01/04/2021
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.
Episode Archive
01/18/2021
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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!
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
