Fracture to Flourish | Aging Out: The Hidden Pipeline

Access Ventures

Fracture to Flourish examines systemic challenges affecting underserved communities across the nation. Season One: Aging Out investigates the foster care crisis that impacts over 20,000 youth who age out of the system each year. Season Two: Aging Out: The Hidden Pipeline investigates how foster care instability, isolation, and unmet needs can create a pathway to exploitation, and what it takes to interrupt that pathway before harm becomes a life sentence.

  1. Jun 30 ·  Bonus

    You are Not Broken: Bonus Episode

    In this bonus episode of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler sits down with Heather Barnett, whose story surfaced in season one. The full conversation went deeper than what made it into the season, and this is that conversation. Heather entered foster care at five years old after she and her brother were removed from their home in Missouri. Over the next twelve years she moved through eight or nine foster homes, rarely with notice and almost never with stability. She carried her belongings in trash bags. She learned not to invest in wherever she was. At twelve or thirteen, a foster family she believed was going to adopt her drove her to the foster care office for what they said was a meeting, and when she arrived, they were already gone. Here, Heather talks about what that kind of childhood does to a person's nervous system, not just emotionally but neurologically. She talks about the group home where she lay in bed wondering what was going to happen to her. The trauma-focused therapy at fifteen or sixteen that gave her the single most important realization of her life: that she was not broken. The elderly foster couple whose strictness she resented at the time and now recognizes as her first glimpse of normalcy. The high school principal who pulled her aside, asked about her aspirations, and drove her to meet the local college president himself. She also talks honestly about what came after. The attachment disorder she spent her twenties and thirties studying and working through. The abandonment fear that made her behave in ways she did not understand until she had the language to name them. The slow process of teaching herself that safety was real. And at the end, when Bryce asks what motivates her now, her answer has nothing to do with career or credentials. "My kids will never know what it feels like to not be loved." That is the through line. Not surviving the system. Breaking the cycle entirely.

    You are Not Broken: Bonus Episode

  2. Jun 22 ·  Bonus

    Because of, Not Despite: Bonus Episode

    In this bonus episode of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler sits back down with Mark Dessau, whose story surfaced briefly in season one. The full conversation went deeper than what made it into the season, and this is that conversation. Mark was born while his mother was incarcerated. By the time he was three, she was back inside and he was in the foster care system. He stayed there until he was 17. Eight or nine families. Seven high schools. Fourteen middle schools. A stretch of homelessness at 14 and 15. At his closeout meeting, he looked over a caseworker's shoulder and saw that the system had spent roughly $85,000 on his case over his lifetime. Then they closed the file. That was it. Here, Mark talks about what it actually means to move through a system without continuity. The braces he wore for six years because no one tracked his care across placements. The resources he was entitled to that nobody told him about. The moment in an alternative school in Vallejo when he looked down at his dirty clothes and holey shoes and quietly decided that something had to change. And the history professor in Oregon who offered him, in the middle of a classroom, the option to be adopted. But the thread that runs through all of it is a reframe Mark carries deliberately. He does not say he made it despite his circumstances. He says he made it because of them. Not because the system worked, it did not. But because the instability, the constant movement, the years of navigating disruption, built something in him that he has chosen to use. He now works helping organizations rethink systems and inclusion. The person best equipped to redesign a broken system is often the one who survived it first.

