The Imprint Weekly

The Imprint
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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. 3d ago

    InnerViews – Beyond Aging Out: Connection, Care & Lived Expertise

    What does lasting support look like after foster care ends? Ivory Bennett speaks with Christina Young-Van Osten, a child welfare professional and consultant who aged out of New York’s foster care system, about connection, mental health, and genuine decision-making power. Christina reflects on navigating adulthood, finding family beyond care, and turning lived experience into leadership. Together, they explore why achievement does not erase the need for support—and why preparing young people for adulthood requires choice, practical guidance, and relationships that last.

  2. Oct 14

    Headlines: Background Checks, Understaffing, SNAP Waivers and More

    On this week’s headlines edition we discuss recent actions by the Trump administration, including efforts to improve the background check process for foster home licensing. We also discuss why in some states, the end of SNAP waivers for former foster youth won’t mean much, because they never got the waivers in the first place; and the push to build more juvenile facilities in states that can barely staff the ones they have.  Reading Room Trump Administration Announces Grant Awards for Modernizing Foster Home Licensing https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/trump-administration-announces-grant-awards-for-modernizing-foster-home-licensing/277190 Feds Expand Foster Care Prevention Funding to Include Expectant Parents https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/feds-expand-foster-care-prevention-funding-to-include-expectant-parents/277485 A Clearer Approach to Child Welfare Improvement Is Taking Shape https://imprintnews.org/opinion/a-clearer-approach-to-child-welfare-improvement-is-taking-shape/277410 Supreme Court Denies Latest Challenge to Indian Child Welfare Act https://imprintnews.org/icwa/supreme-court-denies-latest-challenge-to-indian-child-welfare-act/277540 A Growing Number of Courts Nationwide Are Dedicated to Enforcing the Indian Child Welfare Act https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/a-growing-number-of-courts-nationwide-are-dedicated-to-enforcing-the-indian-child-welfare-act/276658 Foster Youth Navigate Hungry Autumn as SNAP Access Tightens https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-youth-navigate-hungry-autumn-as-snap-access-tightens/276906 The Trump Administration Plans to Roll Back Federal Regulations for Head Start. Here is What it Could Mean for California’s San Joaquin Valley. https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/the-trump-administration-plans-to-roll-back-federal-regulations-for-head-start-here-is-what-it-could-mean-for-californias-san-joaquin-valley/277544 Advocates Propose New Limits on Federal Child Welfare Funding https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/advocates-propose-new-limits-on-federal-child-welfare-funding/277464 Charting the Course: A Blueprint for Child Welfare Financing and Accountability Reform https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/charting-the-course-a-blueprint-for-child-welfare-financing-and-accountability-reform/ Survey Finds Extended Foster Care for Young Adults Helps — But Too Few Know It’s an Option https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/survey-finds-extended-foster-care-for-young-adults-helps-but-too-few-know-its-an-option/276986 First-Ever National Survey Finds Forgotten Graves of Incarcerated Children https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/first-ever-national-survey-finds-forgotten-graves-of-incarcerated-children/277236 The Buried History of Chelteham https://imprintnews.org/podcast/buried-history-cheltenham Texas Youth Prison Lockdown Prompts Calls for Reform Ahead of New Facility Builds https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2026-10-01/texas-youth-prison-lockdown-prompts-calls-for-reform-ahead-of-new-facility-builds

  3. Sep 28

    InnerViews – The Village Shows Up: Sisterhood, Motherhood & Raising Jayden

    This week on InnerViews ... What does it take to help raise a child when you’re not their parent? Ivory sits down with her sister Ebony Turner to talk about becoming Jayden’s mother and aunt, the joys and exhaustion of caregiving, and the gap between having a village and having people who show up.  Guest Bio: Ebony Turner is an insurance underwriting professional with eight years of experience. She volunteers with young people who have experienced foster care and takes part in community work. A former foster youth, Ebony is Ivory Bennett’s younger sister and Jayden’s aunt. In this episode, she brings the perspective of a family member who helps care for Jayden while building a life of her own.

  4. Sep 21

    One State’s Attempt to Build a Foster Care-to-College Pipeline

    On this week’s episode we are joined by Toni Watt, a sociology professor at Texas State University of San Marcos, who has worked diligently along with others to help foster youth in the state get to college and get a degree.  A recent landscape analysis, which Watt was part of, shows that those efforts have yet to yield the kind of changes anyone would hope for out of a state with a broad tuition waiver and a requirement that state colleges have a liaison on campus to support current and former foster youth. Watt discussed the history of Texas policies around college for foster youth, and what she thinks needs to happen next.  Toni Watt is a Professor of Sociology at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, where she helped create the group Foster Care Alumni Creating Educational Success (FACES). She is the recipient of the Pro Humanitate Literary Award, given by the Center for Child Welfare Policy. Reading Room From Foster Care to College: Supporting Higher Education Achievement among Students Who Have Experienced Foster Care in Texas https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/reports-and-studies-non-fiscal/from-foster-care-to-college-2026-landscape-analysis/ Texas is a Pioneer in Supporting Youth with Foster Care Experience in Higher Education, but Outcomes Remain Poor. A New Report Examines Why. https://imprintnews.org/opinion/texas-supports-college-students-from-foster-care-but-outcomes-remain-poor/276831 Foster Youth Support Services Required, but Uneven, Across Texas Campuses https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/foster-youth-support-services-required-uneven-texas-campuses/48493 Texas Expands College Tuition Benefit for Foster Youth https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/texas-lawmakers-to-decide-on-expanding-college-tuition-benefit-for-foster-youth/260655 Texas Foster Youth Get Free College Tuition, but Nearly Half of the State’s Eligible Students Don’t Use It https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/texas-college-tuition-waiver-underused/62905

