Brain Activity in Babies, Study Finds
https://nyti.ms/3KVYGtF

Public Investments and Class Gaps in Parents’ Developmental Expenditures
https://bit.ly/3GcwqzA

Michigan Settles Lawsuit with St. Vincent Catholic Charities over Same-sex Adoptions
https://bit.ly/32I7Rwy

Jews Have Been Rejected by Adoption Agencies for Years. This Couple Hopes to Force a Change
https://bit.ly/3KVqjDd

Edgar Cahn, Pioneer of Time Banking, Passes Away
https://bit.ly/3KNvAMY

A Perfect Combination of Chutzpah and Soul
https://wapo.st/35AGINf

A Novel Approach on Litigating Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice
https://bit.ly/3g9BWYZ

01/24/2022

Why Isn’t Community College Working for So Many Foster Youth?

On this week’s podcast we discuss the final numbers on the enhanced child tax credit that ran from July to December; host home respite care comes to New York after a two-year standoff; and an audit suggests what might really be behind Montana’s very high use of foster care.

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Guest Interview

Amy Dworsky of Chapin Hall and Judy Havlicek of the University of Illinois join to discuss some dismal new findings about community college completion among youth who aged out of foster care. And, current community college student Matt Schaad talks about his own path towards a degree.

Reading Room

Sixth Child Tax Credit Payment Kept 3.7 Million Children Out of Poverty in December
https://bit.ly/3tRWcX6

New York Allows Overnight Respite Care For Children, Despite “Shadow Foster Care” Concerns
https://bit.ly/3qry8Z2

Faith-Based Movement to ‘Host’ Children of Struggling Families Hits Opposition in New York
https://bit.ly/33As1Fa

Report Finds Problems with Foster Child Program, Including Missing Protection and Safety Plans
https://bit.ly/3fQc30f

Kids in Care: Analysis of Population Trends and Management Processes in Montana’s Foster Care System
https://bit.ly/33LKSkF

Chapin Hall Study Finds Lack of Support for Foster Youth in Community College
https://bit.ly/33vUpMt

Chapin Hall Research Brief
https://bit.ly/32q84o7

01/17/2022

Due Process, Disparity, ASFA and More with Kathleen Creamer

On this week’s podcast, we discuss the ongoing capacity crisis in Texas foster care, jarring numbers on community college enrollment, and new federal funds to seed innovation in supporting kinship caregivers.   

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Guest Interview

Kathleen Creamer of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia joins to discuss two recent court cases of note in the state, Philly’s high rate of foster care, the Adoption and Safe Families Act and more.

The Children of ASFA Are Now The Parents of ASFA

Reading Room

Outside Experts Give Texas Roadmap to Decrease Sky-high Rates of Foster Kids Sleeping in Offices, Hotels
https://bit.ly/3qptqez

Chapin Hall Study Finds Lack of Support for Foster Youth in Community College
https://bit.ly/33vUpMt

Looming Questions, 2022 Edition
https://bit.ly/3Gld5gh

A Court Reminds Us of the Obvious: Probable Cause Counts in Child Welfare Cases, Too
https://bit.ly/3tedeP4

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Issues Landmark Ruling in Child Welfare Case
https://bit.ly/3GLLsNu

He’s 400 Pounds. Pennsylvania Says That’s Good Enough Reason to Deny Custody of His Children
https://bit.ly/3GBsl94

Free event! Tough Conversations on Understanding Addictive Behaviors
Thursday, January 27, 10am PST.
Register: www.bit.ly/fftwebinar

01/10/2022

What We’re Doing, and What We Aren’t, About Youth and Family Homelessness

On this week’s podcast, we discuss Biden’s new nominee to lead child welfare and family support policies at the Department of Health and Human Services; the tragic murder of a social worker in Illinois; and it’s decision time for the Supreme Court on the Brackeen v. Haaland case that could decide the fate of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

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Guest Interview

Ruth White of the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare joins us to talk about the first two full years of Foster Youth to Independence, a housing voucher program designed by current and former foster youth that aims to prevent housing instability for those aging out. We also talk about her thoughts on “Housing First” as a strategy, an untapped resource for youth homelessness prevention, and her idea for a “flat rent” approach to help develop savings for former foster youth.

Reading Room

Supreme Court Set to Decide Whether to Take Up Indian Child Welfare Case
https://bit.ly/3zDm8Xi

Coverage of the Indian Child Welfare Act by The Imprint
https://imprintnews.org/topic/icwa

January Contreras Nominated for Top Child Welfare Position
https://bit.ly/334l3vG

DCFS Worker was Stabbed to Death While Responding to Report of Children in Danger in Thayer
https://bit.ly/3q5szPU

Texas v. Haaland Supreme Court Documents
https://bit.ly/32ZCPjX

Ben Carson Unveils Major Stable Housing Initiative for Former Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3odHqUS

01/03/2022

Les Gara: From Foster Care to a Run for Governor

On this week’s episode we discuss some leadership departures and additions in top jobs; the ongoing “workforce spiral” in child welfare; how systems pull money from the social safety net to offset foster care costs; and the Adoption Files Initiative.

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Guest Interview

Former Alaska legislator Les Gara is seeking the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for governor of the Last Frontier. He joined us to talk about his time in foster care, his advocacy for foster youth and parents in the Alaska legislature and why he thinks he has a chance in a state that has historically sent Republicans and Independents to the governor’s mansion.

Reading Room

Los Angeles County Child Welfare Director Bobby Cagle Suddenly Steps Down
https://bit.ly/3DPFHgw

Eric Adams Taps Jess Dannhauser to Lead City’s Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice Systems
https://bit.ly/3zes219

Legal Settlement: New York Foster Parents Poised for Big Increase in Support Payments
https://bit.ly/3JgCgSW

Kentucky Social Workers Get 10% Pay Hike Amid Job Exodus
https://bit.ly/3pkS3Z8

These foster youth say the state of Alaska pocketed thousands of dollars that belonged to them.
https://bit.ly/3vHyjPX

A Mother Needed Welfare. Instead, the State Used Welfare Funds to Take Her Son.
https://bit.ly/3FNQIQf

​​States send kids to foster care and their parents the bill — often one too big to pay
https://n.pr/3zgqsvu

Judge Curbs Alaska’s Practice of Claiming Foster Youths’ Federal Benefits
https://bit.ly/3EMrbpD

A Seattle Agency Digs Deep into Unanswered Questions About Past Adoption Practices, and its Obligations to Families
https://bit.ly/30I2KLO

12/26/2021

The Best of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, 2021 Edition

We had some amazing guests join us on The Imprint Weekly Podcast this year, and we reviewed the entire 2021 archive to bring you clips from some of the very best! This episode includes clips of 20 interviews from this year. 

If you enjoy this podcast, or the great work our reporters do at The Imprint and Fostering Families Today, please consider making a donation. And if you do so this month, during Newsmatch, your donation will get doubled!

Fostering Media Connections is very lucky to have some terrific philanthropic supporters, advertisers and sponsors, and subscribers to our business and policy section that help make this organization go. But we really cannot do it without donors like you who read our stuff, listen to our podcasts and attend our online events. 

There are tons of really great nonprofit, independent news outlets to support out there, and we hope you consider us one of them. To give today it’s easy! Visit imprintnews.org/donate. 

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Guest Interview

Guests on this episode include:

  • Melissa Thompson, Melanie Jordan and Cam Lundstrom of the Office of Respondent Parent Counsel in Colorado
  • Christopher Scott and Lino Peña-Martinez of Sun Scholars
  • Gary Ivory, president of Youth Advocate Programs
  • Former juvenile judge Karen Baynes-Dunning
  • Michelle Caldeira, senior vice president of College Bound Dorchester
  • Dorothy Roberts, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Program on Race, Science & Society
  • Kevin Skidmore, owner of Four Fourty Trucking in Georgia
  • Dr. Jay Miller, dean of the University of Kentucky School of Social Work
  • Adoption expert April Dinwoodie
  • Beverly Jones, child operating officer for Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois
  • Takkeem Morgan, founder of Foster Together Indiana
  • Josh Gupta-Kagan, professor, University of South Carolina School of Law
  • Dr. Bruce Perry, founder and senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy
  • Rae Baker, director of the Minnesota Prison Doula Project
  • Kris Henning, professor, Georgetown Law
  • Rebecca Nagle, host of the award-winning This Land podcast
  • Corey Best, consultant, Mining for Gold
  • Irene Clements, former president, National Foster Parent Association
  • Lisa Thurau, founder, Strategies for Youth

12/20/2021

How Foster Youth Navigate the Holidays

This week’s episode is an edited-for-length version of a discussion that Fostering Media Connections recently conducted called “Navigating the Holidays.” Kim Hansel, the editor of our Fostering Families Today magazine, moderated this terrific panel of four former foster youth —  Raquel Wilson, Tamar Sebesta, Jessica Castillo, and Daniel Bisuano — in a conversation about what the holidays can be life for young people with lived experience, and what foster and resource parents should know and expect during this time of year.

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The Holidays Aren’t Always a Celebration. It’s Much More Complicated for Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3nDIsf1

Holiday Lessons from a Former Foster Youth: Families Don’t Have to Be Bound by Blood
https://bit.ly/3sp9TMv

For This Foster Youth, Christmas Was Always Conflicting
https://bit.ly/3skxyO5

Be Mindful of Foster Youths’ Struggles with Holidays
https://bit.ly/3qen9B1

12/13/2021

“Kids Are Not a Priority Until They’re a Problem”

On this week’s episode, we discuss California’s looming foster care cliff for older youth, obesity-as-neglect in Pennsylvania, and the passing of a major figure in international adoption. 

