It is the 200th episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast! On this week’s episode we go through some fun facts about the first 199 episodes of the show, and then talk to Cheyanne Deopersaud about the virtual mayoral forum on youth issues she organized and will host this week (free registration info in the show notes). 

We discuss the many things going on in Washington, D.C., including a nominee to lead child welfare policy for the Trump administration; layoffs and reorganization of the agency he will likely lead; and new data on how much states rely on welfare funds to pay for child welfare services. We also discuss the end of the criminal case against a foster youth advocate arrested on Capitol Hill in December, and a few recent great reads from The Imprint. 

Thanks to SpeakWrite for sponsoring this week’s episode.

Reading Room

Youth in Focus: NYC Mayoral Candidate Forum

Thursday, April 17 5pm EST // Register: https://bit.ly/4ifDgqW

Foster Youth Deserve Better Than Unsafe, Scary Housing

https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/foster-youth-deserve-better-than-unsafe-scary-housing/255986

Alex Adams Nominated to Lead Administration for Children and Families

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/alex-adams-nominated-to-lead-administration-for-children-and-families/259907

Zero-Based Regulation A Step-by-Step Guide for States

https://manhattan.institute/article/zero-based-regulation-a-step-by-step-guide-for-states

HHS Reorganization Brings Cuts, Changes to Child Welfare Division

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/hhs-reorganization-brings-cuts-changes-to-child-welfare-division/260150

States Use Billions in Welfare Funds to Pay for Child Welfare Systems, Report Finds

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/states-use-billions-in-welfare-funds-to-pay-for-child-welfare-systems-report-finds/260389

Trump Halts, then Reinstates, Then Again Halts Legal Counsel for Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trump-halts-legal-counsel-for-unaccompanied-minors-seeking-asylum/259021

Prosecutors Withdraw Rep. Nancy Mace Assault Charge Against Prominent Foster Youth Advocate

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/prosecutors-withdraw-assault-charge-against-prominent-foster-youth-advocate/260157

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is No Longer on Foster Youth Caucus

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/u-s-rep-nancy-mace-is-no-longer-on-foster-youth-caucus/260292

Medicated in Foster Care: Who’s Looking Out?

https://imprintnews.org/special-series/medicated-in-foster-care-whos-looking-out

 Texas Lawmakers Take On Little-Known Pathway Into Foster Care: Parent

Kelley Fong, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, joins to discuss her work studying the impact of state child welfare systems and their policies on families. Fong, who has written several op-eds for The Imprint, is the author of Investigating Families: Motherhood in the Shadow of Child Protective Service, an examination of the front end of child welfare focused on Fong’s deep research in several New England States. 

Thanks to Lyssn for sponsoring this week's episode!

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Investigating Families: Motherhood in the Shadow of Child Protective Service

https://shorturl.at/dsb52

We Shouldn’t Rely on Child Protective Services To Address Family Adversity

https://imprintnews.org/opinion/we-shouldnt-rely-on-child-protective-services-to-address-family-adversity/47496

ASFA Is A Dangerous Tool in An Arbitrary System  

https://imprintnews.org/opinion/asfa-is-a-dangerous-tool-in-an-arbitrary-system/237576

Reports Without Surveillance: Connecticut’s New Child Welfare Experiment

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/reports-without-surveillance-connecticuts-new-child-welfare-experiment/64329

The transition from foster care to adulthood still happens for thousands of young people each year. It’s not easy anywhere, but perhaps nowhere tougher financially than places like New York City where the market rent is astronomically high and there is almost no vacancy. 

Daniel Heimpel, managing director of Good River partners, and Tony Turner. director of the Fair Futures Youth Advisory Board, join to discuss a new venture they are involved in to try and leverage different kinds of philanthropic support, and new approaches to affordable housing, to ensure that youth who exit foster care dont do so into treacherous living conditions and predicaments. 

Thanks to Lyssn for sponsoring this week's episode!