  5. Sep 13

    Helping International Adoptees on the Road to Healing and Growth

    On this week’s episode we welcome back Ian Forber-Pratt, former president of the Children’s Emergency Relief International, who has launched The Ties Foundation to help people who experienced an international adoption travel to their homelands and process the experience.  Ian Forber-Pratt is the founder and executive director of The Ties Foundation. He is the former president of Children’s Emergency Relief International. Reading Room The Ties Foundation https://www.thetiesfoundation.org/ Foster Care in India, Kinship in America, and More with Ian Forber-Pratt https://imprintnews.org/podcast/foster-care-india-kinship-america-more-ian-forber-pratt Ukraine’s Orphans and Families, One Year Later https://imprintnews.org/podcast/ukraines-orphans-and-families-one-year-later

  6. Aug 30

    InnerViews – “I’ve Lived It Twice”: Experiencing Child Welfare as a Child and a Parent

    Billie has experienced child welfare from multiple perspectives: as a child in foster care and group placements, and later as a parent. In this deeply personal conversation, she joins InnerViews host Ivory Bennett to discuss grief, being unheard in care, motherhood, addiction and recovery, family separation, advocacy, and what children and families truly need from the systems designed to support them. Billie also reflects on why she now feels ready to tell her story—and why lived experience can help reshape child welfare for the next generation. Content Note: This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse and neglect, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, addiction and recovery, family separation, child removal, racism, grief, and difficult experiences within foster care and the child welfare system.

  7. Aug 27

    Headlines: ICE and Child Welfare, State Spending Woes and More

    On this week’s episode we review some interesting research on kinship diversion, emergency placements and the nexus between child welfare systems and immigration under Trump. Then we discuss some local headlines on state child welfare spending and the result of two recent legal challenges. Reading Room How Are Heightened Deportation Efforts Affecting Child Welfare Agencies?https://shorturl.at/AqJ4K  State Tracking of Kinship Diversion Can Inform the Field https://media.childtrends.org/media/StateTrackingofKinshipDiversion_ChildTrends_July2026.pdf ‘Dehumanizing’ Placements in Hotels and Offices: First-Ever National Survey Finds Thousands of Foster Youth Are Sent to Substandard Emergency Placements https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/dehumanizing-placements-in-hotels-and-offices-first-ever-national-survey-finds-thousands-of-foster-youth-are-sent-to-substandard-emergency-placements/276268 ‘When I Had No One, I Had Them’: Young Moms Lose FSU Foster Care Program Liifeline https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article316580993.html Citing Siders Case, Ohio Lawmakers Urge Max Foster Care Rates https://www.statenews.org/government-politics/2026-08-19/citing-siders-case-ohio-lawmakers-urge-max-foster-care-rates Some Lawmakers Frustrated by Morrisey’s Hidden Details of Federal TANF Spending https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/08/21/some-lawmakers-frustrated-by-morriseys-hidden-details-of-federal-tanf-spending/ State Lawmakers Gave Louisiana Foster Parents More Money — or So They Thought https://lailluminator.com/2026/08/21/foster-care-money/ High Court: Maine Wrongly Terminated a Mother’s Parental Rights Because She Couldn’t Find an Affordable Home https://themainemonitor.org/maine-wrongly-terminated-parental-rights-affordable-home/ Once Again, NY Appeals Court Rules CPS Cannot ‘Unlawfully’ Investigate Parents With Abusive Partners https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/once-again-ny-appeals-court-rules-cps-cannot-unlawfully-investigate-parents-with-abusive-partners/276699

  8. Aug 17

    How We Count Youth and Family Homelessness in America

    On the week’s episode, SchoolHouse Connection founder Barbara Duffield joins to discuss the different approaches the U.S. government has for tallying youth and family homelessness. We also discussed recent Trump policy announcements around the McKinney-Vento program and Head Start, and why she thinks these issues would be best handled by the Department of Health and Human Services.  Barbara Duffield is the founder and executive director of SchoolHouse Connection. She was the Director of Education for the National Coalition for the Homeless from 1994 to 2003. Reading Room Missing the Point: When Media, Advocates, and Policymakers Use Data That Exclude Children and Youth https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/hud-pit-count-misses-homeless-children-youth Proposed Head Start Rule Eliminates Critical Protections for Children Experiencing Homelessness https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/hud-pit-count-misses-homeless-children-youth

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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.

Information

  • Creator
    The Imprint
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    293
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Imprint Weekly
  • Show Website
    The Imprint Weekly

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