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Guest Interview

Lisa Thurau, the head of Strategies for Youth, joins us to talk about the true front door of the juvenile justice system: police encounters with youth. We talked about the origins of her organization, how it trains law enforcement to think differently about engaging young people, and what she thinks will come of the current moment of reckoning around police and civil rights.

Reading Room

Donate to Fostering Media Connections during the month of December and your contribution will be fully matched! Help support our independent coverage of child welfare, youth justice and youth homelessness today at www.imprintnews.org/donate.

Youth Voices Contest, Free Registration
www.YouthMatterSFY.org

Los Angeles Leaders Aim to Prevent “Housing Cliff” for 1,100 Aging Out of Foster Care Dec. 31
https://bit.ly/3owBaKA

The New Year’s Cliff for California Foster Care Requires a Community Solution
https://bit.ly/3oi7xN0

A Pennsylvania Case Illustrates Again Why, for Children, “Best Interests of The Child” Is Among the Most Dangerous Phrases in the “Child Welfare” Lexicon
https://bit.ly/3s0fWXx

Hyun Sook Han, Korean Social Worker and Adoption Pioneer, Dies at 83
https://nyti.ms/3rW1Gze

Make Training Police on Juvenile Justice, Youth Interaction a National Priority
https://bit.ly/3IFnzbY

Hope Springs Infernal for Better Policing
https://bit.ly/3DIleJG

12/06/2021

Foster Care During the Early Pandemic; A New Response to Mental Illness in Los Angeles

On this week’s episode, we discuss new numbers (from the federal government and from The Imprint’s annual survey of states) that shed light on foster care trends across the nation during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Also: a new leader nominated for Biden’s child welfare team, and the release of a ProPublica/New York Times feature on “hidden foster care.”

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Guest Interview

Aurelle Amram joins us to discuss a new approach Los Angeles is taking to gear services to people with serious mental illness around outcomes-based contracting, a plan that is expected to include a lot of focus on youth involved in foster care and/or the juvenile justice system.

Reading Room

Youth Voices Contest, Free Registration
www.YouthMatterSFY.org

Navigating the Holidays with Fostering Families Today
www.bit.ly/FFTholidays

Federal Report: Foster Care, Adoptions Dropped in 2020
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/federal-report-foster-care-adoptions-dropped-2020/60489

National Foster Care Population Down 4% Amid Pandemic
https://imprintnews.org/subscriber-content/national-foster-care-population-down-amid-pandemic/60421

Biden Nominates Oregon Leader, and Former Foster Youth, for a Top Child Welfare Post
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/biden-nominates-oregon-director-former-foster-youth-top-child-welfare-post/60479

“They Took Us Away From Each Other”: Lost Inside America’s Shadow Foster System
https://www.propublica.org/article/they-took-us-away-from-each-other-lost-inside-americas-shadow-foster-system

Hidden Foster Care: A Continuing Series by The Imprint
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/hidden-foster-care

11/29/2021

Healers in the System: From the Health Field to Child Welfare Leadership

Deborah Shropshire and Charlene Wong are career pediatricians, and Terry Stigdon is a registered nurse who specializes in pediatrics. All three are now leading state child welfare systems in Oklahoma, North Carolina and Indiana, respectively.

This episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast features a conversation hosted by Fostering Media Connections in which Accenture’s Molly Tierney and The Imprint’s John Kelly talk to the three women about the differences between the health and child welfare fields, what child welfare systems could learn from or adapt from health systems, and what they see coming in the next five years for the field.

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Guest Interview

Molly Tierney, Accenture
Terry Stigdon, Indiana Department of Child Services
Deborah Shropshire, Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Charlene Wong, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

11/22/2021

Bridge to Adulthood: A Discussion on California’s Extended Foster Care System

California became one of the first states to extend foster care when the federal Fostering Connections to Success Act became law, offering states the opportunity to extend foster care to the age of 21 with financial assistance. Last year, The Imprint produced an in-depth series looking at the first decade of the program in California, exploring what holes still existed in a new safety net that overall has helped ease the transition to adulthood for teens in the system. 

This episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast features a panel discussion hosted by Fostering Media Connections on the state of extended foster care in the Golden State. Imprint reporter Sara Tiano moderates a discussion that features perspectives from two young leaders who experienced the system before and after the extension to 21; an expert in California child welfare policy; and one of the nation’s leading researchers on the experience of older youth in foster care.

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Guest Interview

Guests for this episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast include:

  • Janay Eustace, Executive Director, California Youth Connection
  • Jordan Sosa, Statewide Legislative and Policy Manager, California Youth Connection
  • Amy Lemley, Executive Director, John Burton Advocates for Youth
  • Mark Courtney, Samuel Deutsch Professor, University of Chicago

Reading Room

Fostering Adults: The State of Care
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/fostering-adults-state-extended-care

Behind the Stats: Mark Courtney on His Newest Study on Transition-Age Foster Youth in California
https://imprintnews.org/analysis/behind-the-stats-mark-courtney-on-his-newest-study-on-transition-age-foster-youth-in-california/31833

Report: Extended Foster Care in California Boosts Wealth, Stability
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/report-extended-care-foster-care-in-california-boosts-wealth-stability/33508

Study Finds Foster Youth Fare Better When They Receive Care Until 21
https://imprintnews.org/news-2/study-finds-foster-youth-fare-better-receive-care-21/18007

11/15/2021

What We’ve Learned About Child Tax Credits, and the Future of Fostering with Irene Clements

On this week’s podcast we talk to the University of Michigan’s Natasha Pilkauskas about what a recent survey of low-income families tells us about the enhanced child tax credits included in coronavirus relief and, possibly, in the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan. 

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Guest Interview

Irene Clements, the retiring head of the National Foster Parent Association, talks about her own massive family, her concerns with the recent rise of “foster-to-adopt,” the continuing impact of the coronavirus on foster parents, and the future of fostering in America.

Reading Room

Receipt and Usage of Child Tax Credit Payments Among Low-Income Families: What We Know
https://bit.ly/3nn8C5X

As Coronavirus Shutdowns Grow, Resource Families Left with Little Guidance
https://bit.ly/30yHBDE

We Have to Stop Losing Half of Foster Parents in the First Year
https://bit.ly/3CfWVSw

11/08/2021

Rethinking ASFA, The Broward County Experiment and More with Corey Best

On this week’s podcast we break down the major legislation introduced last week by Rep. Karen Bass that would alter the controversial timelines around terminating parental rights in the Adoption and Safe Families Act. We also discuss a new waiver to use Medicaid in congregate care settings and good results for a strategy to prevent some foster care removals.

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Guest Interview

We continue our conversation with Corey Best of Mining for Gold. In part two of this interview we talk about an experiment with changing the way maltreatment reports are handled in Broward County, Florida, his fears over racial disparity with the Family First Prevention Services Act, and more.

Reading Room

Historic Bill Would Remove Federal Requirement to Terminate Parental Rights in Some Cases
https://bit.ly/3bPtNXq

Feds Offer More Medicaid Support for New Congregate Model
https://bit.ly/3BAb5Oe

Team Decision Making May Empower Child Welfare Decision Making and Improve Outcomes for Families
https://bit.ly/3BYwMaY

A Complete Guide to The Family First Act
https://bit.ly/2IoWNue

Sponsor of today’s episode:

Accenture Child Welfare Services: https://accntu.re/3CUV3j8

Institute for Family: Subscribe to the Institute’s new podcast series, Seen and Heard. https://podcasts.instituteforfamily.org/seen-and-heard/

11/01/2021

Child Safety Reporting, Parental Rights and More with Corey Best

On this week’s podcast we dig into a major decline in the number of youth charged as adults in the justice system, and some child welfare legislation that could include the first federal requirement for legal counsel for parents and children. 

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Guest Interview

Corey Best of Mining for Gold joins us to discuss his own experience losing parental rights as a young father, mandatory reporting and what we could differently with information that comes in from the child protection hotline.

Reading Room

Youth Younger Than 18 Prosecuted in Criminal Court: National Estimate, 2019 Cases
https://bit.ly/3mwcMrH

Senate Bill May Require Legal Counsel for Parents, Children in Child Welfare Cases
https://bit.ly/3g9GyiH

Continued State Flexibility To Assist Older Foster Youth Act
https://bit.ly/3nBUbti

End Aging Out of Foster Care
https://bit.ly/2ZwvExn

How Incarcerated Parents Are Losing Their Children Forever
https://bit.ly/3Cy8up7

Taking on Racial Bias in Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/3mrMOFr

10/25/2021

Texas’ Wild Year in Child Welfare Legislation

On this week’s podcast we talk about the new push for federal oversight of the “troubled teen industry,” and what might be different this time around; the first kinship support program approved for new federal funding nationwide; and a local court case over ICWA that involves high-powered attorneys. 

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Guest Interview

Kate Murphy of Texans Care for Children joins us to break down a very eventful year in child welfare legislation and policy shifts in the Lone Star State, including the state’s plans around the Family First Act, a controversial change to its definition of neglect, legal protection for parents, and how mental health has been a major driver of the state’s continuing crisis on placements for older foster youth.

