In the late ’80s, two of the most recognizable faces on television were a pair of crash test dummies named Vince and Larry. They cracked corny jokes, got themselves spectacularly smashed to pieces, and taught me and millions of other kids the importance of buckling up. They are recognized as one of the most successful public safety campaigns in U.S. history - because they were a masterclass in solving a direct problem by finding an indirect, upstream point of leverage.
Today's episode is about addressing some of our biggest social challenges—homelessness, trafficking, poverty, and incarceration—not just by tackling them directly, but by asking a different question: What if one of the most powerful ways to address these societal challenges downstream is to build the kind of belonging that changes the course of a child’s life?
Today we sit down with Brian Mavis, the founder of America’s Kids Belong, to answer that question. We talk about his new book Upstream: Diving into Foster Care to Heal 10 Social Wounds and the issues that impact our communities - incarceration, poverty, homelessness, mental health and more. This book asks 'With so many worthy causes out there, why should we prioritize foster care?'.
