The Imprint Weekly

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 f...

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 Mo...

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 ...

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...

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/...