Reading Room

America’s ‘Troubled Teen Industry’ Needs Reform So Kids Can Avoid the Abuse I Endured
https://wapo.st/3maybGI

Lawmakers Issue Warning to Troubled Teen Industry: Congress Will Act
https://bit.ly/3vz6Vom

Behavior Modification: Abuse Alleged
https://bit.ly/3BmT8md

Washington Targets Behavior Modification Programs
https://bit.ly/2ZuqKRU

Residential Programs: Selected Cases of Death, Abuse, and Deceptive Marketing
https://bit.ly/2ZjWhWd

First Kinship Support Model Gains Approval by Family First Clearinghouse
https://bit.ly/3vtZZsl

State of Missouri and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma vs. Honorable Scott S. Sifferman
https://bit.ly/3vEmV8F

Texas Bills Aim to Boost Rights for Parents Accused of Mistreating Kids
https://bit.ly/3wje633

10/18/2021

Raising Up The Stories of Families in Child Welfare

On this week’s podcast, we discuss what The Imprint has learned from states about the end of the federal moratorium on aging out of foster care during the pandemic; a new law to limit the transfer of youth into adult court in Washington, D.C.; and a troubling case of entrenched and unchecked juvenile justice and child welfare leadership.

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Guest Interview

Matt Anderson, who leads the Institute for Family at the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, joins to discuss his new mission to develop media projects that tell the stories of youth and families who experience the child welfare system.

Reading Room

Next Week, Thousands of Foster Youth Will Age Out on the Same Day
https://bit.ly/3ktAPXh

Redefinition of Child Amendment Act of 2021
https://bit.ly/30uUrCx

Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.
https://bit.ly/3BRt9nT

The Institute for Family
https://instituteforfamily.org/

Seen and Heard Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seen-and-heard/id1588126658

Documentary: From Place to Place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98UIV-gsE2

10/11/2021

Families, Kids and Tribes: Rebecca Nagle on The Indian Child Welfare Act

On this week’s podcast we discuss new developments in the 2020 death of a teenager killed by staff at a Michigan residential center, state spending on post-permanency and the latest in The Imprint’s “Hidden Foster Care” series. 

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Guest Interview

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed in 1978 at a time when one-third of Native American children were separated from their families. Journalist Rebecca Nagle, host of This Land, joins us to discuss the podcast’s new season about a major court case that could determine the future of ICWA.

Reading Room

Family of Foster Youth Slain by Staff at For-Profit Group Home Files $50 Million Federal Lawsuit
https://bit.ly/3DmbW6a

Better Data and Guidance Could Help States Reinvest Adoption Savings and Improve Federal Oversight
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-6.pdf

Kinship Caregivers in D.C. Say Child Welfare Agency Owes Foster Payments
https://bit.ly/3Da1uif

California Foster Youth Must Make UBI Payments Work Along With Other Public Assistance
https://bit.ly/3Ahc3ht

This Land, Season 2
https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/

The Nation’s First Family Separation Policy
https://bit.ly/3AXykSt

Indian Child Welfare Act Under Fire: Federal Judge Strikes Down 40-Year-Old Law, Appeals Could Lead to Supreme Court
https://bit.ly/3Dr5Xgv

Federal Court Ruling on Indian Child Welfare Act Goes in Several Directions
https://bit.ly/3mvzWMX

Minneapolis Lawyers Rely on ‘Gold Standard’ Law to Keep Native American Families Together
https://bit.ly/2QwINme

10/04/2021

Foster Care Prevention & Group Care Limits: The Family First Act Takes Effect

On this week’s podcast we discuss the end of some pandemic protections for current and former foster youth, what Canada’s reckoning with history on Native American children portends for America; exits from big lawsuits, and office-seekers of note in Alaska and Los Angeles.

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Guest Interview

Zach Laris, director of federal advocacy and child welfare policy for the American Academy of Pediatrics, joins us for a deep dive on the Family First Prevention Services Act, which fully took effect in all states last week.

Reading Room

Next Week, Thousands of Foster Youth Will Age Out on the Same Day
https://bit.ly/3ktAPXh

Several States Issue Second Round of Foster Youth Pandemic Assistance
https://bit.ly/3kPEKxF

Indigenous children in Canada slated to receive billions in compensation after court rejects Trudeau appeal
https://wapo.st/2YbOXvX

Bill To establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States
https://bit.ly/3A4HADt

Bureau of Indian Affairs Listening Sessions Registration
https://on.doi.gov/3mgFUlb

Former state Rep. Les Gara becomes fourth candidate for Alaska’s governor
https://bit.ly/3l1uYbD

California Rep. Karen Bass Joins Los Angeles Mayoral Race
https://bit.ly/3EXRDhc

09/27/2021

The Criminalization of Black Youth, with Kris Henning

On this week’s podcast we discuss a new campaign to end fines and fees in the juvenile justice system, more problems with privatization in child welfare, and the estimated 18,000 young adults who could age out of foster care this week.

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Guest Interview

Georgetown Law professor Kris Henning has been a public defender for youth in Washington, D.C. for more than two decades, and has had exactly four white clients in that time. Henning joins us to discuss her experience representing youth, and her new book The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth.

Kristin Henning discusses diversion programs

Reading Room

Advocacy Groups Launch Nationwide Campaign to End Juvenile Court Fines and Fees|
https://bit.ly/3u7PVVt

Debt Free Justice Campaign
https://debtfreejustice.org/

Nebraska Inspector General Recommends Ending Foster Care Contract with Saint Francis
https://bit.ly/3uajUfu

Next Week, Thousands of Foster Youth Will Age Out on the Same Day
https://bit.ly/3ktAPXh

Youth Voice Webinar: What Did Your Mental Health Do for You (or to You)?
Thursday, Oct. 7 10amP/1pmE
Register for free! Can’t make it? Register and we’ll send you a recording!
https://imprintnews.org/webinars

09/19/2021

Chicago’s Unprecedented Juvenile Detention Experiment

On this week’s podcast we discuss a foster care capacity crisis in Texas, promising programs and bad facilities in Los Angeles, and former foster youth getting positions of leadership in federal government. 

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Guest Interview

In the early 2010s, Chicago’s juvenile detention center got a much-needed physical overhaul. Its leadership at the time used the opportunity to set up a gold-standard trial to test a new approach to engaging the youth inside. Juvenile detention expert David Roush joins us to talk about what they found and what’s happened since.

Juvenile justice expert David Roush on juvenile detention reform.

Reading Room

Healers in The System: From the Health Field to Child Welfare Leadership
Register for free! Tomorrow, Sept. 21, 4pm EST
(can’t make it? Sign up and receive the recording!)
https://imprintnews.org/webinars

Virtual Town Hall on Pandemic Assistance for Foster Youth
TODAY at 4pm EST
https://thinkofus.typeform.com/to/hUC75vWw

More Texas Foster Youth Are Sleeping in State Offices Than at Any Other Point in Recent Years
https://bit.ly/3hIQL5R

Texas Foster Care Children Exposed to Sexual Abuse, Given Wrong Medication and Neglected in Unlicensed Placements, New Report Says
https://bit.ly/39jqc2L

Los Angeles County Supervisors Approve Therapeutic Approaches to Youth Detention
https://bit.ly/3AiTHgT

State Agency Declares L.A.’s Juvenile Halls ‘Unsuitable for Confinement of Minors’
https://bit.ly/3CoEcVd

Foster Youth Advocate Joins Biden Administration’s Child Welfare Agency Leadership
https://bit.ly/39c0DR7

Child Welfare Policymakers Need to Learn User Centered Design
https://bit.ly/3kn5mG7

Young Adult Consultant and Youth Support Leads Application
www.bit.ly/ICFYAC2021

09/13/2021

A New Law to Support Mothers-to-Be in Prison

On this week’s episode, we discuss the slow-developing effort to connect current and former foster youth with federal pandemic assistance, and a new bill that would extend the deadline for it. Also: the Family First Act clearinghouse reconsiders some programs; federal judges toss three child welfare lawsuits; Supreme Court asked to decide the fate of the Indian Child Welfare Act; and Maryland commission recommends an end to automatic transfers from the juvenile justice system.

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Guest Interview

Rae Baker of the Minnesota Prison Doula Project joins to discuss her organization’s efforts to help expecting moms in prison as they prepare for birth, and a precedent-setting state law the project successfully pushed for that will offer a chance for these moms to stay with their newborns outside of the prison walls.

Reading Room

Healers in the System: From The Health Field to Child Welfare Leadership
Register for FREE!
https://imprintnews.org/webinars

Pandemic Relief Funds for California Foster Youth Slow to Reach Needy Young Adults as Deadline Approaches
https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/pandemic-relief-funds-for-california-foster-youth-slow-to-reach-needy-young-adults-as-deadline-approaches/58376

Youth Voice: As Deadline for Federal Pandemic Relief Looms, Fosters Are Being Failed Yet Again
https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/as-deadline-for-federal-pandemic-relief-looms-fosters-are-being-failed/58601

Family First Clearinghouse Approves Two New Services, Will Reconsider Ohio Kinship Navigator
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/family-first-clearinghouse-approves-two-new-services/58249

Clearinghouse Abruptly Downgrades Family Centered Treatment
https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/clearinghouse-abruptly-downgrades-family-centered-treatment/52087

Judges Toss Class Actions Against Ohio, West Virginia
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/judges-toss-class-actions-against-ohio-west-virginia/57424

Both Sides Ask Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/supreme-court-asked-decide-fate-indian-child-welfare-act/58540

Minneapolis Lawyers Rely on ‘Gold Standard’ Law to Keep Native American Families Together
https://imprintnews.org/law-policy/minneapolis-lawyers-rely-on-gold-standard-law-to-keep-native-american-families-together/54527

This Land, Season 2
https://crooked.com/podcast/this-land-season-2-coming-august-23rd/

Reform Council Recommends Ending Policy of Automatically Charging Some Youth as Adults
https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/09/09/reform-council-recommends-ending-policy-of-automatically-charging-some-youth-as-adults/

08/16/2021

Changing the Narrative on Fighting Poverty with Michael Tubbs

On this week’s podcast we discuss a new proposal to boost funding for preventing and investigating child maltreatment, a controversial proposal to permit Medicaid in foster care institutions, and movements on legal counsel in Minnesota and Texas. 

