The Imprint Weekly

The Imprint

The Imprint Weekly Podcast offers listeners a regular review of news and trends in America's child welfare and juvenile justice systems, along with other critical services for youth and families. Join Imprint Senior Editor John Kelly for a discussion of the week's major headlines, plus interviews with leaders in the field.

  1. FEB 9

    Headlines: Treating Addiction, Youth Justice Workforce Woes, and More

    On this Headlines edition of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, we start with a discussion of three medication-assisted treatments for substance use that the Trump administration has cleared for federal child welfare funding. Also discussed on this episode: new national data on abuse and neglect investigations, Georgia’s budget woes, and two alarming indicators of the workforce crisis in youth justice.  Reading Room Top Trump Health Officials Announce New Funding for Opioid Addiction Treatment To Prevent Foster Care Removals  https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/top-trump-health-officials-announce-new-funding-for-opioid-addiction-treatment-to-prevent-foster-care-removals/270780 Rolling Out the Welcome Mat for Prevention https://imprintnews.org/uncategorized/rolling-out-the-welcome-mat-for-prevention/270728 Maltreatment Reports, Victims and Fatalities All Down in 2024 https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/maltreatment-reports-victims-and-fatalities-all-down-in-2024/270409 Child Maltreatment 2024 https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/cm2024.pdf Georgia Child Welfare Cuts Called ‘Unacceptable,’ House Proposes Budget to Relieve Foster Care Deficit  https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/georgia-child-welfare-cuts-called-unacceptable-house-proposes-budget-to-relieve-foster-care-deficit/270856 ‘Where I Felt Loved:’ Renovated Housing Complex Supports Georgia Foster Youth Transitioning to Independence https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/where-i-felt-loved-renovated-housing-complex-supports-georgia-foster-youth-transitioning-to-independence/270632 Beshear Wants More Juvenile Detention Centers. KY Can’t Staff Existing Ones https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article314389699.html ‘Worse Than Rikers’: Lawsuit Claims Abusive Use of Solitary Confinement in New York’s Juvenile Lockups https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/ny-official-responds-to-reports-of-abusive-conditions-in-youth-detention-facilities/270814

    28 min
  2. FEB 2

    Older Foster Youth and The Cliff of Instability, with Don Wells

    On this week’s episode we talk to Don Wells, the Chief Empowerment Officer at Just In Time, which is a San Diego based organization working to support and mentor older foster youth on their path to adulthood.  President Trump signed an executive order on foster care at the end of 2025 which instructed his Department of Health and Human Services on some priorities for federal policy around improved data and evaluation, more support for older foster youth, and more efforts to include faith-based persons and organizations in child welfare services. The Imprint recently published an op-ed from Wells, who felt that the president’s order misses the mark on what is needed from the federal government to better support foster youth. He joined the podcast to speak further about his views on the Trump order, about what Just in Time does on the community level to help foster youth, and more.  Don Wells is the Chief Empowerment Officer at Just In Time. He is a recent recipient of the Casey Excellence for Children Leadership Award Reading Room Don Wells of Just in Time for Foster Youth Honored with Casey Excellence for Children Leadership Award https://www.thevistapress.com/don-wells-of-just-in-time-for-foster-youth-honored-with-casey-excellence-for-children-leadership-award/ Just in Time for Foster Youth https://jitfosteryouth.org/ With New Executive Order, Trump Thrusts Foster Care Into National Spotlight https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/with-new-executive-order-trump-thrusts-foster-care-into-national-spotlight/268739 Fostering the Future for American Children and Families https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/11/fostering-the-future-for-american-children-and-families/

    54 min
  3. JAN 12

    Headlines: Trump Administration News, Foster Care and Child Fatalities, and More

    In our first podcast of 2026, we discuss new data on the administration’s goal of A Home for Every Child, a new leader for the U.S. Children’s Bureau, Trump’s freezing of safety net funds in five states, and more.  Reading Room Why We Are Putting the PIP on a PIP  https://imprintnews.org/opinion/why-we-are-putting-the-pip-on-a-pip/269784 How States Stack Up on Trump’s “A Home for Every Child” Agenda https://bit.ly/4qmHcLo Trump Administration Issues Deadline Demands Before Releasing Children’s Aid  https://bit.ly/4sDYV2u Alex Adams Seeks Names in Hasty Push For Personal Data of Minnesota Social Service and Foster Care Recipients https://bit.ly/4jIUgbC Trump Administration Cancels Several DEI-Related Child Welfare Grants https://bit.ly/3Nt2SH3 Feds Asks 39 States To Stop Taking Foster Kids’ Benefits https://bit.ly/4qjraC5 President Trump Has Made His Pick for the Federal Children’s Bureau https://bit.ly/4sDYFjO Foster Care and Child Maltreatment Mortality Rates in the US https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2843235 SOHO Forum: Should CPS intervene more? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0462gYjkbc The Other Trump Child Welfare Doctrine Issued This Month https://imprintnews.org/subscriber-content/the-other-trump-child-welfare-doctrine-issued-this-month/268999 Candice Broce Faces Lawmakers About Georgia’s Child Welfare Budget Crisis https://bit.ly/4jIs7kW New York Governor Signs Law to End Anonymous Reporting of Child Maltreatment https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/new-york-governor-signs-law-to-end-anonymous-reporting-of-child-maltreatment/269804 The Number of Children in Los Angeles County Foster Care Has Plunged. The Imprint Set Out To Discover Why https://bit.ly/456MbqZ How An Indigenous Mom’s Adoption Journey Inspired Her Nonprofit https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/three-precious-miracles-arizona-nonprofit/269711 Crisis Confidential: Things We Learned So You Don’t Have To https://imprintnews.org/opinion/crisis-confidentialthings-learned/269818

    35 min
  4. 12/28/2025

    The Best of The Imprint Weekly Podcast, 2025

    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 12 great interviews from 2025.  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. Liz Ryan, former administrator, U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Linda Spears, CEO, Child Welfare League of America Kelley Fong, assistant professor of sociology, University of California, Irvine Amy Harfeld, national policy director and senior staff attorney, Children's Advocacy Institute Sacha Klein, associate professor, Michigan State University School of Social Work Alex Briscoe, co-founder, Public Works Alliance Brandon Nichols, director, Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services Barissa Ford, director of community outreach and engagement, Youth In Need Claudia Rowe, editorial writer, Seattle Times, author of Wards of the State Gretchen Sisson, qualitative sociologist, University of California, San Francisco, author of Relinquished Vinny Schiraldi, visiting fellow, Pinkerton Foundation Alex Adams, assistant secretary for family support, Administration for Children and Families

    47 min
5
out of 5
46 Ratings

About

The Imprint Weekly Podcast offers listeners a regular review of news and trends in America's child welfare and juvenile justice systems, along with other critical services for youth and families. Join Imprint Senior Editor John Kelly for a discussion of the week's major headlines, plus interviews with leaders in the field.

You Might Also Like