The Imprint Weekly

On InnerViews, Ivory Bennett speaks with Jose A. Perez, winner of the 2024 Youth Voices Rising New York Op-Ed competition, for his poignant essay, When Help Hurts: Foster Care vs. My Mom. In a powerful conversation, Perez shares his journey from New York’s foster care and prison systems to becoming an acclaimed poet, actor, and advocate. Listen as Jose reflects on a system that separated his family, the art that saved him, and his current role advocating for justice and opportunities for system-involved youth. Don't miss this impactful dialogue on resilience, transformation, and the power of family.

On this week’s episode we discuss another “Family Miranda” bill becoming law, this time in Arizona; a case against caseworkers headed to verdict; and a damning statement on “Shaken Baby Syndrome.”

Christine Norbut Beyer, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, joins to discuss her state’s exit from court oversight after many years, how the system has changed since her early career as a social worker, and her thoughts on Miranda-style warnings for parents at the point of investigation.

Reading Room
Hobbs Announces 15-Year Low of Arizona Children in Foster Care, Signs New Bill
https://shorturl.at/bqsB8

Prosecuting Caseworkers for Child Fatalities, Take Two
https://bit.ly/3LmCaMA

Leaders Fear Dangerous Precedent As Homicide Case against Caseworkers Continues
https://bit.ly/3Pj7Xix

DCFS workers on trial over AJ Freund’s death won’t testify; defense rests without calling witnesses
https://bit.ly/460KERS

Appeals court agrees shaken baby syndrome is ‘junk science’ in some cases
https://bit.ly/3Ro8qT6

He’s Facing Execution For His Daughter’s Death. Now, Science Suggests It Was An Accident.
https://bit.ly/45SyZUN

Discredited Shaken Baby Science Sent This Father to Jail for 15 Years. His Ordeal Could End This Week
https://bit.ly/48wrftJ

After 15 years in Prison, Freedom for California Man After Judge Overturns Shaken Baby Conviction
https://bit.ly/3PpjJYR

Report Documents the Critical Elements of Protecting Alaska Native Children — Connections to Culture and the Environment
https://bit.ly/3PGs9v5

Rebuilding Family After Foster Care
https://shorturl.at/HQ048

Three Brothers, Three Paths Out of Foster Care
https://shorturl.at/gprA0

Florida’s Baker Act Has Seized Kids & Adults for Forced Mental Health Holds Almost 2 Million Times in Past Decade. Are Advocates Finally Forcing Change?https://shorturl.at/hvPU9

Child Welfare Challenges in The Sunshine State
https://shorturl.at/ijtI9

Today on The Imprint Weekly Podcast we feature a great conversation that Fostering Media Connections hosted last month called “Homeless in Foster Care: What Would Really Keep Foster Youth from Sleeping in Offices.”

As the title suggests, the motivation for this discussion was the reality that youth living in foster care are sleeping in offices, sometimes in hotels or even in rare cases cars, with systems struggling to find more appropriate shelter for them...and all of these kids had been removed from their home at one point or another due to safety concerns, which makes leaving them in such an unstable position is truly failure in its most clear form.

This has gotten attention of late because several states saw the number of youth in this situation increase during the last year or so, likely in part to the pandemic and its impact on the child welfare workforce and more generally on foster care capacity.

But this is not by any means a new problem in child welfare. This conversation was meant to discuss not the emergency solutions for it, but rather the upstream issues with how child welfare systems proceed that end up leaving youth open to these circumstances.
This conversation includes Molly Tierney of Accenture, who worked in child welfare leadership in Illinois and in Baltimore; BJ Walker, former director of the state child welfare systems in Georgia and Illinois, and Gary Ivory, the President of Youth Advocate Programs, which for decades has been focused on serving as a community alternative to things incarceration and foster care.

On this week’s podcast, we try to tie three different sets of federally collected numbers together in regard to child welfare during the earliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic between March and September 2020, when lockdowns were ubiquitous, schools were mostly closed and vaccines were still in the offing. We also talk about some well-timed research on the nexus between income support for poor parents and child well-being.

Later in the podcast we talk what could be the first collateral consequence of last year’s Supreme Court decision on faith-based discrimination in child welfare; where things stand with a court challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act and auditing L.A.’s child welfare agency. We end with a discussion of Edgar Cahn, a giant in the legal community whose legacy includes two innovative ideas in juvenile justice.
Reading Room

Child Maltreatment 2020
https://bit.ly/3rdgets

2020 Child Maltreatment Data: A Breakdown
https://bit.ly/3u5vfiI

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System
https://bit.ly/3udG5n0

Trends in U.S. Emergency Department Visits Related to Suspected or Confirmed Child Abuse and Neglect
https://bit.ly/3rdEuvJ

Cash Aid to Poor Mothers Increases Brain Activity in Babies, Study Finds
https://nyti.ms/3KVYGtF

Public Investments and Class Gaps in Parents’ Developmental Expenditures
https://bit.ly/3GcwqzA

Michigan Settles Lawsuit with St. Vincent Catholic Charities over Same-sex Adoptions
https://bit.ly/32I7Rwy

Jews Have Been Rejected by Adoption Agencies for Years. This Couple Hopes to Force a Change
https://bit.ly/3KVqjDd

Edgar Cahn, Pioneer of Time Banking, Passes Away
https://bit.ly/3KNvAMY

A Perfect Combination of Chutzpah and Soul
https://wapo.st/35AGINf

A Novel Approach on Litigating Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice
https://bit.ly/3g9BWYZ

In this powerful episode of InnerViews, host Ivory Bennett sits down with Brittney Lee, who endured 17 foster homes over 17 years. Brittney shares her inspiring journey of resilience, community engagement, and her mission to fight racial inequality within the child welfare system. With a passion for giving back, Brittney is committed to being a role model and creating positive change for youth in foster care, drawing from her own experiences and deep compassion. Don’t miss this episode on empowerment, healing, and breaking down systemic barriers.