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Guest Interview

Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton and new senior fellow at the Rosenberg Foundation, joins us to discuss universal basic income, how being mayor shaped his views on child welfare and juvenile justice, shifting the narrative on fighting poverty, and more.

Reading Room

FREE EVENT!
The Bridge to Adulthood: A Discussion on California Extended Foster Care System
Register: https://bit.ly/cafostercare

Senators Propose Medicaid Exception for Congregate Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3s9PoRJ

New Law Gives Low-Income Minnesotans Access to Attorneys in Child Welfare Cases
https://bit.ly/3rTl8KL

Texas Lawmaker Commits to Restricting and Tracking Hidden Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3yRUTqO

Hidden Foster Care: A Series by The Imprint
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/hidden-foster-care

08/09/2021

Supports, Not Just Services: Talking Child Welfare Response with Chapin Hall’s Bryan Samuels

On this week’s podcast we discuss the recent dismissal of lawsuits in Ohio and West Virginia, new research on the prevalence of child protection investigations, and a local investigation into “hidden foster care” that might make waves.

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Guest Interview

Bryan Samuels, executive director of Chapin Hall, joins us to discuss the Family First Act, race and poverty, congregate care and his organization’s new policy brief on including more concrete and economic supports in child welfare.

child welfare

Reading Room

Judges Toss Class Actions Against Ohio, West Virginia
https://bit.ly/3ii6lpS

Nearly Half of Children Experience CPS Investigations For Abuse And Neglect Before 18, New Estimates For Large Counties Show
https://bit.ly/2TSQzsj

Contact with Child Protective Services Is Pervasive but Unequally Distributed by Race and Ethnicity in Large US Counties
https://bit.ly/3A12W4O

NC County Illegally Removed Kids from Homes
https://bit.ly/3ilWMq8

Key Supervisor Pleads guilty in DSS Family Separation Scheme
https://bit.ly/3ynnxQx

Addressing Economic Hardship Key to Preventing Child Welfare System Involvement
https://bit.ly/3ighQgo

08/01/2021

No Strings Attached: California’s Guaranteed Income for Former Foster Youth

On this week’s podcast we discuss the newest policy proposals from foster youth interns on Capitol Hill, new funding for racial equity in child welfare, and the newly approved guaranteed income pilot project in California that will pay up to $1,000 per month to young adults who have aged out of foster care.

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Guest Interview

Andrea Amavisca, a legislative aide to State Sen. Dave Cortese, joins to talk about how the plan became law. Veronica Vieyra, who participated in a smaller test of guaranteed income in Santa Clara County, joins us to reflect on the impact that help has had on her life this year. 

Reading Room

Foster Youth Congressional Interns Present Policy Fixes to U.S. Legislators
https://bit.ly/3zJtLdD

Lawmakers Back Funding for Foster Sibling Pilot Programs
https://bit.ly/3lr4DEu

New Study Suggests Ending Group Care for Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3rsVqMU

H.R.4502 – Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022
https://bit.ly/3rMJ9mS

California Bans Out-of-State Treatment Programs After Reporters Investigate Abuse
https://bit.ly/3BkKm9u

Far from Home | Far from Safe
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/far-from-home

California Approves First State-Guaranteed Income For Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3xi84Qv

California County Tests Universal Basic Income to Support Youth After Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3dfmAB2

Help Us Close the Distance!

The past two years have been a time of painful isolation and uncertainty, especially for America’s most vulnerable families and children. There has never been a more important time for the kind of work that Fostering Media Connections does: Telling the stories that bring all of us together, closing the distance that kept us apart.

Now through Aug. 31, donations to The Imprint will be matched.

Your donations help us to keep you informed with nuanced stories you won’t find anywhere else — and produce podcast episodes like this! Double your donation today at www.imprintnews.org/donate.

07/25/2021

What Happened to You? Talking Child and Family Trauma with Bruce Perry

This week, The Imprint Weekly Podcast presents our in-depth interview with Dr. Bruce Perry, recent co-author of the bestseller “What Happened to You” with Oprah Winfrey. Perry has spent years building the knowledge base around understanding and addressing the impact of child trauma on kids and adults. 

Perry discussed his new book, his views on child welfare and its approach to engaging parents, the potential of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, and more.

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Guest Interview

Dr. Bruce Perry is a psychiatrist who heads the Neurosequential Network and is the founder or and senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy. He is also adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Reading Room

EVENT: What Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Parents Wish Youth Knew
Free Registration Link
https://bit.ly/2Ut0wwg

The ‘20s and Youth Services: A Guess at What Comes Next
https://bit.ly/3j2afTd

What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
https://bit.ly/3ePBOh9

Timing of Early-Life Stress and the Development of Brain-Related Capacities
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6691036/

07/18/2021

Are There Way More Kids in Foster Care Than We Think?

On this week’s podcast we discuss more plans for rethinking child welfare, universal cell phone coverage for California foster youth, and another big experiment planned for the “colorblind” approach to foster care removal decisions.

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Guest Interview

Josh Gupta-Kagan of the University of South Carolina School of Law joins to discuss “hidden foster care,” the practice of informally moving children out of their homes without the involvement of the courts. Gupta-Kagan’s research on this practice suggests that potentially hundreds of thousands more kids enter foster care every year than we think.

New York Class-Action Lawsuit Alleges Kin Caregivers are Denied Rights by Foster Care System

Reading Room

EVENT: What Youth Wish Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Parents Knew
Thursday, July 22 10am PST
https://bit.ly/July22FFT

EVENT: What Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Parents Wish Youth Knew
Thursday, July 29 10am PST
https://bit.ly/July29YV

Addressing Economic Hardship Key to Preventing Child Welfare System Involvement
https://bit.ly/3ighQgo

Former Children’s Bureau Head To Work on Child Welfare ‘Replacement’
https://bit.ly/36v36oo

University of California Foster Students Organize to Demand Better Treatment on Campus
https://bit.ly/36BDDd3

Los Angeles Leaders Vote to Try “Colorblind” Foster Care Decisions
https://bit.ly/3wzc0vG

‘New Government Benefit’ Providing Cell Phones to California Foster Youth Made Permanent
https://bit.ly/3hNKtT7

America’s Hidden Foster Care System
https://stanford.io/3xPkX5y

Hidden Foster Care: A Collection of The Imprint’s Coverage
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/hidden-foster-care

07/12/2021

LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care, Baby Bonds, and Child Welfare 101 with Mary Bissell

On this podcast we discuss the overrepresentation of LGBTQ youth in foster care, big budget investments in California families, baby bonds in Connecticut, and foster youth stimulus in New York.

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Guest Interview

Mary Bissell of ChildFocus joins us for our first edition of Alphabet Soup: A Simple Serving of Complex Concepts in Child Welfare. First up: FMAP!

Reading Room

LGBTQ Youth Make Up One Third of Foster Care, But Are Often Poorly Served
https://bit.ly/3qQVXYV

LGBTQ Foster Youth in New York City: Strong in Numbers, Struggling in Care
https://bit.ly/3q0aJvI

Illinois Enhancing Support for LGBTQ Youth
https://bit.ly/3r1lChC

California’s Spending Plan Invests in Families and Children Still Reeling From the Pandemic
https://bit.ly/3qMtzao

Connecticut Becomes First State in Nation for Baby Bonds
https://bit.ly/3k4I7AX

One-time Pandemic Cash Assistance Now Available to Foster Youth in New York
https://bit.ly/2Vrn4hF

07/04/2021

Poverty Reduction? Only if You File Taxes

On this week’s episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast we discuss new proposals for abolishing “family policing” and creating a community-led parallel system for family support; lowered expectations on L.A. juvenile justice reform; and a surprising outcome among states that have raised the age since 2007. Jen Burdick of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia joins to talk about her organization’s massive push to help clients file tax returns this year to prevent them from missing out on major new family supports that some believe could halve child poverty in America. 

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Guest Interview

Jen Burdick of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia joins to talk about her organization’s massive push to help clients file tax returns this year to prevent them from missing out on major new family supports that some believe could halve child poverty in America.

Reading Room

Reading Room
Envisioning a Different Future for Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/3w8P2eL

Changing the Child Welfare System Starts With Reframing Our View of Families
https://bit.ly/3hihLYU

Los Angeles Seeks to Delay Sweeping Juvenile Justice Reform Plan
https://bit.ly/3w1x3qw

Advocates Tout Data Showing Raise the Age Laws Haven’t Overwhelmed States’ Juvenile Facilities
https://bit.ly/3w7O5mI

IRS Filing Portal for Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal

06/27/2021

A Better Approach on Foster Family Recruitment and Retention with Takkeem Morgan

On this week’s podcast we discuss universal basic income and pandemic assistance for current and former foster youth; a new federal investigation into the sordid history of Indian boarding schools; potential trouble for Ohio’s new mental health reform; and a settlement over homeless foster youth in Washington.

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Guest Interview

Takkeem Morgan of Foster Together Indiana joins us to talk about how his own experience with foster care and his time embedded with state government shaped his new venture. 

