Seen Out Loud

Seen Out Loud is a show about disrupting the child welfare system by the simple act of seeing families in their full humanity. I’m your host Matt Anderson. I am incredibly curious about people’s stories and endlessly impatient with the status quo. I’ve witnessed how seeing people for who they truly are, and learning from their stories, offers new perspectives and compelling insights that can lead to radical transformation of America’s foster care system. Join me in listening to families share deeply personal stories about their experiences with the child welfare system. Hear them express how the moments they were finally seen and valued shaped the trajectories of their lives. In this podcast, I accompany these stories with conversations about the work happening on the front lines of the family well-being movement—a collective effort aimed at meeting the needs of families to prevent systems intervention and the removal of children from parents. Hear leaders of the movement describe how they are actively building a future where families are engaged in systems work and have what they need to stay together and thrive.My life’s work has been dedicated to listening to and serving families. I have a master’s degree in social work and nearly 20 years of collective experience in youth engagement, child welfare practice, public policy, organizational leadership, and documentary film production. I am the director of Institute for Family, a division of Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, which uses the power of storytelling and collective thinking to elevate and prioritize family well-being.