Bonus Babies
The Anthem Award winning BONUS BABIES podcast is the only one of its kind that features the compelling true-life hard-hitting stories of those with a lived foster care experience and the people who care for them––all via the unique 360* lens of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. Through raw first-hand accounts, BONUS BABIES reveals the daunting complexity of the foster care world while documenting the challenges, failures and successes of the system as well as the people and the agencies involved. The creator and host, Jayne Amelia Larson, is a CASA - a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer for youth in foster care. In the same way a CASA works, she explores all things in the foster care maze by talking to kids, parents, caregivers, attorneys, social workers, therapists, adoptees, adoptive parents, members of community and social programs...anybody and everybody who will speak to her to keep the conversation open and the information flowing about all things CASA––to give a forum to help people understand what it's like to have a lived foster care experience. Original music by Christina Apostolopoulos. Emma Karpman is our Social Media Manager. Audio engineering and mixing by Adam "Yukon" Harr of Blue Oak Mastering. Executive Producer is Jake Eberle. Cover art by John Crowther.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 50 minutes
- Episodes
- 100
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Kendra Lukens : I Feel Like I Never Really Had A Childhood
Jayne Amelia speaks with Kendra Lukens. In her words: “My name is Kendra, I spent my entire life going in and out of the foster system after the death of my father in 2012. This starte…
Emi Niefeld: So Many Things I Could Not Have Known
Jayne Amelia speaks with Emi Nietfeld. Emi is the author of the memoir Acceptance, published by Penguin Press. A former foster youth, she graduated from Harvard in 2015 and worked as a …
Breyon Johnson: If I Just Give Up Now Then I'm Letting Them Win
Jayne Amelia speaks with Breyon Johnson. Breyon is a former foster youth and now a student at Santa Monica college studying to be a storyboard artist and writer. She’s currently working…
David Ambroz: And Yet Here I Am And I Remain Optimistic
Jayne Amelia talks with activist David Ambroz. David is a national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate, and author of a new memoir “A Place Called Home.” He was recognized by…
Syd Stewart: I Deserve Grace Just Like I Extend Grace
Jayne Amelia talks with Syd Stewart. Syd is a poet, actor and filmmaker, and the author of two books of poetry, A Rock and A Hard Place (iUniverse, 2010) and Babylon Graffiti (Zeitgeist…
Ångela Quijada Banks: I Learned To Really Operate On Reciprocity of Relationships
Jayne Amelia speaks with Ångela Quijada Banks. Ångela is a former foster youth and an NAACP Image Awards Nominee and American Award-winning author of the Black Foster Youth Handbook. …
Akhim Dev: Hear Me As Loud As I Can Say It
Jayne Amelia speaks with filmmaker Akhim Dev. Dev has over 20 years of experience in broadcast television and digital content. His credits include writing and directing on "The 3G of US…
Kimberly Bell: You Took The Time To Invest In Yourself, You Took The Time To Love Yourself
Jayne Amelia Larson speaks with adoptee and survivor Kimberly Bell. Kimberly is an inspirational speaker, minister, mentor, and the author of "The Epitome of Kimmy: Accept & Embrace It…
Jeffrey Jamerson: The Most Powerful In The World Is The Storyteller
Jayne Amelia talks with Jeffrey Jamerson. Jeffrey has over 25 years of experience in the public sector serving at-risk youth and families in various capacities, most recently as the Vic…
Sana Latrease Cotten: I Learned That She Too Was Trafficked By Her Mom So It Was A Generational Thing
Jayne Amelia talks with Sana Latrease Cotten, who was trafficked by her mother and grandmother as a young child, put in foster care and was then adopted but even so never really felt sh…
Jordan Bartlett: Business As A Force For Creating This Community Of People That Can Do Good
Jayne Amelia talks with Jordan Bartlett who was adopted at birth by a loving family. As a young college student, Jordan met his biological sister (for the very first time) who'd been pl…
Mary Rathbone: I Will Look Back On It And Say It Was One Of The Greatest Achievements Of My Life
Jayne Amelia speaks with foster parent, Mary Rathbone. Mary, her husband Alan and their daughter Chloe started their foster care journey in 2017. Their very first placement was a siblin…
Lisa Marie Arnett: I Still Hold People 100% Accountable
Jayne Amelia Larson speaks with former foster youth and survivor, Lisa Marie Arnett. Lisa Marie endured 36 placements and horrific abuse from the age of 2 on until she aged out of foste…
Raquel Wilson: School Was Literally The Only Thing They Couldn't Take Away From Me
Jayne Amelia talks with Raquel Wilson, a former foster youth and now advocate from Compton. Raquel is the the program manager for the Fostering Media Connections Youth Voice program, a…
Cathy Horan Walker: Just Pay It Forward
Jayne Amelia speaks with CASA Cathy Horan Walker. CASA Cathy Horan Walker is from Monterey, California. She promised herself she would become a CASA after her two sons graduated highsch…
Ryan Moses: You're The Only Person Who's Going To Be Able To Turn This Around
Jayne Amelia speaks with former foster youth Ryan Moses. Ryan went into foster care when he was a small child and had 12 placements in 8 different school districts. At 10 he advocated f…
Allison Lieberman: These Children Become Sexually Exploited Children By Being Sold To Other People
Jayne Amelia speaks with Allison Lieberman. Allison is a licensed marriage and family therapist, postpartum anxiety expert, mom of 2, and 2x postpartum anxiety survivor. Part of Allison…
Rachel Malley: I Love That I Get To Have Such A Direct Impact
Jayne Amelia speaks with CASA volunteer and book publisher, Rachel Malley. Rachel started volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate in 2019 when she learned about the power of…
Maria Harding: They Picked Up A Kid And Turned Her Into A Functional Adult
Jayne Amelia talks with adoptee Maria Harding. Maria was adopted at birth but always considered a problem child by her mother. Her parents split when she was little and when her mother…
Hank Fortener: At The Root Of All Our Societal Causes Is Going To Be An Instability For Our Kids
Jayne Amelia talks with Hank Fortener, the founder of AdoptTogether, "who understands the burdensome blessing that is the adoption process". His family fostered 36 children and adopted…