Reading Room

California’s Foster Youth UBI Bill Moves Forward, Bolstered By Promising Results from Similar Local Program
https://bit.ly/3vMKWc6

California County Tests Universal Basic Income to Support Youth After Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3dfmAB2

California Will Offer Pandemic Relief Cash to Young People Currently or Recently in Extended Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3xEuJHa

IRS Filing Portal for Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal

Child Poverty Increased Nationally During COVID, Especially Among Latino and Black Children
https://bit.ly/3jd6coF

US Boarding Schools to Be Investigated
https://bit.ly/2U5SysM

Ohio GOP Senate Change To Budget Could Endanger Program For At-Risk Youth
https://bit.ly/3vVBy5P

Moving Upstream on Mental Health
https://bit.ly/2ObtLAV

Washington Will End Foster Youth Placement in Hotels, Offices and Cars
https://bit.ly/3qilGt4

06/20/2021

Freedom to Discriminate: Breaking Down Fulton v. City of Philadelphia

On this week’s podcast, we discuss New York’s new legal path to visits for parents whose rights have been terminated; trends in juvenile incarceration; and the return of early child welfare legal advocacy to the city that birthed it.

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Guest Interview

Christina Remlin, the lead counsel for Children’s Rights, help us break down the decision in the recent Supreme Court case over the right of faith-based child welfare providers to choose who they will work with based on religious beliefs.

Reading Room

A Better Future for Minnesota Families: How to Improve Support for Parents in Crisis and Youth in Foster Care
www.bit.ly/MNFamilies

New York Legislature Passes Bill Allowing Parent-Child Contact After Termination of Rights
https://bit.ly/3czeRxl

Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/

Biennial Juvenile Incarceration Census Data Released
https://bit.ly/3q7ltsI

Early Child Welfare Legal Help Comes Back to The City That Invented It
https://bit.ly/3iJKkB2

Supreme Court Says Philadelphia Violated Catholic Child Welfare Group’s First Amendment Rights
https://bit.ly/3iLjit7

06/13/2021

In Pursuit of Non-reformist Reforms with David Kelly

On this week’s podcast, we discuss the decline in reunifications during the early pandemic, a potential legal counsel law in Congress, a new national campaign to connect current and former foster youth with pandemic assistance, and juvenile justice reforms in Michigan and New York.

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Guest Interview

David Kelly, a former official in the Children’s Bureau during the Obama and Trump administrations, joins to talk about his federal career and what he sees on the horizon for child welfare.

Reading Room

Families in Limbo: Coronavirus Hobbles Reunifications from Foster Care
https://bit.ly/3vgscRO

AP Analysis: COVID Prolonged Foster Care Stays for Thousands
https://bit.ly/3xiqT6y

Senate Bill May Require Legal Counsel for Parents, Children in Child Welfare Cases
https://bit.ly/3g9GyiH

Federal Guidance on Foster Youth Pandemic Relief: A Breakdown
https://bit.ly/3lj19lL

“Check for Us” National Campaign
www.checkforus.org

A Teenager Didn’t Do Her Online Schoolwork. So a Judge Sent Her to Juvenile Detention.
https://bit.ly/3zlYyOj

After Grace’s Story, Michigan Will Study Its Juvenile Justice System
https://bit.ly/2ThbX9T

Attorney David Kelly Leaves the Children’s Bureau
https://bit.ly/3vvREUx

06/06/2021

Transformation Points: Redesigning Child Welfare to Help Youth and Families Thrive

Throughout the country, jurisdictions are rethinking all aspects of the child welfare system, to make it more community-based, youth-centered, and responsive to families’ and communities’ needs. This podcast episode, originally recorded as an online event, features ideas from thought leaders in the field about how to move the needle.

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Guest Interview

We were joined for this discussion by Jerry Milner, former head of the US Children’s Bureau; Kelley Fong, a researcher who has done some amazing work on abuse and neglect reporting; Brian Blalock, head of New Mexico’s child welfare system; Sixto Cancel, the founder of the nonprofit Think of Us; and Barret Johnson of the child welfare tech company Binti, who discussed how improved technological infrastructure can help usher in such endeavors.

05/30/2021

Confronting Racism in Child Welfare Organizations

On this week’s podcast, reporter Julie Reynolds Martinez drops in to discuss a two-part series published by The Imprint and Voices of Monterey Bay about Corey Glassman, who was convicted as a teen for the brutal killing of a classmate. Glassman’s path through the incarceration system to recent parole epitomizes the changing tides in public attitude and policy about horrific crimes committed by youth.

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Guest Interview

Beverly Jones, child operating officer for Lutheran Child and Family Services, joins us to talk about her organization’s efforts to identify massive racial disparities in the outcomes of the kids it serves, and what Lutheran did to change that trajectory.

Reading Room

The Corey Glassman Story

Part I: Redemption Delayed
https://bit.ly/3yrikrf

Part II: Earning Freedom
https://bit.ly/2SAhEzb

05/23/2021

Building a Voice for System-Involved Youth with Alain Datcher

On this week’s podcast we discuss the everyday impact of the Indian Child Welfare Act in court; a guide for current and former foster youth who want to find out if they are owed social security benefits; Alabama gets sued (again); and new entries into the Family First Prevention Services Act.

Click here to view our full podcast archive for more interviews with leading voices in the fields of child welfare and youth justice.

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Guest Interview

Alain Datcher, executive director of the new Los Angeles Youth Commission, joins us to talk about how the new body will be put together and what guarantees are in place to make sure it has real power to influence the discussion on child welfare and juvenile justice policy.

Reading Room

Register for “Dollars and Dreams: Don’t Waste What’s in Your Wallet!”
http://bit.ly/DollarsAndDreams

Minneapolis Lawyers Rely on ‘Gold Standard’ Law to Keep Native American Families Together
https://bit.ly/2QwINme

Were You Ever in Foster Care? Here’s How to Find Out if the Government Took Your Money
https://bit.ly/2RxufmX

Class-Action Lawsuit in Alabama Alleges Mistreatment of Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3ytvfch

Clearinghouse OKs Five More Programs for Family First Act
https://bit.ly/3tZQu1R

Los Angeles Youth Commission Website
https://youthcommission.lacounty.gov/

05/16/2021

Raising the Floor on Prosecuting Youth

On this week’s podcast we discuss a multi-million dollar jury award in a “hidden foster care” case; a bill to offer employers a tax credit to hire current or former foster youth; another state moves to protect faith-based discrimination; and the New York mayoral candidates talk child welfare.

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Guest Interview

Ricky Watson, executive director of the National Juvenile Justice Network, joins us to discuss local and national efforts to establish a minimum age for arresting and processing youth. 

Reading Room

AP: N.C. County Illegally Removed Kids from Homes
https://bit.ly/3bNi5xd

Verdict: Federal jury awards millions to daughter, father separated by Cherokee County DSS
https://bit.ly/2RmrkgG

Tax Incentive to Hire Foster Youth Back in Congress
https://bit.ly/3faVuLI

We Asked the New York City Mayoral Candidates About the High-Stakes Child Welfare System. Here’s What They Said.
https://bit.ly/NYCchildwelfare

Still Bridging the Opportunity Divide for Low-Income Youth: Year Up’s Longer-Term Impacts
https://bit.ly/33L4QIT

Juvenile Arrests in 2019 Continued Long Downward Trend
https://bit.ly/3hqd6pD

Raising Our Standards by Raising the Minimum Age
https://bit.ly/3uRYR0K

05/09/2021

Money and Maltreatment

On this week’s podcast we discuss the end of the federal eviction moratorium, a string of new laws aimed at protecting parents suspected of abuse or neglect in New York, and Molly Dunn joins to talk about problems with Arizona’s effort to get federal assistance to current and former foster youth. 

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Guest Interview

Lindsey Bullinger of Georgia Tech University joins us for a conversation about how changes in the minimum wage can impact abuse and neglect, how to research the impact of the new child allowance, and what she and colleagues found when they matched up matched up child welfare data with cell phone usage during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Reading Room

Resuming Evictions Could Land Kids in Foster Care, Experts Say
https://bit.ly/3b8b89y

Evictions and Neighborhood Child Maltreatment Reports
https://bit.ly/3f1rulj

New York City Lawmakers, Moms Push Sweeping Changes to Child Maltreatment Reporting System
https://bit.ly/33qpldD

New Research Links Increased Minimum Wage to Reduced Child Maltreatment
https://bit.ly/2RvAqr7

COVID-19 and Alleged Child Maltreatment
https://bit.ly/3vNdCC7

05/02/2021

Post-Adoption America with April Dinwoodie

On this week’s podcast we discuss the tragic deaths of Ma’khia Bryant and Aviva Okeson-Haberman, the system clawing back social security from youth in foster care, and new research on termination of parental rights.

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Guest Interview

April Dinwoodie joins us to discuss what we’ve learned (and what we haven’t) when it comes to supporting adoptions and guardianships in America, and what she thinks of the recent calls to repeal or revisit federal adoption legislation. 

Reading Room

‘We Should Not Be Here Today’: Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, Mourned, Celebrated at Her Funeral
https://bit.ly/2QDY70u

Remembering KCUR Reporter Aviva Okeson-Haberman
https://n.pr/3h1Xzwd

Foster Care Agencies Take Thousands of Dollars Owed To Kids Most Children Have No Idea
https://bit.ly/3vHyjPX

Coming Soon to Congress: Discussion on Child Support Clawback
https://bit.ly/3oJjvgH

New Study Confirms High Prevalence of Investigations, Loss of Parental Rights
https://bit.ly/32B1GXl

Five Early-Career Researchers Selected for the William T. Grant Scholars Class of 2026
https://bit.ly/338y9Vo

North Carolina D.A. Erases Criminal Records for Former Juvenile Offenders
https://bit.ly/3dRhBY5

Former Foster Youth’s Bill Signed: At Every Washington State School, a Foster Care Coordinator
https://bit.ly/3vyBFEE

Profiles in Permanency
https://bit.ly/3xRkgJs

04/25/2021

Child Welfare Challenges in The Sunshine State

On this week’s podcast we discuss the police shooting of an Ohio foster youth, the recent Supreme Court decision on juvenile sentencing, and a novel partnership to connect former foster youth with housing stability.