    Because of, Not Despite: Bonus Episode

  3. Jun 15 ·  Bonus

    Never Unpacking: Bonus Episode

    In this bonus episode of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler sits back down with Gabe Clark, whose story threaded through Season One of the show. The full conversation went deeper than what made it into the season, and this is that conversation. Gabe grew up in chaos long before he entered foster care. He moved constantly, learned early to scan rooms instead of rest in them, and carried everything he owned in a trash bag from house to house. By the time he was placed with a foster family, he had spent years building the kind of emotional armor that keeps people at a safe distance and passes for resilience if no one looks closely. Here, Gabe talks about what instability actually teaches a child about love, permanence, and whether safety is real. He talks about the foster parents who stayed long enough for trust to become possible. The counselors who kept asking him whether his story about the world was actually true. The teammates who let him in like it was the obvious thing to do. And the moment when, after years of keeping everyone at arm's length, something shifted. It is a conversation about what fracture really looks like from the inside, and about what flourishing requires when the foundation was never stable to begin with. Content advisory: This episode includes frank discussion of abuse and exploitation involving children and families. Please take care as you listen. National Human Trafficking Hotline (US): Call 1‑888‑373‑7888 or text BEFREE (233733) RAINN (sexual assault support):rainn.org National Runaway Safeline: 1‑800‑RUNAWAY (786‑2929) or 1800runaway.org NAMI (mental health support):nami.org Resources

    Never Unpacking: Bonus Episode

  4. Apr 30 ·  Bonus

    More Than Enough: Bonus Episode

    In this bonus episode of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler sits down for an extended conversation with Philip Pattison, executive director of Foster the City, an organization that equips churches to raise up foster families and wrap them in the kind of community support that makes the difference between giving up and keeping going. Every system tells a story about the people inside it. In Season One, Philip's voice helped anchor the larger conversation about what's missing when young people move through foster care without consistent relationships or stable homes. But the full conversation went deeper than what made it into the season. Here, Philip reflects on how he came to see foster care not as an overwhelming crisis reserved for saints and specialists, but as something ordinary people in ordinary communities are actually equipped to change. He talks about why so many families don't return after a first placement, what motivation has to do with endurance, and what a slashed tire in a county parking lot taught him about the limits of what any one family can do alone. His answer to what actually helps children flourish isn't a program or a policy. It's people showing up for each other. It's a conversation about a system in need of more homes, more help, and more hope, and about what starts to shift when communities decide to be part of the answer.

    More Than Enough: Bonus Episode

  5. Apr 21 ·  Bonus

    Selling the Dream: Bonus Episode

    In this bonus episode of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler shares an extended conversation with John Richmond, an attorney who has spent more than twenty-five years working at the intersection of prosecution, policy, and survivor care in the fight against human trafficking. Every system tells a story about the people inside it, and some of those stories are harder to see from the outside. In Season Two, John's voice helped shape the larger conversation about what connects foster care instability to trafficking vulnerability: the isolation, the unmet need, the way certain systems create the exact conditions that exploitation requires. But there was more to that conversation than what made it into the season. In this bonus episode, John reflects more fully on how he came to understand trafficking not as an inevitable byproduct of poverty, but as a choice, one that can be interrupted. He walks through what the grooming process actually looks like, why victims sometimes defend their traffickers, and what twenty-five years of this work has taught him about where real change comes from. His answer to that last question isn't about policy. It's about survivors. It's a conversation about the economics of a system built on exploitation, and about what becomes possible when people decide to stop treating harm as something that just happens.

    Selling the Dream: Bonus Episode

  6. Apr 16 ·  Bonus

    Proving I Exist: Bonus Episode

    In this bonus episode of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler shares an extended conversation with Ella, a young woman who aged out of foster care at eighteen and began working to change the system before she had fully left it. Ella's story didn't start at eighteen. It started years earlier, in the kind of instability that rarely makes headlines: placements that didn't hold, nights without a permanent place to land, adults who cared but couldn't always show up in the ways that mattered most. When she finally aged out, the system handed her a checklist of things it was supposed to provide. Not a single item was checked off. In this conversation, Ella talks more openly about what daily life inside the system actually felt like, where she found stability when so much else was uncertain, and what it was like to turn a school project into a real attempt at policy change. She was still inside the system when she started writing the Foster Youth Bill of Rights. That detail matters. This episode is about what it looks like when someone who has every reason to walk away decides instead to stay close to the fracture and push back on it. It's a conversation about the gap between what systems promise and what they deliver, and about what becomes possible when the people most affected by that gap refuse to let it be someone else's problem.

