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. 

Guest Interview Details

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.

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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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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.

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. 

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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. 

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“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

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. 

Guest Interview Details

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.

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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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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  sales@fosteringmediaconnections.org  

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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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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 Details

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.

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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

“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.

Guest Interview Details

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.

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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

“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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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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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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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.

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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

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. 

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Reading Room

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

“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. 

Guest Interview Details

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