Interview with Debbie Ausburn (Foster care expert & child safety advocate)

Foster care and child safety sit at the intersection of family life, public responsibility, and institutional accountability. In this DDSA interview, Dr. David D. Schein speaks with Debbie Ausburn, a foster care expert and child safety advocate, about the challenges involved in protecting vulnerable children and supporting the people responsible for their care.

The conversation points toward the practical realities behind child welfare systems: safety, trust, accountability, and the difficult decisions made by families, agencies, courts, and communities. Foster care is not only a private concern. It reflects how society responds when children need protection and when adults must make decisions with lasting consequences.

For viewers interested in public policy, education, healthcare, and American life, this DDSA interview brings a human focus to a topic that is often discussed only in statistics or headlines. It asks what better leadership, clearer responsibility, and stronger civic commitment could mean for children, caregivers, and communities facing complex safety concerns. It also gives viewers a practical way to think about child welfare as a shared civic issue, not only a private family matter. It also gives viewers a practical way to think about child welfare as a shared civic issue, not only a private family matter.