Explainer Episode 87 - Child Welfare Funding & State Use of Foster Youth Benefits
RTP's Fourth Branch Podcast
RTP's Fourth Branch Podcast
An estimated 5% of foster youth qualify for Social Security benefits, but in many states, child welfare agencies use these funds to help cover the cost of care. In 2018 alone, agencies in 49 states and Washington, D.C., received at least $165 million in benefits intended for foster youth.
In this episode, Shoshana Weissmann interviews Maureen Flatley, subject matter expert in child welfare and child exploitation. They discuss how these funds are managed, the policies guiding their use, and the ongoing conversations about their impact on foster youth and the child welfare system.
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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Director, Digital Media, Communications and Fellow, R Street Institute
Shoshana Weissmann manages R Street’s social media, email marketing and other digital assets. She also works on occupational licensing reform, social media regulatory policy, Section 230 and other issues, and has written for various publications, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
Shoshana most recently managed digital communications for Opportunity Lives, a group that highlighted positive stories and policy solutions. Before that, she managed social media and wrote for The Weekly Standard. Earlier in her career, she managed digital communications for the America Rising PAC, where her strategy was highlighted in a piece that appeared in The New York Times.
She is on the board of The Conservation Coalition and a member of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project’s state and local and emerging technology working groups.
She lives in Washington, D.C. and has a stuffed sloth named James Madisloth, and she enjoys the Snapchat hot dog.
Partner and Principal, Maureen Flatley
Maureen Flatley is a subject matter expert in child welfare and child exploitation with a particular expertise in government reform and oversight. She provides expert consultation to policy makers, attorneys, nonprofits, families and individuals on a wide range of related issues. In 1994, she was appointed by Federal District Court Judge Thomas Hogan to serve as a strategic advisor to the LaShawn General Receiver to provide oversight of Washington, DC's child welfare agency.
Her advocacy on Capitol Hill has resulted in the introduction, passage and implementation of a wide range of large scale reforms of child welfare, adoption and child abuse and exploitation laws.