Headlines: Background Checks, Understaffing, SNAP Waivers and More

On this week’s headlines edition we discuss recent actions by the Trump administration, including efforts to improve the background check process for foster home licensing. We also discuss why in some states, the end of SNAP waivers for former foster youth won’t mean much, because they never got the waivers in the first place; and the push to build more juvenile facilities in states that can barely staff the ones they have.

Reading Room

Trump Administration Announces Grant Awards for Modernizing Foster Home Licensing
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trump-administration-announces-grant-awards-for-modernizing-foster-home-licensing/277190

Feds Expand Foster Care Prevention Funding to Include Expectant Parents
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/feds-expand-foster-care-prevention-funding-to-include-expectant-parents/277485

A Clearer Approach to Child Welfare Improvement Is Taking Shape
https://imprintnews.org/opinion/a-clearer-approach-to-child-welfare-improvement-is-taking-shape/277410

Supreme Court Denies Latest Challenge to Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/icwa/supreme-court-denies-latest-challenge-to-indian-child-welfare-act/277540

A Growing Number of Courts Nationwide Are Dedicated to Enforcing the Indian Child Welfare Act
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/a-growing-number-of-courts-nationwide-are-dedicated-to-enforcing-the-indian-child-welfare-act/276658

Foster Youth Navigate Hungry Autumn as SNAP Access Tightens
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-youth-navigate-hungry-autumn-as-snap-access-tightens/276906

The Trump Administration Plans to Roll Back Federal Regulations for Head Start. Here is What it Could Mean for California’s San Joaquin Valley.
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/the-trump-administration-plans-to-roll-back-federal-regulations-for-head-start-here-is-what-it-could-mean-for-californias-san-joaquin-valley/277544

Advocates Propose New Limits on Federal Child Welfare Funding
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/advocates-propose-new-limits-on-federal-child-welfare-funding/277464

Charting the Course: A Blueprint for Child Welfare Financing and Accountability Reform
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/charting-the-course-a-blueprint-for-child-welfare-financing-and-accountability-reform/

Survey Finds Extended Foster Care for Young Adults Helps — But Too Few Know It’s an Option
https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/survey-finds-extended-foster-care-for-young-adults-helps-but-too-few-know-its-an-option/276986

First-Ever National Survey Finds Forgotten Graves of Incarcerated Children
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/first-ever-national-survey-finds-forgotten-graves-of-incarcerated-children/277236

The Buried History of Chelteham
https://imprintnews.org/podcast/buried-history-cheltenham

Texas Youth Prison Lockdown Prompts Calls for Reform Ahead of New Facility Builds
https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2026-10-01/texas-youth-prison-lockdown-prompts-calls-for-reform-ahead-of-new-facility-builds