    Proving I Exist: Bonus Episode

  7. Jan 20

    Beyond Rescue: Reform, Hope & Choosing Joy

    In Episode 4 of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler follows Priscilla Roman’s story to ask what happens after a rescue story ends. Priscilla doesn’t describe herself as “trafficked.” Her story is what it looks like when a former foster youth with almost no safety net steps into the strip club at twenty—and finds her body treated like a commodity. But this final episode widens the lens beyond one life. You’ll hear from survivor leaders, advocates, and policy voices working to close the gaps that let exploitation thrive: laws that stop criminalizing exploited kids, housing and stabilization that keep youth from being easy to access and re‑recruited, and practical reforms that help communities see foster care, homelessness, and trafficking as one connected pipeline. This episode is about moving from rescue to renewal—how people are reshaping systems so kids are not only removed from harm, but given real paths to healing, joy, and generational change. Content advisory: This episode includes frank discussion of abuse and exploitation involving children and families. Please take care as you listen. Guests + Organizations Priscilla Roman — survivor voiceLauren — first name only (privacy protected)John Richmond — Atlas Free (former U.S. Ambassador‑at‑Large)Jeremy Vallerand — Atlas Free (CEO + founder)Dani Pinter — NCOSEDr. Jeanne L. Allert — Institute for Survivor CareDr. Brook Parker Bello — survivor advocateTori Hope Petersen — former foster youth and advocateRachelle Starr — Scarlet HopeDr. Jennifer Jacobs — Connect Our KidsAshleigh Chapman — Engage Together / Alliance for Freedom, Restoration, and JusticeWes Lyons — Eagle Venture Fund and their Freedom FundPartners Atlas Free (Season Partner): This season is made possible in part by our partners at Atlas Free, a global movement fighting sex trafficking. Atlas Free supports local organizations helping survivors find freedom and rebuild their futures, and works to stop traffickers where they operate. Learn more at atlasfree.org.Scarlet Hope (Season Partner): This season is made possible in part by our partners at Scarlet Hope, which has been showing up week after week with outreach and restoration for women who’ve been exploited in clubs, on the streets, and online. Learn more at scarlethope.org.Access Ventures (Series Partner): Fracture to Flourish is a production of Access Ventures, a catalyst for change working to build a flourishing society. Access Ventures leverages catalytic capital and partnerships to drive economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental sustainability in communities. Learn more at accessventures.org.Resources National Human Trafficking Hotline (US): Call 1‑888‑373‑7888 or text BEFREE (233733)RAINN (sexual assault support): rainn.orgNational Runaway Safeline: 1‑800‑RUNAWAY (786‑2929) or 1800runaway.orgNAMI (mental health support): nami.orgData + sources Youth aging out (U.S. annual count) https://www.aecf.org/topics/youth-in-transitionTennessee youth aging out + outcomes (Belmont Innovation Labs / Every Child TN) https://belmont.edu/stories/articles/2024/innovation-labs-study-highlights-crisis-in-foster-care.htmlhttps://belmont.edu/stories/articles/2024/innovation-labs-study-highlights-crisis-in-foster-care.htmlFoster parent retention / attrition (context) https://archive.legmt.gov/content/Committees/Interim/2021-2022/Children-Families/Studies/HJR-44/may2022-ncsl-paper-foster-parent-retention.pdfNote: This supports the magnitude of turnover and is not a first‑year‑only claimCredits "Fracture to Flourish" is a production of Access Ventures.Created, written, and hosted by Bryce Butler.Editing and production by Jacob Bozarth.Additional editing and production by Crystal Esquivel and Amelia Witts.Audio mixing by Pat Kicklighter.Cover art and design by Justin Esquivel.Marketing support by Amelia Witts and Madison Butler.

