The Imprint Weekly

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 W...

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 wo...

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...

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 Welf...

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 t...

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 Bi...

In this episode of InnerViews , Sensei Dave shares his journey from foster care and juvenile detention to becoming a mentor, author, and advocate for at-risk youth. Discover how his transformative "Inspire to Aspire" program equips young people with hope, skills, and resilience while empowering caring adults to create lasting change. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about breaking c...

In November, the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) held its first national conference in more than a decade, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the landmark Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.  Right after the conference ended, OJJDP Administrator and longtime youth justice reformer Liz Ryan joined us to discuss the conference, in particular the lar...

On this Headlines edition of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, we stick with Capitol Hill where a lot went down around the holidays. We discuss the arrest of a former foster youth and advocate arrested after a celebration of the Chafee Act, along with some child welfare legislation that made it into law (and one bill that did not).  We also break down some long-sought data about what happens when youth...

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, du...

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 loc...

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...

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 Seas...

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. Readi...

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...

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 t...

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 fam...

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 impr...

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...

On this week’s episode, we review some recent headlines in child welfare and youth justice.  On this week’s episode, we review some recent headlines in child welfare and youth justice, including some big picture takeaways from recent stories about spiraling juvenile facilities and universal drug screening for soon-to-be parents.  We also talk to Marina Nitze about what states and child welfare sys...

In this compelling episode of InnerViews, host Ivory Bennett talks with Christina Abraham about her journey as she aged out of the foster care system at 21. Christina shares her struggles navigating life in a group home and the challenges of finding stable housing in New York City. Through her story, Christina sheds light on the harsh realities faced by youth aging out of care and the urgent need...

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...

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...

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 adopt...

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 experie...