Let’s Talk Iowa!

This episode of Let's Talk Iowa follows one family's fight to care for a son with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), explaining the medical realities of the condition and how Iowa's system often mistakes neurological injury for willful misbehavior. The host calls out state failures, the unenforced adoption assistance promises, and urges listeners to support bills HF-2256 and HF-2543 while sha...

Episode 10: The $7 Billion Leak Host: Chad Benson Recording Date: January 4, 2026 Overview "It’s like Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell trying to take on a Terminator." Recording from his living room in Sioux City, host Chad Benson moves from the "Base Kid Mentality" to a surgical strike on Iowa’s fiscal failures. As the 2026 legislative session approaches, this episode pulls back the curtain on...

Episode 9: The Base Kid Mentality & The Standard of Care "Duty isn't a suggestion—it was the baseline." As we step into 2026, we aren't making resolutions—we’re establishing resolve. In this high-stakes deep dive, host Chad Benson pulls back the curtain on his own "operating system" to explain why he refuses to stay quiet about Iowa’s broken systems. As a Marine Corps brat who grew up "inside...

Episode 8: The War Room – 2026 Legislative Intelligence "Hope is not a strategy." With just three weeks until the gavel drops on January 12, 2026, the halls of the Iowa Capitol are quiet—but the War Room is just heating up. In this high-stakes deep dive, host Chad Benson sits down with Representative Brian Lohse (R-Bondurant), Chair of the Justice System Appropriations Subcommittee and a "System P...

Keywords mental health, Iowa, managed care organizations, MCOs, healthcare, advocacy, family support, bureaucratic challenges, accountability, reform   Summary In this conversation, Chad shares his personal struggles with the mental health care system in Iowa, particularly focusing on the challenges posed by Managed Care Organizations (MCOs). He discusses the emotional toll of navigating bureaucra...

Summary In this episode of Let's Talk Iowa, Chad shares a raw and unfiltered account of his struggles with the Iowa legal system regarding his son's mental health needs. He discusses the hypocrisy of the system, the burdens of navigating the CINA process, and the lack of legal representation. Chad highlights the emotional and financial toll on foster and adoptive families, the exploitation of comp...

In this episode, Chad Benson interviews Ryan Adams about his journey from Norway to San Francisco, his work in residential care, and his efforts to strengthen family resource centers in Iowa. They discuss the challenges of the foster care system, the importance of community-based solutions, and the need for a paradigm shift in policy to support families more effectively. Of course. Based on the te...

What if the state agency responsible for children's mental health had a secret "Bigfoot Division"—specializing in blurry photos and anecdotal evidence of services that are always just out of reach? For too many Iowa families, this frustrating search for care is a daily reality. Despite a landmark court settlement promising comprehensive mental health services for children, the gap between policy a...

After a long silence, host Chad Benson returns with the deeply personal story of his own family's grueling battle with Iowa's Health and Human Services. In this raw and emotional episode, Chad shares his firsthand experience navigating the state's "ghost network" of care and questions the sincerity of the landmark C.A. v. Garcia settlement. He's then joined by State Representative Ken Croken (D-Da...

In this episode, Rep. Robert Henderson joins us to talk about Iowa's growing mental health crisis and the impossible position schools have been placed in. With services lacking, teachers are expected to  be mental health providers, disciplinarians, and caregivers- on top of educating. Henderson discusses the urgent need to shift responsibility back to a system of community-based care, holding the...

What happens when a parent does everything right—and still hits a wall? In the premiere episode of Let’s Talk, Iowa!, host Chad Benson speaks with Nina Richtman, a mother who was forced to transfer legal custody of her son to the state just to access the mental health care he needed. Together, they explore the impossible choices Iowa families face, the impact of trauma and attachment issues, and h...