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Guest Interview

Robert Latham of the University of Miami’s Children and Youth Law Clinic joins us to discuss several issues at play in Florida, one of America’s largest and most privatized child welfare systems. We talked about Latham’s unprecedented data project tracking the movement of foster youth in the state, a law that often leads to system-involved youth being confined in mental health facilities, and the state’s child welfare response to COVID-19.

Reading Room

Reading Room

Police Killing of Foster Child Ma’Khia Bryant in Ohio Wrenches Youth, Allies
https://bit.ly/3vdTusm

On Juvenile LWOP, Supreme Court Answers One Question and Creates Another
https://bit.ly/3dP3GSo

Ohio Senate Seeks Ban on Life Without Parole for Juveniles
https://bit.ly/3dNCV0v

Ben Carson Unveils Major Stable Housing Initiative for Former Foster Youth
https://bit.ly/3odHqUS

Supporting Foster Youth on College Campuses
https://bit.ly/2PaX07q

04/18/2021

COVID-19’s Impact on The Frontlines of Child Welfare

On this week’s podcast we discuss the first public appearance by one of Biden’s top child welfare officials, and another big state moves toward adoptee access to birth certificates, and The Imprint’s big win at the Sacramento Press Club awards.

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Guest Interview

Sixto Cancel of Think of Us joins us to discuss what’s going on with pandemic assistance to current and former foster youth. Dr. Jay Miller, dean of the University of Kentucky School of Social Work, joins us to discuss what his research shows about how COVID-19 has specifically impacted child welfare social workers and foster parents.

Reading Room

Biden’s Child Welfare Chief Meets Foster Youth, Calling for Cash Grants and Promising to Address Systemic Racism
https://bit.ly/3mUmJOg

Federal Guidance on Foster Youth Pandemic Relief: A Breakdown
https://bit.ly/3lj19lL

Texas House Moves Bill Strengthening Adoptee Rights to Original Birth Certificate
https://bit.ly/3df3wU8

Far from Home | Far from Safe
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/far-from-home

Study Zeros in on Self-Care During COVID-19
https://bit.ly/3n1UHjJ

04/15/2021

Big Questions for Child Welfare: Foster Care, Einstein, and Insanity

In our final installment of Big Questions for Child Welfare, Accenture’s Molly Tierney and Daniel Heimpel of Fostering Media Connections reflect on Tierney’s 2014 Ted Talk, at which 

she received a standing ovation for a speech that questioned the underpinnings of what she described as the child welfare industrial complex, and measured the use of foster care up to Einstein’s definition of insanity. 

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Guest Interview

Daniel Heimpel is the founder of Fostering Media Connections and the publisher of The Imprint. Molly Tierney is the child welfare lead for Accenture, and the former child welfare director for the City of Baltimore.

On Child Welfare Tech, Change is Scary But Necessary

04/11/2021

Is The Indian Child Welfare Act Headed Back to the Supreme Court?

On this week’s podcast we discuss a portal to federal aid for former foster youth; a big juvenile probation reform proposal in California; and new leadership at a pioneer group for elevating parent voice in child welfare. 

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Guest Interview

Chrissi Ross Nimmo, Deputy Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation, joins us to discuss the massive and complicated federal opinion on the Indian Child Welfare Act, and its likely move to the Supreme Court. And Fostering Media Connections Founder Daniel Heimpel joins us for a “farewell” lookback on the media platform he created.

Reading Room

Arizona Launches Portal to Connect Former Foster Youth with Pandemic Relief
https://bit.ly/2Q4BYrm

California Weighs Plan to Shrink Probation Supervision Terms for Youth
https://bit.ly/3fQ0qHG

Parent-empowerment Group Rise Names New Leadership Duo
https://bit.ly/322rNpU

Federal Court Ruling on Indian Child Welfare Act Goes in Several Directions
https://bit.ly/3mvzWMX

Extending Foster Care Past Age 18
https://bit.ly/3mzDOfW

UPCOMING EVENTS

Unjust Roadblocks: How the Juvenile System Makes It Hard to Succeed
April 13 / 1pm P/ 4pm E
https://bit.ly/3u0V9kJ

Transformation Points: Redesigning Child Welfare to Help Youth and Families Thrive
April 29 / 11am P / 2pm E
https://imprintnews.org/webinars

04/04/2021

10,000 Adoptions Later: Wendy’s Wonderful Kids

On this week’s podcast we discuss the growing interest in race-blind foster care removal decisions, hidden foster care, the return of federal earmarks, and an interesting Michigan Supreme Court case on educational neglect. 

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Guest Interview

Rita Soronen, CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, joins to discuss the first 10,000 adoptions accomplished under the organization’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, and what’s next for expansion of the program.

Reading Room

Color-Blind Ambition
https://bit.ly/3ufhJWU

Kentucky’s Budget Shrunk. These Informal Foster Parents Were Left with Nothing.
https://bit.ly/39IDW7X

Pork Is Back
https://bit.ly/2PRK46M

Inside the Expanding Universe of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids
https://bit.ly/2PX5dfv

 

03/29/2021

From Transferred Youth to Long-Haul Trucker

On this week’s podcast we discuss the state of legislation on Raise the Age reforms in Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin; a new campaign to repeal the Adoption and Safe Families Act; and news on the Family First Act.

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Guest Interview

Kevin Skidmore, owner of Four Fourty Trucking in Georgia, joins to discuss his journey from a youth transferred into adult jail to a businessman helping young adults come back home from incarceration.

Reading Room

Register for “Unjust Roadblocks: How the Juvenile System Makes It Hard to Succeed”
http://bit.ly/youthvoicefmc

Raise the Age: Where Legislation Stands in The Final Three States
https://bit.ly/39gQ4gc

Campaign Begins to Repeal Major Federal Child Welfare Law
https://bit.ly/3sihE3X

Nebraska’s Foster Care Prevention Plan Approved by Feds
https://bit.ly/314JULD

Foster Kinship Navigator Program: A Two Study Mixed-Method Evaluation Project
https://bit.ly/31r1hGB

03/25/2021

Big Questions for Child Welfare: How Do We Get Upstream?

The Imprint Weekly Podcast is releasing bonus episodes featuring our publisher, Daniel Heimpel, and Molly Tierney, the child welfare lead at Accenture and former child welfare director for Baltimore. 

On this episode, the two friends discuss  the growing call for child welfare to paddle “upstream,” investing more money in keeping families together and less on splitting them apart. What will it take to improve our prevention of abuse and neglect in America? And should that work be done by child welfare agencies, other parts of government, or something entirely different?

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Guest Interview

Daniel Heimpel is the founder of Fostering Media Connections and the publisher of The Imprint. Molly Tierney is the child welfare lead for Accenture, and the former child welfare director for the City of Baltimore.

On Child Welfare Tech, Change is Scary But Necessary

03/22/2021

“That There Isn’t a System At All”… Dorothy Roberts on Abolition in Child Welfare

On this week’s podcast, we discuss Washington’s limitations on life without parole, “raising the floor” on juvenile arrests, rules of the road for foster youth COVID relief and prioritizing foster parents for vaccines.

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Guest Interview

Dorothy Roberts, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Program on Race, Science & Society, wrote Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare two decades ago. At the time, she proposed abolishing the field as we know it, to be replaced by an entirely new system.

Today, she now longer believes that a system can work at all in a way that ensures justice for poor or Black families in America. She joins us to talk about the abolition movement in child welfare and the “non-reformist reforms” that she thinks can move the country in that direction.

Reading Room

Washington Supreme Court Raises Age of Sentencing Limits for Teenagers
https://bit.ly/2NmSAJR

Boy Picks Tulip, Gets Arrested: A Tale As Old As Time
https://bit.ly/30XvYmr

Federal Guidance on Foster Youth Pandemic Relief: A Breakdown
https://bit.ly/3lj19lL

California Foster Parents Win Vaccine Eligibility, As Fight Continues in New York
https://bit.ly/3tsMiaV

Abolishing Policing Also Means Abolishing Family Regulation
http://bit.ly/37Y8aDQ

Rising Voices For ‘Family Power’ Seek to Abolish The Child Welfare System
http://bit.ly/3okyyNU

03/15/2021

“A Tsunami Is Headed Your Way.” The Pandemic, One Year Later

On this week’s podcast, we break down the major child and family provisions in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed by President Biden last week, including a major guaranteed income program for parents.

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Guest Interview

Dave Newell, CEO of the Children’s Home Society of Washington, joins us to discuss a year of pandemic for an organization with services ranging from Head Start and home visiting to foster care.

Dave Newell

Reading Room

The American Rescue plan puts us on a pathway to end child poverty within a generation if…http://bit.ly/2Q1oWLj

Pandemic Support for Foster Youth Still Delayed, Months After Federal Action
https://bit.ly/2OgYKvC

Advice from Washington Family Services Provider: ‘Tsunami’ Is Coming Your Way
http://bit.ly/30F61rw

The Imprint‘s Coverage of Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice in a Time of Pandemic
https://imprintnews.org/coronavirus-kids-and-families

 

03/11/2021

Big Questions for Child Welfare: The Biden Agenda

Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing bonus episodes on Thursdays that will be conversations between The Imprint’s publisher Daniel Heimpel and Molly Tierney, the child welfare lead at Accenture and former director of Baltimore’s child welfare system.

On today’s episode, Tierney and Heimpel talk about the Biden administration, which succeeds an erratic period for child welfare in America under former President Donald Trump. The Trump administration is responsible for intentionally separating families at the nation’s Southern border, and for proposals that would gut the social safety net. It also unleashed federal resources for legal support to system-involved parents and children, and expanded federal child welfare spending to include much more money for efforts to keep families together.

