Comfort Cases: Unpacked Podcast | Episode 4 | Larry Rein

What does stability really mean for a child in foster care? It is more than simply having a place to sleep. It means knowing where you’ll be tomorrow. It means having adults you can trust. It means not having to start over again and again while the adults around you determine what comes next.

This week on Comfort Cases: UnPacked, Rob Scheer is joined by Larry Rein, President and CEO of ChildNet, the nonprofit Community Based Care lead agency responsible for managing foster care services in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, Florida.

Larry has been with ChildNet since its founding in 2002 and has spent more than two decades strengthening the network of families, service providers, community organizations, and advocates supporting children and families involved in foster care.

Together, Rob and Larry discuss what happens behind the phrase “foster care system,” why stability means so much more than simply finding a placement, and where the system still struggles to provide children with the consistency and support they need.

They also explore an important reality: Foster care cannot succeed through agencies alone.

Foster parents, kinship caregivers, schools, businesses, donors, volunteers, service providers, and everyday community members all have a role to play in helping children and families succeed.

At the heart of the conversation is a question that affects every community: What would change if we stopped thinking of foster care as someone else’s responsibility?

CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS

What ChildNet’s role actually looks like in the lives of children and families
Common misconceptions about why children enter foster care
Why turning a placement into true stability requires much more than finding a home
The impact repeated moves and disruptions can have on children in care
Why reunification, adoption, kinship care, and permanency can look different for every child and family
The enormous responsibilities placed on foster parents and kinship caregivers
What has improved in foster care over the past two decades—and where major challenges remain
Why agencies cannot solve the challenges of foster care without community involvement
How businesses, schools, donors, volunteers, and local organizations can support children and families
Where Larry sees opportunities to improve outcomes for children in the years ahead
How someone who wants to help can find the role that is right for them

ABOUT LARRY REIN

Larry N. Rein is President and Chief Executive Officer of ChildNet, Inc., the nonprofit Community Based Care lead agency contracted by the State of Florida to manage foster care services in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Larry has been with ChildNet since its inception in 2002, previously serving as Vice President of Network Development and Palm Beach Executive Director.

He also serves on the boards and executive committees of several behavioral health and child welfare organizations, including the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network, Florida Coalition for Children, and Florida Coalition for Children Foundation.

Larry holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of Science degree from St. John’s University. His service to children and families has earned him both 211 Broward’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the FLITE Center’s Lifetime Heroes Award.

CONNECT WITH LARRY REIN & CHILDNET

Website: https://www.childnet.us/

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To listen to previous episodes of Fostering Change and Comfort Cases: Unpacked, please visit: www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.

📩 Have thoughts or questions, or an idea for a future guest? Reach out at fosteringchange@comfortcases.org – we’d love to hear from you! From all of us at Comfort Cases: Unpacked, thank you for listening, for sharing this journey with us through seven incredible seasons, and for believing that every child deserves dignity, belonging, and hope.