    Beyond Rescue: Reform, Hope & Choosing Joy

  8. Jan 20

    Designed to Fail: Lost in the System

    In Episode 3 of Fracture to Flourish, host Bryce Butler follows a single composite case file to show how a foster care system not designed around children can leave youth invisible, unprotected, and easy to traffic. Instead of starting with a trafficker, this episode starts with the paper trail: routine notes, missed court dates, closed runaway reports, copy‑pasted case notes, and the quiet ways warnings can die in separate inboxes. Along the way, you’ll hear how placement instability, isolation, and unmet basic needs can create the space where exploitation takes root. You’ll also hear from people who have watched these patterns up close: survivor voices, practitioners working with schools and foster care systems, policy leaders, and advocates pushing for practical reforms like integrated data systems, specialized missing‑from‑care units, and multidisciplinary teams that keep information from staying siloed. Content advisory: This episode includes frank discussion of abuse and exploitation involving children and families. Please take care as you listen. Guests + Organizations Crystabella Ryder — Season 1 guestAshlee Lucas — The Tebow GroupDr. Jeanne L. Allert — Institute for Survivor CareJohn Richmond — Atlas Free (former U.S. Ambassador‑at‑Large)Ricky Lynn — law enforcement (KY)Ashleigh Chapman — Engage Together / Alliance for Freedom, Restoration, and JusticeDani Pinter — NCOSETori Hope PetersenPartners Atlas Free (Season Partner): This season is made possible in part by our partners at Atlas Free, a global movement fighting sex trafficking. Atlas Free supports local organizations helping survivors find freedom and rebuild their futures, and works to stop traffickers where they operate. Learn more at atlasfree.org.Scarlet Hope (Season Partner): This season is made possible in part by our partners at Scarlet Hope, which has been showing up week after week with outreach and restoration for women who’ve been exploited in clubs, on the streets, and online. Learn more at scarlethope.org.Access Ventures (Series Partner): Fracture to Flourish is a production of Access Ventures, a catalyst for change working to build a flourishing society. Access Ventures leverages catalytic capital and partnerships to drive economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental sustainability in communities. Learn more at accessventures.org.Resources National Human Trafficking Hotline (US): Call 1‑888‑373‑7888 or text BEFREE (233733)RAINN (sexual assault support): rainn.orgNational Runaway Safeline: 1‑800‑RUNAWAY (786‑2929) or 1800runaway.orgNAMI (mental health support): nami.org Data + sources Missing children context (NCMEC) Runaways are still missing and still in danger (2024): https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2025/theyre-missing-too-why-runaway-children-need-our-helpNCMEC 2024 totals: https://www.missingkids.org/ourwork/impactMissing from foster care context: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/missingfromcareFamilial/caregiver trafficking (Dr. Jeanne Allert) Allert, Jeanne L. (2022). Domestic Minor Familial Sex Trafficking: A National Study of Prevalence, Characteristics, and Challenges across the Justice Process. Institute for Shelter Care. https://bcfstrafficking.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Familial-Trafficking-Study.pdfSummary: https://www.c7htc.org/familial-trafficking/Credits "Fracture to Flourish" is a production of Access Ventures.Created, written, and hosted by Bryce Butler.Editing and production by Jacob Bozarth.Additional editing and production by Crystal Esquivel and Amelia Witts.Audio mixing by Pat Kicklighter.Cover art and design by Justin Esquivel.Marketing support by Amelia Witts and Madison Butler.To listen to past episodes, check out fracturetoflourish.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening!

    Designed to Fail: Lost in the System
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Fracture to Flourish examines systemic challenges affecting underserved communities across the nation. Season One: Aging Out investigates the foster care crisis that impacts over 20,000 youth who age out of the system each year. Season Two: Aging Out: The Hidden Pipeline investigates how foster care instability, isolation, and unmet needs can create a pathway to exploitation, and what it takes to interrupt that pathway before harm becomes a life sentence.

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