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Youth Launch Bold Strategy to End NYC's Foster Care to Homelessness Pipeline

https://shorturl.at/usoOJ

Foster Youth Deserve Better Than Unsafe, Scary Housing

https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/foster-youth-deserve-better-than-unsafe-scary-housing/255986

Foster Youth Often Struggle to Find Stable Housing. One New York City Nonprofit is Helping Meet the Need.

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-youth-housing-new-york-city-nonprofit/251802

In this powerful episode of InnerViews, Ivory Bennett sits down with Chaplain Dr. Kay Kizer — a trailblazing advocate and author — to discuss the realities of growing up in foster care, overcoming childhood trauma, and embracing the healing journey. Dr. Kizer shares her personal experiences navigating multiple foster homes and how those experiences led her to establish K's Carry On, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring foster youth receive essential items and emotional support during transitions. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of resilience, faith, and the transformative power of purpose.

Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is a program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption that for decades has focused on finding permanency for older youth in foster care, as well as children with special needs. The program, which received a $200 million commitment to expand in 2017, recently recorded its 15,000th adoption.

Dave Thomas CEO Rita Soronen joins to discuss the experience of scaling up Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and the lessons she learned along the way about how to get initial buy-in on an idea, and then keep support for it going. 

Rita Soronen has been the president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption since 2001. Prior to joining the foundation, Ms. Soronen served as the executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Franklin County. 

Thanks to SpeakWrite for serving as lead sponsor of this episode!

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10,000 Adoptions Later: Wendy’s Wonderful Kids

https://imprintnews.org/podcast/10000-adoptions-later

Wendy’s Wonderful Kids: The Biggest Game in Adoption Today

https://imprintnews.org/adoption/wendys-wonderful-kids-biggest-game-adoption-today/30696

Nonprofits Are Simultaneously Contemplating Strategy on Two Fronts

https://imprintnews.org/adoption/nonprofits-are-simultaneously-contemplating-impact-on-two-fronts/41366

On this week’s episode, we review some of the recent action out of Washington, including what’s going on with federal funds, the impact of Trump’s executive orders on some youth with lived experience, and who is temporarily leading child welfare and youth justice policy. 

We also break down the findings from a report on health care for youth who have aged out of foster care, and a new bill that would fund post-adoption support. 

Reading Room

Register for Empowered Youth Voices: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Building Confidence in Storytelling.

https://bit.ly/3EZiz4t

The Acting Leaders on Child Welfare, Youth Justice

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/the-acting-leaders-on-child-welfare-youth-justice/259082

Early Trump Actions Leave Lived Experience Jobs in Flux

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/early-trump-actions-leave-lived-experience-jobs-flux/258758

Trump Halts, then Reinstates, Legal Counsel for Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trump-halts-legal-counsel-for-unaccompanied-minors-seeking-asylum/259021

Report Notes Trends, Barriers in Medicaid Enrollment for Former Foster Youth 

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/gao-notes-trends-barriers-in-medicaid-enrollment-for-former-foster-youth/258781

Bills Introduced on Adoption Support, Rehoming

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/bills-introduced-adoption-support-rehoming/258945

In this episode of InnerViews, host Ivory Bennett sits down with Montina Myers-Galloway, a licensed clinical mental health counselor, TEDx speaker, and advocate for Black women healing from parentification. Together, they explore the impact of adultification and emotional burdens placed on Black youth in foster care and juvenile justice. Montina shares how professionals can create trauma-informed spaces, support mental well-being, and empower youth to reclaim their narratives. This conversation is a must-listen for those committed to breaking cycles and fostering emotional healing in child welfare.

On this week’s episode, Imprint Indigenous Children and Families Reporter Nancy Marie Spears hosts a special roundtable discussion on the future of Indigenous child welfare. Our panel of guests break down how they will engage with a new 25-year plan to reform and improve Indigenous child welfare policy and practice through improved implementation of, and compliance with, the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA.. 

