Surprising Findings on Aging Out, Removal Reasons and More

This week we discuss the race between Texas and New York to pass the first “Family Miranda” bill for child welfare investigations, clergy as mandated reporters, and the 28th state to ban juvenile life without parole sentences. 

Serita Cox of iFoster joins to discuss some of the most interesting results from the organization’s second annual foster care survey, including some notable responses from current and former foster youth about reunification or adoption

Guest Interview Details

Serita Cox is the co-founder of iFoster, which uses a free platform to ensure that every child growing up outside of their biological home has the resources and opportunities they need to become successful. Before launching iFoster in 2010, Cox spent more than a decade consulting on technology and management in the Bay Area.

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Texas Should Tell Parents Their Rights When It Investigates Child Abuse Claims, Lawmaker Proposes https://bit.ly/3ooLNSy ‘Miranda Warning’-style Bill for Parents Fails in New York City Council https://bit.ly/3GYmtGz States Weigh Child Abuse Reporting vs. Clergy’s Duty of Confidentiality https://bit.ly/3IsyNCk Minnesota Abolishes Juvenile Life-Without-Parole Sentences https://eji.org/news/minnesota-abolishes-juvenile-life-without-parole-sentences/ Gov. Walz Signs Bill to End Use of Juvenile Solitary Confinement https://bit.ly/43eBtLE Voice of The Foster Care Community https://voiceoffostercare.org/

The Steady Decline of Youth Incarceration, with Melissa Sickmund

On this week’s episode, Melissa Sickmund, director of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, joins us to dive into the decades-long plummeting of youth arrests and incarceration, juvenile justice in the age of Covid-19, data blind spots and more.

Guest Interview Details

Dr. Melissa Sickmund joined the National Center for Juvenile Justice in 1986 and has been at its helm since 2012

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Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/ Juvenile Residential Facility Census Databook https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/jrfcdb/ Juvenile Justice Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics https://www.jjgps.org/

Assessing Foster Care from Within

On this week’s episode, we discuss a scary error in California’s abuse registry process, more on state efforts to end gender-affirming care for youth, Louisiana’s “Lower the Age” bill and a new ombuds office for youth in foster care in Ohio.

Guest Interview Details

Serita Cox of iFoster joins to talk about how an email her organization sent to partners about what the Biden administration should prioritize in child welfare may have planted the seed for an annual nationwide survey about foster care.

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California’s Child Abuse Registry is Missing Upwards of 22,000 Abuse Suspects, Audit Finds https://bit.ly/3NRv4hR Texas Resumes Investigations into Parents of Trans Children, Families’ Lawyers Confirm https://bit.ly/3lLCS8R DeSantis Moves to Ban Transition Care for Transgender Youths, Medicaid Recipients https://nbcnews.to/3GSTpkZ In New Orleans, City Officials Are No Longer Holding Juveniles in the Adult Jail. A Proposed State Law May Force Them To https://bit.ly/3Q3YYRZ Honoring the Life of Ma’Khia Bryant: An Ombudsperson for Foster Youth in Ohio https://bit.ly/3v153pP Ohio Youth and Family Ombudsmen Office Opens https://bit.ly/3NBIS0l Governor Appoints Two Ombudsmen to Lead New Office https://bit.ly/396YKsw Survey Shows Frustration with Foster Care from Within The System https://bit.ly/3MkmSp2 Voice of the Foster Care Community https://voiceoffostercare.org/ Year 2 Survey for Voice of the Foster Care Community https://bit.ly/3NPtBbI

New Numbers on Broken Adoption and Child Maltreatment Registries

On this week’s podcast we discuss the recent series and data reporting by USA Today on youth who experience adoption from foster care and return to the system, the recent federal investigation on America’s use of Indian boarding schools; and news on lawsuits in Alaska and Indiana.

Guest Interview Details

Buzzfeed reporter Scott Pham joins to discuss his data reporting work on state-rund child abuse and neglect registries, which led him to conservatively estimate that 3 million people are currently on them.

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Free registration! Tough Conversations: Navigating Relationships with Biological Family Sponsored by iFoster https://bit.ly/3NLFWxR For tens of thousands of children in the U.S., their “forever family” doesn’t last long. USA TODAY investigates: Why do adoptions fail? https://bit.ly/3sPiveP Bill Aims to Prevent Adoptive Parents from Abusing Subsidy Program https://bit.ly/39KP0nB Child Welfare Ideas from the Experts, #10: Better Policing of Adoption Subsidies https://bit.ly/3MCkdrH Time for New Numbers on Adoption Disruption https://bit.ly/3wA5tE8 A First, But Incomplete, Measure of Adoption Success https://bit.ly/38V0Pnj The U.S. Government Releases Landmark Investigation Into the Brutal Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools https://bit.ly/3sPBgyV Following Landmark Report on Indian Boarding Schools, Survivors Call on Congress for Broader Inquiry https://bit.ly/3Pcrro2 Lawsuit Alleges End to End Failures in Alaska’s Child Welfare System https://bit.ly/3Gnd9ND Firm Files Lawsuit Against Indiana’s Child Welfare System https://bit.ly/3wEBJFe 7th Circuit Dismisses 2019 Lawsuit Seeking Sweeping Changes to Indiana DCS Policies https://bit.ly/3PAgfSr Judges Toss Class Actions Against Ohio, West Virginia https://bit.ly/3ii6lpS “It’s Like A Leech On Me”: Child Abuse Registries Punish Unsuspecting Parents Of Color https://bit.ly/3G5YmGQ

Why Isn’t Community College Working for So Many Foster Youth?

