Fostering Change

Welcome to Season 6 of Fostering Change! Following 220 amazing episodes, we are so excited for what’s to come this season.  We have special and moving guests, and throughout the season we are inviting some of Comfort Cases’ friends to co-host episodes with Rob Scheer.  That includes today’s episode, as we are so lucky to have Rita Soronen, CEO of the Dave Thomas Center for Adoption join Rob to interview our first guest of the season, Andrew Bridge, author of The Child Catcher: A Fight for Justice & Truth. If you have a suggestion for a guest, or questions or comments about today’s episode, please reach out to us at info@comfortcases.org.About today’s first episode of our new season:  Rob and Rita have a riveting conversation with Andrew Bridge - about his time in foster care, and the battles he has fought for youth in foster care. His new book, The Child Catcher, is the true story of the fight to rescue the children confined to a violent and secretive institution in the rural South.Proceeds from the book will go to CASA National, State, and local county chapters. Buyers should go to AndrewBridgeAuthor.com and select the CASA chapter of their choice, and 50% of pre-sale royalties will go there.More About Andrew: Andrew spent 11 years in Los Angeles County foster care. After aging out, unlike so many in foster care he made it to college: Wesleyan University, and then graduated from Harvard Law School and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. He began his legal career representing children against the State of Alabama, where his work resulted in the closure of one of the country’s most notorious psychiatric institutions, the Eufaula Adolescent Center. Returning to Los Angeles, he became CEO of The Alliance for Children’s Rights, representing children in the foster care system where he grew up. Andrew is the co-founder of National Adoption Day and New Village Girls Academy for pregnant and parenting teens. As Chair of Los Angeles County’s Blue Ribbon Task Force, he called for an end to the disproportionate removal of Black babies from their mothers. His memoir Hope’s Boy was a New York Times bestseller and Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Most recently, he was a member of the executive management team for Illinois DCFS, and with Arizona as his home, he now serves on the Arizona Foster Care Review Board. His second book about that fight against Alabama, The Child Catcher, will be released in September. To find out more about Andrew, please follow him on social media:Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/andrew.bridge.9041/InstagramandrewbridgejdTwitter/X@AndrewBridgeJDThreadsAndrewBridgejd

You’ve made it!  It’s the end of August and our final “Best of Season 5” episode of the season, and we’ve saved a very special episode just for you.Just a note that Season 6 will debut next week, Tuesday, September 3.  We have some amazing guests lined up, and are doing something new this season: on several episodes, we are bringing in special guests to Co-Host interviews with Rob Scheer.  You’ll recognize some of the names as previous guests, and there will also be some new names for you - who we know you will love as much as we do.Now, for our final “Best of” we needed to do something special. When we booked Emily Cole on Fostering Change last December for our 200th episode, we knew that we would hear all about the amazing Savannah Bananas baseball team (maybe you’ve been lucky enough to see them in person this season, or at least on ESPN?) as well as their philanthropic effort Bananas Foster, dedicated to Bringing Families Together by focusing on celebrating those who are doing amazing things in the foster care world while educating and inspiring others to get involved. Because of all that Emily, her husband Jesse, and the team do for our foster youth, Comfort Cases will award them our special Barbara Harrison Award at our Farm-to-Feast Annual Fundraising event on September 28. This award is given annually to someone who truly is changing the lives of those in the foster care system.If you would like to celebrate Emily, Jess and many other “Good Humans”, we would love for you to join us on September 28. Tickets are available at https://comfortcases.org/feast/. If you have an item you would like to donate for our live auction, you can also find information on the site.  Our annual fundraiser is held on a beautiful farm in the Maryland countryside.  There will be entertainment by our friends, the Como Brothers, fabulous food and wine, and other surprises.Emily shares her story with Rob on today’s podcast. We hope you will find it inspiring and motivated to become involved in your community, be it foster care or some other form of charitable act.To learn more about Bananas Foster, please visit: https://bananasfoster.org/ and visit https://thesavannahbananas.com/ to learn more about the Savannah Bananas Baseball team!You can follow Emily and the Bananas on Social Media:Instagram: @EmCole3 @thesavbananas @bananasfosterincTikTok: @SavBananasFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSavBananasTo listen to previous episodes of Fostering Change, please visit: www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.If you have any comments, questions, or guest suggestions, we’d love to hear from you!  Please write us at info@comfortcases.org.Thank you for listening and we’ll see you next Tuesday for the start of Season 6 of Fostering Change!!!