ICWA 2050 was launched November 7 by the Protect ICWA Campaign to Honor ICWA’s 46th Anniversary and it’s called Protect, Preserve, Progress: Realizing the Spirit of the Indian Child Welfare Act. There are four key goals of this long-term plan, and the panelists talk about how their respective communities intend on engaging with each area of proposed change.

Guest panel:

Sarah Kastelic, (Alutiiq), is the executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

Te’Ata Loper, (Chickasaw), is the executive director of the Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association.

Kimberly Cluff is legal director of the California Tribal Families Coalition.

Linda S. Spears is president and CEO of the Child Welfare League of America.

Reading Room

Protecting Children and Healing Families, One Native Auntie at a Time
https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/protecting-children-and-healing-families-one-native-auntie-at-a-time/241572

The Way Forward: Report of the Alyce Spotted Bear & Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children
https://udallcenter.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2024-07/TheWayForward.pdf

Indian Child Welfare Act Think Tank to Strategize Legal Protections for Tribal Sovereignty
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/indian-child-welfare-act-think-tank-to-strategize-legal-protections-for-tribal-sovereignty/239084

New Online Resources Available to Assist With Indian Child Welfare Cases
https://imprintnews.org/indigenous-youth-and-families/new-online-resources-available-to-assist-with-indian-child-welfare-cases/255684

On this week’s episode, Abecedarian Group President Celia Sims joins us to discuss child welfare and education policy, and the intersection of the two. Sims, who spent most of her career on Capitol Hill, reflects on a recent op-ed she wrote for The Imprint and shares thoughts on the practicability of President Trump’s proposal to shutter the Department of Education. 

Celia Sims is the founder of the Abecedarian Group, and serves as a volunteer court appointed special advocate. Sims has served as an advisor on education and child welfare policy for former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and was vice president of government relations for KinderCare Education.

Reading Room

Common Ground Is The Only
Political Path for Child Welfare

https://imprintnews.org/opinion/common-ground-only-political-path-child-welfare/256030

The Imprint’s extensive
coverage on educational stability for youth in foster care

https://imprintnews.org/tag/essa

New Report Highlights
Ongoing Challenges for NYC Students in Foster Care

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/new-report-highlights-ongoing-challenges-for-nyc-students-in-foster-care/237967

On this week’s podcast, we go over some of the actions taken by the Trump administration in their first full week since the inauguration. We also discuss a report that finds some states are sending back federal money to help older foster youth, and a Texas bill that would bring sweeping change to the way the child welfare system works in that state. 

Rena Johnson of the Aviv Foundation and Mary Bissell of Child Focus join to talk about the Aviv Foundation’s Springboard Prize, an award that will invest $400,000 in several game-change oriented proposals.

Reading Room

Trump’s Day-one Actions Reverse Biden Decisions

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trump-day-one-actions-reverse-biden-decisions/258340

Trump Administration Cancels Child Welfare Contract, Pulls Juvenile Justice Grants

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trump-administration-cancels-child-welfare-contract-pulls-juvenile-justice-grants/258439

Child Welfare Leaders Stunned by Trump’s Call to Freeze Social Services Spending; Legal Action Quickly Threatened

https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/child-welfare-leaders-stunned-by-trumps-call-to-freeze-social-services-spending-legal-action-quickly-threatened/258488

Report: Millions for Helping Older Foster Youth Goes Unspent

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/report-millions-helping-older-foster-youth-goes-unspent/258528

HHS Should Help States Address Barriers to Using Federal Funds for Programs Serving Youth Transitioning to Adulthood

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107154.pdf

Texas Lawmakers Consider ‘ICWA for All’ Bill That Would Set New, Higher Standards for Removing Children
From Home

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/texas-lawmakers-consider-icwa-for-all-bill-that-would-set-new-higher-standards-for-removing-children-from-home/258553