On this week’s podcast we discuss the final numbers on the enhanced child tax credit that ran from July to December; host home respite care comes to New York after a two-year standoff; and an audit suggests what might really be behind Montana’s very high use of foster care.

Guest Interview Details

Amy Dworsky of Chapin Hall and Judy Havlicek of the University of Illinois join to discuss some dismal new findings about community college completion among youth who aged out of foster care. And, current community college student Matt Schaad talks about his own path towards a degree.

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Sixth Child Tax Credit Payment Kept 3.7 Million Children Out of Poverty in December https://bit.ly/3tRWcX6 New York Allows Overnight Respite Care For Children, Despite “Shadow Foster Care” Concerns https://bit.ly/3qry8Z2 Faith-Based Movement to ‘Host’ Children of Struggling Families Hits Opposition in New York https://bit.ly/33As1Fa Report Finds Problems with Foster Child Program, Including Missing Protection and Safety Plans https://bit.ly/3fQc30f Kids in Care: Analysis of Population Trends and Management Processes in Montana’s Foster Care System https://bit.ly/33LKSkF Chapin Hall Study Finds Lack of Support for Foster Youth in Community College https://bit.ly/33vUpMt Chapin Hall Research Brief https://bit.ly/32q84o7

Chicago’s Unprecedented Juvenile Detention Experiment

On this week’s podcast we discuss a foster care capacity crisis in Texas, promising programs and bad facilities in Los Angeles, and former foster youth getting positions of leadership in federal government. 

Guest Interview Details

In the early 2010s, Chicago’s juvenile detention center got a much-needed physical overhaul. Its leadership at the time used the opportunity to set up a gold-standard trial to test a new approach to engaging the youth inside. Juvenile detention expert David Roush joins us to talk about what they found and what’s happened since.

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Healers in The System: From the Health Field to Child Welfare Leadership Register for free! Tomorrow, Sept. 21, 4pm EST (can’t make it? Sign up and receive the recording!) https://imprintnews.org/webinars Virtual Town Hall on Pandemic Assistance for Foster Youth TODAY at 4pm EST https://thinkofus.typeform.com/to/hUC75vWw More Texas Foster Youth Are Sleeping in State Offices Than at Any Other Point in Recent Years https://bit.ly/3hIQL5R Texas Foster Care Children Exposed to Sexual Abuse, Given Wrong Medication and Neglected in Unlicensed Placements, New Report Says https://bit.ly/39jqc2L Los Angeles County Supervisors Approve Therapeutic Approaches to Youth Detention https://bit.ly/3AiTHgT State Agency Declares L.A.’s Juvenile Halls ‘Unsuitable for Confinement of Minors’ https://bit.ly/3CoEcVd Foster Youth Advocate Joins Biden Administration’s Child Welfare Agency Leadership https://bit.ly/39c0DR7 Child Welfare Policymakers Need to Learn User Centered Design https://bit.ly/3kn5mG7 Young Adult Consultant and Youth Support Leads Application www.bit.ly/ICFYAC2021

Supports, Not Just Services: Talking Child Welfare Response with Chapin Hall’s Bryan Samuels

On this week’s podcast we discuss the recent dismissal of lawsuits in Ohio and West Virginia, new research on the prevalence of child protection investigations, and a local investigation into “hidden foster care” that might make waves.

Guest Interview Details

Bryan Samuels, executive director of Chapin Hall, joins us to discuss the Family First Act, race and poverty, congregate care and his organization’s new policy brief on including more concrete and economic supports in child welfare.

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Judges Toss Class Actions Against Ohio, West Virginia https://bit.ly/3ii6lpS Nearly Half of Children Experience CPS Investigations For Abuse And Neglect Before 18, New Estimates For Large Counties Show https://bit.ly/2TSQzsj Contact with Child Protective Services Is Pervasive but Unequally Distributed by Race and Ethnicity in Large US Counties https://bit.ly/3A12W4O NC County Illegally Removed Kids from Homes https://bit.ly/3ilWMq8 Key Supervisor Pleads guilty in DSS Family Separation Scheme https://bit.ly/3ynnxQx Addressing Economic Hardship Key to Preventing Child Welfare System Involvement https://bit.ly/3ighQgo

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

Guest Interview Details

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.

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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. 

Guest Interview Details

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.