Welcome back to the “Best of Fostering Change: Season 5.”  Today, we revisit what was our final episode of our season - our interview with our good friend, Sarah Fraser.  Sarah is not just a friend - she’s an extremely talented broadcaster as the host of one of the most popular podcasts out there, the eponymously titled, “The Sarah Fraser Show.” On her show, Sarah talks about reality TV, interviews unique guests and talks about her own fun life.  She has so much more going on, we highly recommend you follow her on social media (links below) to keep up-to-date!Many first became aware of Sarah’s talents when she was the co-host of Hot 95.5’s “The Kane Show” in Washington, DC  and then on DC’s 107.3’s “Sarah, Ty, and Mel”.  She was also an entertainment contributor for FOX 5 in DC for 13 years!  Sarah is also looking to become a foster parent.  She and Rob have a lively discussion about the hoops many need to go through to become a foster parent - and Rob also offers a possible solution to Sarah that she hadn’t considered before.  (You’ll have to listen to the end for this!)Our final “Best of” episode will post August 27 - we then kick-off Season 6 in September.If you have any guest suggestions, please let us know. Please each out to us at info@comfortcases.org.  You can always catch up on previous episodes of all 5 seasons of Fostering Change by visiting www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.Thank you again for being such supportive listeners!Follow Sarah here!Facebook@thesarahfrasershowInstagram@thesarahfrasershowTwitter/X@sarahfrasershowTikTok@thesarahfrasershow

Today we continue our “Best of Season 5” Series with an interview Rob conducted in May with friend of Comfort Cases, Benjy Grinberg.  Benjy is an award-winning record producer, who has worked with superstars including Mac Miller, Wiz Khalifa, KT Tunsall and more.  But he discovered he had another calling, and that was to become a CASA. Benjy and Rob discuss why he chose to take on this wonderful opportunity to help our youth in foster care and what he’s expecting to gain from the experience.  To learn more about becoming a CASA, please visit: https://nationalcasagal.org/To learn more about Benjy:Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/benjybenjyLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/benjy-grinberg-ba85653/Thank you again for listening, and please remember to send in any comments or questions to info@comfortcases.org.  

Welcome back to our “Best of Season 5” series. Maybe you’ll be listening to this on the beach as you celebrate Independence Day, in your car on your way to work, or at home. Wherever you listen, we thank you for your support!Today we revisit our interview with Laura, whose mission is to educate and support people about the foster care system. Often, new foster parents are not prepared for everything they need to know before their first children come to them.Laura discuss how the “cracks of child welfare are deep”, from misplaced birth certificates to wrong names of the child, and without knowing the right types of questions to ask, you run the risk of not knowing these things and have to play catch up - which is not the situation a new foster parent - or their child - wants to be in!In this insightful conversation, you will hear:What sweeping changes need to be made in the foster care systemWhat should be considered when setting up your home for a foster childHow every state has different rules and regulations and how that affects parents and youthHow we should be moving from “mandated reporting” to “mandated supporting”You can learn more about Laura by visiting her here:Linktree: https://linktr.ee/foster.parentingWebsite: https://www.fosterparentpartner.com/Instagram: @foster.parentingTikTok: @fosterparenting YouTube: @foster.parentingStorefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-a74dff14Our next “Best of” episode will air July 16.  As always, you can find an archive of all 5 seasons of Fostering Change here: https://comfortcases.org/podcasts/.If you have any questions, please feel free to send us an email at info@comfortcases.org.

Welcome to our first episode of Fostering Change’s “Best of Season 5”. Today, we revisit Rob’s interview with Mark Daley, author of SAFE: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family.  We knew right away that this interview would be in our “Best of” series, and we think you’ll agree.  So whether this is your first, second or third time listening to this interview, please enjoy!Today, on Fostering Change, Comfort Cases’ founder Rob Scheer has an enlightening conversation with Mark Daley, author of SAFE: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family.  The book offers a deeply personal window into what happens when the universal longing for family crashes up against the unique madness and bureaucracy of a child protection system that often fails to consider the needs of the most vulnerable parties of all—the children themselves.You will hear Rob share that he believes that SAFE is an important resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about, or is actively participating in our foster care system.  You will hear Rob and Mark discuss how having a community of support all around you is so important. In fact, finding community is “Step Number 1!” - be that community family, church, neighbors or others who can support you as you work to juggle this new lifestyle.Mark shares some important tips for new foster parents, including:Go in with your eyes open. Do your homework.Don’t rush to judgment on the families of the child/children you’ve brought into your home. You likely do not know the “whole story.” Be empathetic.Speak up and be “the voice” for your child/childrenTo purchase SAFE, please visit your local independent bookstore or purchase online on sites including:AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.orgYou can follow Mark on Social Media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markdaley00/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markdaley00Our next “Best of” episode will air July 2nd. Stay tuned!You can always catch up on previous episodes of Fostering Change by visiting www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.If you have any comments, questions, or guest suggestions, we’d love to hear from you!  Please write to us at info@comfortcases.org.As always, thank you for listening!

