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.

Guest Interview Details

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/

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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. 

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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.

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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/

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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. 

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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

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. 

Guest Interview Details

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.