On this week’s Headlines edition of the podcast, we discuss the latest on the Trump administration’s A Home for Every Child initiative and some child welfare bills moving in Congress. We also discuss The Imprint’s recent reporting on parental relinquishments, a law in Oklahoma prompted by a child fentanyl death, foster youth and chronic absenteeism, and more. 

Thanks to iFoster for sponsoring this episode.

Reading Room

A Home for Every Child Innovation Challenge
https://acf.gov/home-every-child-innovation-challenge

The Imprint’s Who Cares Project
FosterCareCapacity.com

New Focus on Psychotropic Medication Use in Foster Care Declared at RFK ‘Overmedicalization’ Summit
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/top-federal-child-welfare-official-focused-on-psychotropics/274408

Trump’s Planned Spending on Child Welfare and Youth Justice
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trumps-budget-plan-on-child-welfare-and-youth-justice/274224

Federal Bill Aims to Address Sibling Separation in Foster Care
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/federal-bill-aims-to-address-sibling-separation-in-foster-care/274283

House Committee Moves Bills to Support Current, Former Foster Youth
https://imprintnews.org/subscriber-content/house-committee-moves-bills-to-support-current-former-foster-youth/274257

Lawmakers Seek to End Ban on Medicaid Covering Foster Youths’ Residential Care
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/bill-would-end-ban-on-medicaid-covering-foster-youths-residential-care/273791

Foster Care for Mental Health Treatment: Parents Surrender Thousands of Kids Each Year In Search of Help
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-care-for-mental-health-treatment-parents-surrender-thousands-of-kids-each-year-in-search-of-help/273355

Adopted and Locked Away: Kids promised ‘forever homes’ instead confined in for-profit institutions
https://apnews.com/article/adopted-children-boarding-schools-treatment-investigation-e5d8dab2e4db1f2f4c5abbfaf0d97c52

At CT DCF, staff turnover is high. The costs can be devastating.
https://ctmirror.org/2026/05/10/ct-dcf-staff-turnover/

‘This is where they came to die’: Historical marker highlights horrors at segregated reform school
https://marylandmatters.org/2026/05/07/this-is-where-they-came-to-die-historical-marker-highlights-horrors-at-segregated-reform-school/

Leo's Law to protect children from fentanyl approved by the Oklahoma Senate
https://okcfox.com/news/local/leos-law-to-protect-children-from-fentanyl-approved-by-the-oklahoma-senate

When Life ‘Explodes’: New Research Explores Why California Foster Youth Miss School
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/when-life-explodes-new-research-explores-why-california-foster-youth-miss-school/274367

California Lawmakers Try to Avoid Foster Youth Going Hungry Following Federal Food Stamp Cuts
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/california-lawmakers-looking-to-avoid-foster-youth-going-hungry/274537

Indigenous People Honor and Raise Awareness for Relatives Who are Missing or Have Been Killed
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/indigenous-people-raise-awareness-for-missing-murdered-relatives/274252

‘The Little Flowers Are Me, Unbloomed:’ Georgia Foster Teens Find Their Voices Through Art Exhibit
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/the-little-flowers-are-me-unbloomed-georgia-foster-teens-find-their-voices-through-art-exhibit/274098