Welcome to the Final Episode of Season 5.  Thank you for joining us on this journey - whether you’re a new listener or if you’ve been with us all five seasons.Season 6 will debut in September, but following today’s episode, we will air some of our favorite episodes from the past season once again bi-weekly. So stay tuned!And for our final episode of the season, we wanted to go out on a HIGH NOTE, and couldn’t have looked any further than today’s guest, Rob Scheer’s good friend, Sarah Fraser.Many first became aware of Sarah’s talents when she was the co-host of Hot 95.5’s “The Kane Show” in Washington, DC  and then on DC’s 107.3’s “Sarah, Ty, and Mel”.  She was also an entertainment contributor for FOX 5 in DC for 13 years!  But DC couldn’t hold a talent like her, and she recently moved to the Bright Lights of Los Angeles, and is the host of “The Sarah Fraser Show,” one of the top-trending pop culture podcasts in the country. (More than 15 MILLION downloads!)  Sarah covers reality TV, interviews unique guests and talks about her own fun life.  She has so much more going on, we highly recommend you follow her on social media (links below) to keep up-to-date!Sarah is also looking to become a foster parent.  She and Rob have a lively discussion about the hoops many need to go through to become a foster parent - and Rob also offers a possible solution to Sarah that she hadn’t considered before.  (You’ll have to listen to the end for this!)What a terrific way to end the season.A reminder that our first “Best of” episode will air Tuesday, June 18. And then episodes will air on alternate Tuesdays until the start of Season 6.Thank you again for being such supportive listeners!Follow Sarah here!Facebook@thesarahfrasershowInstagram@thesarahfrasershowTwitter/X@sarahfrasershowTikTok@thesarahfrasershowOur next episode will be the start of our “Best of Season 5”. The first “Best of” will post on Tuesday, June 18.  We’ll then stay on our schedule of alternate weeks until Season 6 debuts in September. You can always catch up on previous episodes of all 5 seasons of Fostering Change by visiting www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.If you have any comments, questions, or guest suggestions, we’d love to hear from you!  Please write to us at info@comfortcases.org.As always, thank you for listening!

Welcome to the final episode of Fostering Change for National Foster Care Awareness Month.  We hope you have done something meaningful to help our youth, the fantastic people who work in social services, our teachers… and yourself.  This is the month they “give us,” but as Rob often shares, “when you invest in a child, you invest in YOUR future… because they are the leaders of tomorrow.”We end this month with a very special guest: Emi Nietfeld. Emi is the author of an amazing book that we highly recommend you purchase right now: Acceptance. In her memoir, Emi shares how she did something that only 3% of youth in foster care do: she went to college—and not just any college, but Harvard!As a homeless teenager writing college essays in her rusty Toyota Corolla, Emi Nietfeld was convinced that the Ivy League was the only escape from her dysfunctional childhood. But upward mobility required crafting the perfect resilience narrative. She had to prove that she was an “overcomer,” made stronger by all that she had endured.In her interview with Rob, Emi shares the life lessons she’s learned, particularly of challenging our ideas of what it means to overcome - and find contentment on your own terms.To learn more about Emi and her memoir, please visit https://www.eminietfeld.com/You can also find and follow Emi on social media:Substack:https://eminietfeld.substack.com/Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/eminietfeld/LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/emi-nietfeld Twitter/Xhttps://twitter.com/eminietfeldFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/eminietfeldTikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@eminietfeldOur next episode is our final episode of Season 5 and will air June 4. Throughout the rest of the Summer, we will be sharing some of our favorite episodes of Season 5.  Stay tuned! You can always catch up on previous episodes of all 5 seasons of Fostering Change by visiting www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.If you have any comments, questions, or guest suggestions, we’d love to hear from you!  Please write to us at info@comfortcases.org.As always, thank you for listening!