Tierney and Heimpel talk about what a good comprehensive agenda for child welfare under Biden could mean.

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Guest Interview

Daniel Heimpel is the founder of Fostering Media Connections and the publisher of The Imprint. Molly Tierney is the child welfare lead for Accenture, and the former child welfare director for the City of Baltimore.

On Child Welfare Tech, Change is Scary But Necessary

03/08/2021

Leo Ages Out: What One Case Shows about Holes in The System

On this week’s podcast we discuss testing universal basic income for youth aging out of the foster care system, a Minnesota law aimed at addressing race disproportionality, and the new head of the U.S. Children’s Bureau.

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Guest Interview

Lori Ross, the founder of FosterAdopt Connect, joins us to talk about the case of a high-needs youth who was almost pushed out of Missouri foster care onto the streets with no help, and the many policy implications that young man’s story carries

Reading Room

Biden Taps New York Official to Lead U.S. Children’s Bureau

https://bit.ly/2MFsQZ0

Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration

https://bit.ly/2O360LE

California Considers Universal Basic Income for Former Foster Youth

https://bit.ly/3sIO5bM

Town Hall Held to Discuss Minnesota Bill Aimed At Limiting Black Family Separation

https://bit.ly/3e7oLrE

Tiffany Haddish Launches Internship Program for Foster Youth Interested in Showbiz

https://bit.ly/3sOIUqO

She Ready Internship Application

https://readytosucceedla.org/she-ready

ACLU Sues as Missouri is Set to Release Young Man with Severe Autism from Foster Care

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article249529070.html

 

02/28/2021

Investing in Gang Leaders to Fight Poverty

On this week’s episode we discuss some of the Biden administration’s early hires for key positions at the Administration for Children and Families, which oversees family support and child welfare in the federal government. 

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Guest Interview

Michelle Caldeira, the senior vice president of College Bound Dorchester, joins us to discuss a plan to invest in a new trajectory for gang leaders in Boston as an antipoverty strategy. 

 

Reading Room

“How Foster Families Are Coping”: A webinar to discuss findings from a survey of foster and resource families about the pandemic.
http://bit.ly/ParentPollFindings

JooYeun Chang Joins Biden Child Welfare Team
https://bit.ly/3pWNCAR

Biden Starts to Fill in Leadership at Administration for Children and Families
http://bit.ly/3bGv42w

As Hotline Calls Plummeted, Michigan Did Some Dialing of Its Own
http://bit.ly/3fT15ET

$400 Million In Coronavirus Relief for Foster Youth Heads to States
http://bit.ly/3c36KIH

Confusion Among State Agencies Delays Vaccines for New York Foster Youth In Congregate Care
https://bit.ly/2MusUuz

02/25/2021

Big Questions for Child Welfare: Racial Bias and Caseworker Training

Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing  bonus episodes on Thursdays that will be conversations between The Imprint’s publisher Daniel Heimpel and Molly Tierney, the child welfare lead at Accenture and former director of Baltimore’s child welfare system.  

On today’s episode they discuss racial biases and the child welfare workforce with Karen Baynes-Dunning, acting president of the Southern Poverty Law Center and former juvenile court judge.  The three explore interesting lessons on this issue learned from testing of a virtual caseworker training platform. 

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Guest Interview

Daniel Heimpel is the founder of Fostering Media Connections and the publisher of The Imprint. Molly Tierney is the child welfare lead for Accenture, and the former child welfare director for the City of Baltimore. Karen Bayens-Dunning is a former juvenile court judge and the acting president of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

On Child Welfare Tech, Change is Scary But Necessary

02/22/2021

Building the Case for Rewiring Child Welfare

On this week’s episode we discuss new access to birth certificates for adoptees in New York with reporter Michael Fitzgerald, more job training efforts for system-involved teens and young adults in California and Nevada, and a national campaign to end the use of solitary confinement for youth.

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Guest Interview

Ned Breslin, CEO of Tennyson Center for Children, joins us to talk about Colorado’s Rewiring initiative aimed at proving that more money to help families avoid crises will reap huge savings in the long run.

Reading Room

Adoption Secrecy Has Ended for Thousands Since New York Unsealed Birth Records

bit.ly/2ZA5iYp

Houston Region Funds Community-Based Alternatives to Youth Incarceration

bit.ly/3bqHdsl

Child Welfare Workers Scramble to Protect Foster Youth through Deadly Texas Winter Storm

bit.ly/3aImDVs

States Jump on New Chance to Target Most-Vulnerable Youth for Job Training

bit.ly/3qIPluS

$1 Million to Fund New Phase of Fight Against Solitary Confinement for Youth

bit.ly/3dzteDj

What Child Welfare Can Learn from ‘Rewiring’

bit.ly/3ujCQrR

02/15/2021

YAP-ing About Alternatives to Incarceration

On this week’s episode we discuss  the continuing spiral of Sequel, a for-profit provider of residential youth programs, Biden’s halt to Trump religious rules, a new slate of child allowance plans and more. 

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Guest Interview

Gary Ivory, the new president of Youth Advocate Programs (often just called YAP) joins us to talk about what we know about serving young offenders without resorting to incarceration, his famous Tour of the South with young gang members, and what the Biden administration should focus on in regard to youth justice.

Reading Room

After Abuse Probe, Another Sequel-run Program that Housed California Youth Will Close
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/sequel-closes-program-flagship-location/51693

LGBTQ, Foster Youth Groups Hail Biden Administration Stance on Discrimination Lawsuit
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/lgbtq-foster-youth-groups-hail-biden-stance-discrimination-lawsuit/51826

Annie E. Casey Foundation Puts New Focus on 14- to 24-Year-Olds
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/annie-e-casey-foundation-new-focus-14-24-year-olds/51606

New Washington State Senator’s Bill for Foster Kids Advances with Unanimous Support
https://imprintnews.org/youth-homelessness/former-foster-youth-first-bill-washington-legislator-passes-senate/51708

Founder of the Only Magazine By and For Parents Impacted by Child Welfare System Steps Down
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/parents-rise-nora-mccarthy-steps-down-child-welfare/51747

02/08/2021

The Vaccine and Child Welfare; A New Prize for Thinking Outside the Box

About 40,000 foster youth live in group homes and institutions. On this week’s podcast we talk to reporter Megan Conn about what’s going on with vaccination for the frontline staff at these places, some research of note on homelessness and employment, and a former foster youth who just became an NAACP Image Award nominee.

BONUS: This episode features music from the Unsung program, which helps youth in juvenile settings learn to perform, record and produce songs.

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Guest Interview

Chani Katzen Laufer and Jill Nagle of the Aviv Foundation join us to talk about a new $200,000 award the grant maker will give to four new ideas for family support and child welfare.

Reading Room

Children’s Residential Centers Scramble to Secure Vaccines for Frontline Staff
https://imprintnews.org/coronavirus/childrens-residential-centers-scramble-to-secure-vaccines-for-frontline-staff/51469

With Frontline Workers Refusing Vaccination, Youth Residential Facilities Consider Future Mandates
https://imprintnews.org/coronavirus/youth-congregate-facilities-requiring-coronavirus-shots/51641

A New Study Highlights Promising Jobs Programs for Foster Youth
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/a-new-study-highlights-promising-jobs-programs-for-foster-youth/51525

‘Black Foster Youth Handbook’ Author Nominated for NAACP Image Award
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/black-foster-youth-handbook-nominated-naacp-image-award/51529

Vote for the NAACP Image Awards
https://naacpimageawards.net/

Award Announced for New Ideas in Child Welfare
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/award-new-ideas-child-welfare/51564

02/01/2021

Supporting Foster Youth on College Campuses

On this week’s podcast, we highlight a law to dismantle and rebuild child protection in Iowa, closure of juvenile prisons in New York and a former foster youth gets a key spot in the Biden administration. 

BONUS: This episode features music from the Unsung program, which helps youth in juvenile settings learn to perform, record and produce songs. 

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Guest Interview

Christopher Scott and Lino Peña-Martinez of Connecticut’s Sun Scholars program join us to talk about their model of a central program that supports current and former foster youth on college campuses around the state.

Reading Room

A Bipartisan Bill To Bolster Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/bipartisan-bill-bolster-child-abuse-prevention-treatment-act/51353

Bill Would Create One Million New Apprenticeships

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/bill-create-one-million-new-apprenticeships/51379

New York Governor Aims to Shut Down Nearly Empty Youth Prisons

https://imprintnews.org/justice/new-york-governor-aims-to-shut-down-nearly-empty-youth-prisons/51327

Amid Abuse Reports, Sequel-run Facility That Treated California Children Will Close

https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/amid-abuse-reports-sequel-run-facility-that-treated-california-children-will-close/51391

Youth Returning to California from Out-of-State Programs

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss-programs/continuum-of-care-reform/returning-youth-from-out-of-state-programs

Biden Appoints Child Welfare Policy Expert, and Former Foster Youth, to Budget Office

https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/sherry-lachman-founder-foster-america-biden-budget-office/51279

 

01/25/2021

A Deep Dive on Child Maltreatment Statistics

On this week’s podcast, we share some thoughts on the earlygoing on child welfare and juvenile justice for the Biden Administration: initial actions, key hires, and the Family First Act. 

BONUS: This episode features music from the Unsung program, which helps youth in juvenile settings learn to perform, record and produce songs.

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Guest Interview

David Finkelhor of the Crimes Against Children Research Center and Family Research Laboratory joins to discuss the most recent federal data on child abuse and neglect, and what it showed as America headed into the coronavirus pandemic.

