As always, we were fortunate to have some amazing guests join us this year on The Imprint Weekly Podcast. In this episode we feature clips of 10 great interviews from 2023. 

If you enjoy this podcast, or the great work our reporters do at The Imprint and Fostering Families Today, and the work that our Youth Voices Rising team does, 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 www.imprintnews.org/donate.

Guests include:
Shelly Jackson, law enforcement policies attorney for Strategies for Youth.
LaShawnda Pittman, associate professor of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Rob Geen, founder of CWPolicy, LLC and leads the Child Welfare Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Carolyn Travis, community advocacy coordinator for California Youth Connection.
Alex Piquero, professor in the Department of Sociology & Criminology at the University of Miami and previously served as the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Serita Cox, co-founder of iFoster.
Gwen Moore, Member of Congress
Dawn Post, founder of Themis Youth Law & Advocacy.
Jerry Milner, co-founder of the Family Justice Group, and former associate commissioner of the U.S. Children’s Bureau. 
Will Schneider, associate professor at the University of Illinois School of Social Work and the faculty director for the Children and Family Research Center. 

On today’s episode, Dr. Jenny Tanis of the Hope College School of Social Work and Dr. Sacha Klein of the Michigan State University School of Social Work join to talk about their research into the impact of State paid family leave policies on infant maltreatment. 

The United States is among the few developed countries without paid family leave as a national policy. But four states have long had local leave policies in place: California, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. Tanis and Klein wanted to see what, if any, impact this had on infant maltreatment in those states compared to trends in other states. 

Reading Room 

State Paid Family Leave Policies and Infant Maltreatment
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38574603/

Paid family leave's effect on hospital admissions for pediatric abusive head trauma
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26869666/

Impact of Direct Cash Benefits to Low-Income Families Can Be Far-Reaching
https://imprintnews.org/family/impact-direct-cash-benefits-low-income-families-child/237760

On this week’s episode we discuss the Trump transition process, the last months of the Biden administration, and recommend some interesting reads from The Imprint and elsewhere this month, including Sara Tiano’s two-part series on the intersection of addiction treatment and child welfare actions such as investigation, removal and reunification. 

Marina Nitze of the Child Welfare Playbook joins us to talk about the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC), a longstanding process aimed at ensuring that foster youth who are moved to a new state are protected. We talked to Nitze about the Playbook’s discussions on ICPC, what gaps exist in the system and what states are doing to improve it.  

Reading Room

ICWA Added to Federal Data Collection. Will It Last?
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/icwa-added-federal-data-collection-will-it-last/256693

Profiles in Youth Work: Lateefah Simon
https://youthtoday.org/2004/06/profiles-in-youth-work_2/

Congressional Candidate Wants to Create a Place for Young Women ‘To Dream, To Fight and To Just Be’
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/congressional-candidate-wants-to-create-a-place-for-young-women-to-dream-to-fight-and-to-just-be/248299

Penalized for Their Prescriptions: Parents Using Legal Addiction Medications Face Ongoing Discrimination in the Child Welfare System
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/parents-using-legal-addiction-medications-face-ongoing-discrimination/256350

When Prescribed Medications End in a Call to CPS: One Upstate New York Mom is Fighting Back in Court
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/when-prescribed-medications-end-in-a-call-to-cps-one-upstate-new-york-mom-is-fighting-back-in-court/256352

Treatment Foster Care for Kids with High Needs Offers Hope, but There's a Shortage of Willing Homes in Wisconsin
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/life/family/2024/11/29/childrens-wisconsin-needs-foster-families-who-can-provide-treatment-care/75887078007/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

The Survivors of Child Sex Abuse Who Don’t Want Their Abusers Punished
https://newrepublic.com/article/188362/child-sex-abuse-survivors-abusers-justice

Foster Youth Are at Great Risk for Suicide As They Prepare to Leave the System, California Study Finds
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-youth-are-at-great-risk-for-suicide-as-they-prepare-to-leave-the-system-california-study-finds/256210

In this special "Best of Season 1" episode of InnerViews, host Ivory Bennett revisits powerful moments from this year’s episodes. From healing generational trauma to empowering resilience in the face of adversity, Ivory highlights transformative insights from each guest. Join us for a reflection on themes of healing, self-discovery, and empowerment, celebrating the voices that made Season 1 unforgettable. Tune in for an inspiring recap and a glimpse of the exciting 2025 season ahead!

On this week’s episode, Brightpoint CEO Mike Shaver and University of Illinois School of Social Work researcher Will Schneider join to discuss Empower Parenting with Resource, a test of the impact of guaranteed income as a component of how child welfare systems engage parents. Empower will provide hundreds of system-involved parents with cash assistance as part of a randomized control trial.

