The Pandemic's Heartbreaking Toll on Separated Families

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.

Episode Archive

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.