Episode # 14: Wendell Primus on Child Welfare Financing & Congress

Welcome to our latest edition of WonkCast: People Power Policy.

Child welfare financing is structurally stuck.

Decades-old design choices have left dollars disconnected from outcomes — and fixing that will require more than better programs.

It will require navigating power, process, and the small-p politics of how things actually move in Congress.

Today’s guest sits squarely at this intersection.

Wendell Primus served as Senior Policy Advisor on Health and Budget Issues to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for nearly two decades.

In that role he shaped every major health and human services package Congress enacted, from the Affordable Care Act, to federal drug pricing policy, to the Family First Prevention Services Act.

Today, at the Brookings Institution, Wendell’s focused on redesigning child welfare financing, including co-chairing a task force at the Bipartisan Policy Center that released a Blueprint for Child Welfare Financing and Accountability Reform.

We talked about what he learned by resigning from the Clinton Administration in protest over the ‘96 welfare reform law, what he learned about power from Speaker Pelosi, and what he thinks it will take to redesign child welfare financing.

If you’re tired of hearing people admire the problem — and want a clearer picture of how complex policy actually moves — this conversation is for you.

Sponsorship Shoutout

Special thanks to Binti for their foundational sponsorship of WonkCast.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.childwelfarewonk.com