Reading Room
New Research Funded on Mental Health, Child Welfare
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/new-research-funded-mental-health-child-welfare/54184

Support Grows For No-Strings-Attached Cash For Families To Prevent Foster Care Removals
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/support-grows-for-no-strings-attached-cash-for-families-to-prevent-foster-care-removals/243395

The Bay Area’s Latest Guaranteed Income Program Offers Low-Income Families $500 a Month
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/bay-areas-latest-guaranteed-income-program/60793

Former Foster Youth Included in L.A. County Guaranteed Income Project
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/former-foster-youth-included-in-l-a-county-guaranteed-income-project/240181

On this week’s episode, we review some recent research on child opioid overdoses, youth with disabilities in foster care, and the Biden administration’s historic apology to the Indigenous community. 

Jerry Milner, co-founder of the Family Justice Group, joins us to discuss his time leading the U.S. Children’s Bureau during the previous Trump administration, and what his experience during the first term suggests to him about what might be coming in the next four years. 

Reading Room

Federal Roundtables with Foster Youth Find Them Feeling Supported, But Uncertain
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/federal-roundtables-foster-youth-find-supported-uncertain/49643

While Trump Separated Families, One of His Appointees Fought To Keep Them Together. Will Biden Keep Him Around?
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/trump-separated-families-milner-biden-foste/50944

 Staying The Course for Families
https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/staying-course-families-what-got-right_/51632

Most States Now Access Federal Funds for Family Court Lawyers
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/states-access-federal-funds-for-family-court-lawyers/247752

This year, Jamaican child welfare officials abruptly removed eight teenage boys from a residential facility known as Atlantis Leadership Academy. All eight were American youth and three were adoptees. 

Dawn Post, a veteran attorney for youth in foster care, represented the teens pro bono, working with the Jamaican government to ensure their safe return to the United States. She joined us to tell the story, discuss the broader connections to child welfare present in this incident, and announce a new legal office she has launched called Themis Youth Law and Advocacy. 

Reading Room

Jamaica pulls U.S. boys
from troubled teen school after allegations they were abused
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jamaica-troubled-teen-abuse-allegations-atlantis-leadership-academy-rcna144426

Adopted. Abandoned. But not forgotten.
https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/09/03/adopted-abandoned-but-not-forgotten/

‘I’d rather die than go back’: Jamaica’s school for troubled US boys
https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/american-teenagers-jamaica-atlantis-academy-j25rgm0p5

Themis Youth Law & Advocacy
https://www.themisyouthlawadvocacy.org/

On InnerViews, Ivory Bennett speaks with Jose A. Perez, winner of the 2024 Youth Voices Rising New York Op-Ed competition, for his poignant essay, When Help Hurts: Foster Care vs. My Mom. In a powerful conversation, Perez shares his journey from New York’s foster care and prison systems to becoming an acclaimed poet, actor, and advocate. Listen as Jose reflects on a system that separated his family, the art that saved him, and his current role advocating for justice and opportunities for system-involved youth. Don't miss this impactful dialogue on resilience, transformation, and the power of family.

Rep. Gwen Moore, who represents the 4th District of Wisconsin, was in the state legislature when her state commenced a welfare-to-work program that would become the template for the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. 

Moore now sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees TANF. She joined the podcast to discuss her problems with TANF, how it could be improved, and we discussed her most recent bill on the intersection of poverty and child welfare systems.

Reading Room

Full Committee Hearing on Reforming Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
https://bit.ly/3Ybqv8

Rep. Gwen Moore’s comments from the hearing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JVCneYbvLQ

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, with Ashley Burnside
https://imprintnews.org/podcast/temporary-assistance-needy-families-ashley-burnside

Strengthening Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) as a Safety Net and Work Program
https://bit.ly/3zRBdJa

Public Comment in response to “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Intermediate Improvement to the Disability Adjudication Process: Including How We Consider Past Work”
https://bit.ly/4f61weR

TANF Cash Assistance to Families Plummets, But Program Remains Consistent Funder of Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/3W9Zce9

Bipartisan Effort in Congress Aims to Steer Impoverished Families Away From Foster Care Systems
https://bit.ly/3YgrZ1L

Amid Pandemic, Congress Considers Giving Parents More Time to Reunify with Kids in Foster Care
https://tinyurl.com/3tazannm

On this week’s episode, we are joined by Administration on Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston, the most senior Senate-confirmed child welfare official in the Biden administration. We discussed the past year of federal child welfare policymaking, what the priorities will be for the final few months before Inauguration Day, implementation of the Family First Act, and the right way to incorporate lived experience.  

Reading Room

Oregon Chooses Former Foster Youth to Lead Its Child Welfare System
https://bit.ly/3YnAUQ0

During Confirmation Hearing for Top Biden Child Welfare Officials, Senators Voice Their Own Priorities
https://bit.ly/3gKAWe4

Senators Press Biden Administration Over Lack of Progress on Foster Care Prevention Law https://bit.ly/3YltuN3 

Message From Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston
https://acfmain-stage.acf.hhs.gov/acyf/news/message-commissioner-rebecca-jones-gaston