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. 4D AGO

    Headlines: New Data on Foster Care Capacity, Mental Health-Driven Incarceration and More

    On this week’s episode we start by discussing the new update to Who Cares, which is The Imprint’s project on foster care capacity data around the country, and how it connects to the Trump administration’s central child welfare goal for the president’s second term. We also review some recent Trump administration actions related to LGBTQ youth in foster care, and what some recent research on juvenile detention and congregate care suggests about mental health services for youth.  Reading Room Who Cares Project https://fostercarecapacity.com/ The Latest on A Home for Every Child https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/latest-a-home-for-every-child/271534 Mapping A Home for Every Child: Where Do States Stand? https://bit.ly/4716Gq0 ACF is Rescinding Biden-Era Rule on LGBTQ Foster Care Placements https://bit.ly/3PcoZCv Trump Appointee Demands States Roll Back Foster Parenting Rules That Aim to Protect LGBTQ+ Youth https://bit.ly/47xLA2E Feds Warn States: Family Gender Disputes Should Not Lead to Child Welfare Cases https://bit.ly/3PmDfZo Trump Administration Slashes Number of Regulatory Guidance Docs at ACF https://bit.ly/3P2KJAT Bipartisan Report Raises Alarm Over Widespread Incarceration of Children With Mental Health Needs https://bit.ly/4sKSeLd In Many States, Federal Funding Restrictions on Foster Care Group Facilities Has Not Reduced Placements https://bit.ly/4sLerbW HHS Should Clarify Guidance on State Spending for Congregate Care https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-26-107592/index.html Michigan Lawmakers and Boarding School Survivors Speak Out on Shelved Indian Boarding School Report https://bit.ly/3NAeFnr For Centuries, Native Women Have Been Told to ‘Trust the Doctor.’ The Results Have Been Disastrous. https://bit.ly/40xAJCc Birth Justice: The Fight for Reproductive Freedom in Indian Country https://bit.ly/3N7X85Y NY Judges Greenlight Class-Action Lawsuit on Behalf of Children Denied Foster Placement With Relatives https://bit.ly/4sQf5VS Amid Outcry, Foster Youth Advocate Detained by ICE https://imprintnews.org/special-series/amid-outcry-foster-youth-advocate-detained-by-ice Youth Sound Off: Foster Youth Speak Out on ICE’s Attacks in Minnesota https://bit.ly/4uOoPBR

    50 min

  2. MAR 9

    The Future of Federal Research on Youth and Families

    On this week’s episode we talk to Naomi Goldstein, who for nearly two decades led the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). We discussed the way that the federal government decides what to research and how it gets the job done. And why she thinks the Trump administration’s recent decision to decentralize research at ACF is a mistake.  Naomi Goldstein was the deputy assistant secretary for planning, research, and evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families.  She is currently a registered nurse in Washington, D.C. Reading Room Restructuring on the Horizon for ACF’s Research Branch https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/restructuring-on-the-horizon-for-acfs-research-branch/271096 Happy Birthday OPRE! https://acf.gov/archive/opre/blog/2024/08/birthday2024

    37 min

  3. MAR 2

    The Civil Rights of System-Involved Youth, with Marsha Levick

    On this week’s episode we talk to Marsha Levick, co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center, who stepped down last year after serving for decades as the organization’s chief legal officer. We discussed the origins of the center and how it survived, how to write a good amicus brief, the Kids for Cash scandal and more.  Marsha Levick is a co-founder and former chief legal officer for the Juvenile Law Center. She is currently the Phyllis W. Beck Visiting Chair in Law at Temple Law School.

    1h 10m

  4. FEB 23

    InnerViews – Love Shouldn’t Hurt: When Relationships Become About Survival

    InnerViews is trying something new. In this special episode, we bring you the audio from Youth Voices Rising’s powerful webinar, Love Shouldn’t Hurt. Panelists with lived child welfare experience reflect on how trauma, housing instability, and system involvement can shape beliefs about love and safety. This honest conversation explores survival-based relationships, healing, and what it takes to build emotionally safe connections. Listener discretion advised.

    1h 22m

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. JAN 25

    InnerViews -- Restoring Safety Within: What We’re Carrying Forward & What We’re Leaving Behind

    In this restorative Season 3 premiere of InnerViews, host Ivory Bennett reunites with Dr. Alison Davis for a soulful conversation on renewal, emotional safety, and intentional becoming. Together, they reflect on the lessons of the past season, explore what no longer serves them, and name what deserves to be carried forward. This episode invites listeners to pause, breathe, and consider how healing, boundaries, and self-compassion can shape the life they’re building next.

    59 min

  8. JAN 17

    Stuck Kids: How Foster Youth End up In Hospitals for Months

    Last week, the Baltimore Sun’s Jean Marbella reported on a lawsuit filed on behalf of youth in the state’s foster care system who had been left in hospital wards with no plan for a return to the community.  While the lawsuit focuses on events in the past two years, this has been a problem for far longer than that in Maryland. In 2022, we were joined by Erin Dorrien and Carrie Etheridge to discuss this exact issue of kids getting stuck in the hospital well after anyone thinks they need to be there. Dorrien and Etheridge explained exactly how and why this had become such a challenge in Maryland’s child welfare system, and what they were hoping the legislature could do to improve the situation. Today we are re-releasing that interview.  Erin Dorrien is an associate principal at Health Management Associates. At the time this interview was recorded, she was vice president of policy for the Maryland Hospital Association. Carrie Etheridge is the director of social work at Sheppard Pratt. Original release date: May 2, 2022 Reading Room 144 Maryland Foster Children Were Stuck in Hospitals, Sometimes for Months, after Doctors Cleared Them https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/01/15/foster-care-hospitals-children/ Maryland H.B. 406: Children in Out-Of-Home Placements https://bit.ly/3P1Xp6y Stranded in the ER: Can California Change its Treatment of Kids in Crisis? https://bit.ly/3B41pMu

    47 min
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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.

Information

  • Creator
    The Imprint
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    266
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Imprint Weekly
  • Show Website
    The Imprint Weekly

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