Reading Room

Biden First-Day Order Likely Means Rollback of Trump Faith-Based Protection
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/biden-first-day-order-likely-means-rollback-of-trump-faith-based-protection/51136

Biden Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Leaders: Some Logical Candidates
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/biden-child-welfare-juvenile-justice-leaders-logical-candidates/49471

The Biden Transition Team: Key Players on Family and Justice
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/biden-transition-team-family-justice/49273

A Complete Guide to The Family First Act
https://imprintnews.org/special-series/complete-guide-the-family-first-act

 

01/18/2021

How to Spend $400 Million on Older Foster Youth

On this week’s podcast we discuss the departure of Jerry Milner from the Trump administration (will he be back under Biden?), more lawsuits, and what the newest data on child abuse and neglect shows.

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Guest Interview

Double feature! Celeste Bodner of FosterClub joins to discuss the $400 million in coronavirus aid headed to states to help current and former foster youth; and New Jersey child welfare commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer talks to us about her recent stimulus check program for older youth in care. 

BONUS: This episode features music from the Unsung program, which helps youth in juvenile settings learn to perform, record and produce songs.

Reading Room

Trump Separated Families. One Appointee Fought to Keep Them Together.

California Budgets $8 Million to Bring Youth Home from Troubled Facilities

Children’s Rights Sued One-Third of New England This Week

Number of Child Abuse and Neglect Victims Reached Record Low in 2019

Last-Minute Spending Deal Includes Boosts for Child Welfare

Feds Strongly Suggest That States Use Coronavirus Relief for Cash Payments to Foster Youth

01/14/2021

BONUS PODCAST: Reform is the Destination. Tech is the Road

Improving casework. Identifying and addressing racial disproportionality and disparity. Reducing the use of foster care. More knowledge about what works to prevent abuse and neglect.

Whatever you think is the most pressing reform in child welfare, technology is a key facet of solving the problem. In December, The Imprint hosted an online discussion about technology’s critical role in improving the child welfare system. 

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Guest Interview

The Imprint was joined for this discussion by Molly Tierney, child welfare industry lead for Accenture, and Scooter Ward, former deputy chief information officer of the Washington, D.C. Child and Family Services Agency

On Child Welfare Tech, Change is Scary But Necessary

01/11/2021

Ending Homelessness for Youth Leaving Foster Care

2020 was the first full year for the Foster Youth to Independence initiative (FYI), which helps secure stable housing and self-sufficiency services for young adults aging out of foster care. 

This week’s podcast was recorded live on Zoom in early December, and features a discussion about FYI’s first year and what comes next as the initiative recently became enshrined into law.

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Guest Interview

We’re joined for the conversation about Foster Youth to Independence by Ruth White and Jamole Callahan, two chief architects of the initiative, and Love Williams, an early participant in the initiative.

01/04/2021

The Pandemic’s Heartbreaking Toll on Separated Families

On this week’s podcast we discuss the child welfare package passed by Congress as part of the coronavirus relief deal, new studies on life after foster care, and a temporary fix in Ohio on kinship support.

BONUS: This episode features music from the Unsung program, which helps youth in juvenile settings learn to perform, record and produce songs.

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by Melissa Thompson, Melanie Jordan and Cam Lundstrom of the Office of Respondent Parent Counsel in Colorado for a sobering discussion on how the pandemic has impacted the cases of parents with children in foster care.

12/28/2020

This Year on The Imprint Weekly Podcast

Description: It’s been 11 weeks since we launched The Imprint Weekly Podcast. On this episode, Imprint Senior Editor John Kelly and producer Christine Ongjoco have put together a collection of clips from interviews with our first year of guests. 

Thanks to everyone who listened, subscribed, or joined us on the podcast in 2020. Happy New Year to all!

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Guest Interview

This episode includes clips from our interviews with the following guests:

Christina Remlin of Children’s Rights
Sharon McDaniel, A Second Chance Inc.
Roxanna Asgarian, author and freelance reporter
Jodi Cohen, ProPublica Illinois
Alan Dettlaff and Kristen Weber, upEND Movement
Serita Cox, iFoster
Andy Barclay and Melissa Carter, Barton Child Law and Policy Center
Vivek Sankaran, University of Michigan Law School
California Assemblymember Ash Kalra
Ohio Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran
Lisa Ling, host of CNN’s This is Life with Lisa Ling
Daniel Heimpel, publisher of The Imprint
Campaign for Youth Justice CEO Marcy Mistrett
Sara Tiano, reporter for The Imprint
Nora McCarthy and Jeanette Vega, Rise

12/21/2020

15 Years and Rise-ing

On this week’s podcast we discuss the immediate fallout from The Imprint’s investigation into California’s use of out-of-state youth facilities, the rise in child welfare cases in Los Angeles during the pandemic, rapid testing regulations getting lifted and a big result for the workforce development program Year Up. 

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by Nora McCarthy and Jeanette Vega of Rise, a New York City organization dedicated to supporting parents involved in child welfare cases, about the organization’s first 15 years in the world.

12/13/2020

California Cancels Sequel; The Fight To Keep Kids Out of Adult Court

On this week’s podcast, we discuss the major investigation of California’s use of an embattled for-profit to care for kids out of state, trendlines since New York “raised the age,” and a new foster youth film channel.

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by Campaign for Youth Justice CEO Marcy Mistrett to discuss the end of the campaign, which closes its doors this month, and the past 15 years in the fight to keep youth out of adult courts and facilities.

12/06/2020

Lisa Ling on The Opioid Crisis within Child Welfare

On this week’s podcast we discuss the potential legislative aftermath of a suicide in a Wisconsin juvenile facility, new Family First Act approvals, and how a rapid home-testing strategy could affect juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by renowned journalist Lisa Ling and Imprint Publisher Daniel Heimpel to discuss Ling’s recent documentary covering the crossroads of opioid addiction and child welfare in her ongoing CNN documentary series.

11/30/2020

Moving Upstream on Child Mental Health

On this week’s podcast we discuss the soaring cost of incarceration in New York’s juvenile justice system, a landmark settlement on how child welfare agencies support disabled parents, and a new tutoring plan available for thousands of foster youth in the country.

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by Ohio Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran to talk about her state’s new plan to change mental health services for youth and young adults and prevent unnecessary child welfare and foster care cases.

11/24/2020

Can California Erase Racism at Trial?

Description: On this week’s podcast we cover a lawsuit over equal support for relative caregivers in Ohio, LGBTQ youth in foster care, how foster homes are doing during the coronavirus pandemic, and New Jersey’s stimulus relief for older youth in care.

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by California State Assemblymember Ash Kalra about his California Racial Justice Act, which was recently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom and attempts to provide what might be an unprecedented check on racial bias during trials and at sentencing.

11/16/2020

Measuring Family Separation, and the Biden Child Welfare Agenda

On this week’s podcast we provide an overview of the Who Cares project, The Imprint’s annual data collection on foster youth and foster homes in America. We also discuss some local and state election results, and what’s going on with the Biden transition team. 

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Guest Interview

We’re joined by Melissa Carter, executive director of the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory University, and Andy Barclay, statistician for the group Fostering Court Improvement, to discuss a new metric to track family separation in America. Imprint columnist Vivek Sankaran joins to discuss what he hopes a Biden-Harris child welfare policy will look like.

11/09/2020

A Pandemic Plan To Keep Foster Youth Plugged In

On this week’s podcast we cover state and local ballot measures with big consequences for children and families, the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia Supreme Court case, and an interesting new program in Ohio aimed at preventing parents from relinquishing custody of their kids. 

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Guest Interview

Our guest this week is Serita Cox, co-founder of iFoster, on how her organization fueled a partnership that produced thousands of laptops and cell phones for current and former foster youth whose educations were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

11/02/2020

The Abolitionists

On this week’s podcast we look at a few interesting ballot initiatives that voters will decide on tomorrow, the plan to rewrite juvenile justice in Los Angeles, and how child support is used by states to offset the cost of welfare and foster care. 

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Guest Interview

Alan Dettlaff and Kristen Weber, co-founders of the upEND Movement, join us to talk about how the campaign came together and what they mean by seeking the abolition of the modern child welfare system.

10/26/2020

Detained for Skipping Schoolwork

It’s a reporter-palooza! Journalist Roxanna Asgarian joins Senior Editor John Kelly to discuss her recent investigative report for The Imprint about the culture of silence on abuse inside Texas child welfare facilities. We also discuss Florida and privatization, and the recent spate of settlements in child welfare class-action lawsuits.

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Guest Interview

ProPublica reporter Jodi Cohen joins us to discuss her story from the summer about a Michigan teenager who was locked up by a juvenile court judge for skipping a virtual class. Cohen’s piece is perhaps now the most famous example of a long-debated federal policy: the “valid court order exception.”

10/19/2020

Anti-Racism and Child Welfare

We discuss the issue of credit for schoolwork done in juvenile justice facilities, plans for a universal suicide screening for foster youth and expansion of a homelessness prevention plan for young adults aging out of care.

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Guest Interview

Sharon McDaniel, founder of A Second Chance, Inc. and president of the group Black Administrators in Child Welfare, joins us to discuss child welfare in the time of coronavirus and what it means for a system to be “anti-racist.”

10/12/2020

Faithful Discrimination

In the inaugural episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, Senior Editor John Kelly discussed the coronavirus relief package, a new state joining the Family First Act, and the looming end to California’s notorious state-run juvenile prisons.

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Guest Interview

Christina Remlin of Children’s Rights discussed the legal and political battles being waged over faith-based child welfare providers seeking to choose who they will, and will not, serve.