The Imprint Weekly

On today’s episode we spoke with Aditi Shrivastava, deputy director of income security at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, known widely as TANF. We talked about the proposed new rule for regulating how states use this program, a new test of how to measure success, and we also discuss the many guaranteed income projects that have popped up around the country.  

Reading Room

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

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

Feds Begin Test of Welfare Work Requirements
https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/feds-begin-test-welfare-work-requirements/250920

Here’s What Happens When You Give People Free Money
https://www.wired.com/story/sam-altmans-big-basic-income-study-is-finally-out/

On this week’s episode we talk to Kamilah Bunn, CEO of the National Adoption Association, and Toni Oliver, former president of the National Association of Black Social Workers, about the recently published “Black Paper,” an early look at the effect of NAA’s Ujima Black Family Connection Program. The goal of the program is to convene Black leaders to work on addressing long-standing disparities in child welfare and push back against the stereotype that Black families do not adopt.

Reading Room

Ujima Black Family Program gets $500K Grant from Walmart
https://shorturl.at/7LKfn

Black Paper: Urgent Need for Black Family Connections and Support for Black Leaders Advancing Change Efforts in Systems
https://www.adoptnaa.org/page/blackpaper

On this week’s episode we recap a hodgepodge of headlines from late summer, starting with the effort to reauthorize a major federal child welfare program called Title IV-B. Among the other stories we discussed: California’s novel new approach to fund enrichment activities for foster  youth, and the state’s looming insurance cliff for nonprofits; New York could become the first state to track adoption subsidies; and shocking data on youth transferred into adult court in Florida. 

Reading Room

House Ways and Means Introduces IV-B Reauthorization Package
https://bit.ly/3MCqllp

Feds Clarify Rules on Family First Act, Background Checks, Tribal Child Welfare
https://bit.ly/4ehf464

Maine Hasn’t Yet Inspected Out-of-State Youth Mental Health Programs After Reports of Rampant Abuse
https://bit.ly/3ZjJ1hs

Eyed By the Nation, California Plan Will Nearly Triple State Spending on Foster Youth and Their Caregivers
https://bit.ly/3Tktkmc

The Insurance Cliff Coming for California Foster Care
https://bit.ly/4cZikSt

When Adoptions ‘Break’: New York Legislation Aims to Ensure Adoption Subsidies Follow the Child
https://bit.ly/4cYxzLi

New York Family Courts Must Weigh in on Residential Care for Foster Youth, Appeals Court Rules
https://bit.ly/4d0uSc4

Florida Teens Get Longer Prison Sentences Than Adults
https://bit.ly/4cXe8T9

After Juvenile Justice Reforms, Two States Return to Prosecuting More Teens as Adults
https://bit.ly/3AUfpwZ

A Second Chance Offered to Minnesota Moms Who’ve Previously Lost Kids to CPS
https://bit.ly/4ezyJyj

Harris’ VP Pick Has Kept Vulnerable Children and Families Front and Center Like Few Other Governors
https://bit.ly/4gfig3N 

California Lawmakers Approve Stricter Protections for Youth in Residential Programs
https://shorturl.at/qt1a7

‘Incorrigible’ No More: In Rare Memorial Service, Graveside Tribute Paid to New York’s Formerly Incarcerated Girls
https://shorturl.at/6ipSk

The Imprint Weekly Podcast has been re-running some of our most intriguing guest interviews from the early years of the show for listeners who might not have heard them the first time around. On this final installment of Summer Rewind, we feature our conversation with Patty Duh and Leslie Gross about the SOUL Family Concept, a new permanency option that was conceived of by youth with lived experience in foster care. 

Since our interview, Kansas became the first state to incorporate SOUL Family into its options for permanency. 

During the month of August, The Imprint Weekly Podcast is re-running some of our most intriguing guest interviews from the early years of the show for listeners who might not have heard them the first time around. This week, we feature our conversation with juvenile justice reform expert David Roush about how a construction project inside Chicago’s juvenile detention center accidentally led to one of the most influential experiments in how to effectively engage incarcerated youth. 

In this powerful episode of InnerViews, host Ivory Bennett sits down with Brittney Lee, who endured 17 foster homes over 17 years. Brittney shares her inspiring journey of resilience, community engagement, and her mission to fight racial inequality within the child welfare system. With a passion for giving back, Brittney is committed to being a role model and creating positive change for youth in foster care, drawing from her own experiences and deep compassion. Don’t miss this episode on empowerment, healing, and breaking down systemic barriers.

During the month of August, The Imprint Weekly Podcast is re-running some of our most intriguing guest interviews from the early years of the show for listeners who might not have heard them the first time around. This week we feature on of our most frequently downloaded episodes, our 2021 conversation with author and law professor Dorothy Roberts. 

At the time of our interview, Roberts was still working on her since-published book Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families. We talked about the abolition movement in child welfare, and how Roberts distinguishes between major and incremental reform within the existing child welfare system. 

During the month of August, The Imprint Weekly Podcast is re-running some of our most intriguing guest interviews from the early years of the show for listeners who might not have heard them the first time around.

This week we feature two different interviews about the same issue: how to ensure that foster youth succeed once they get to college. In 2022, we talked to Amy Dworsky of Chapin Hall and Judy Havlicek of the University of Illinois about dismal research around community college completion among youth who aged out of foster care. Community college student and former foster youth Matt Schaad joined us to talk about his own path towards a degree.

We also included our 2020 interview with Christopher Scott and Lino Peña-Martinez of Connecticut’s Sun Scholars, a program that supports current and former foster youth on college campuses around the state.

During the month of August, The Imprint Weekly Podcast is re-running some of our most intriguing guest interviews from the early years of the show for listeners who might not have heard them the first time around.

This week we feature our 2020 interview with California Assemblymember Ash Kalra, who joined the podcast to discuss the Racial Justice Act, a bill he championed that enables a defendant and their legal counsel to present evidence of racial bias as a means of pushing back against specific sentences for offenses after conviction. 

In this episode of "InnerViews," join host Ivory Bennett in a real, raw conversation about reclaiming one’s narrative with New Yorker, Nathali Feliz. The two discuss the impact of storytelling and narratives in the development of child welfare engaged youth. Nathali discusses her life before, during, and after her time in the NY child welfare system. Together, we affirm the importance of empowering youth through positive narratives of healing and triumph.