Episode # 18: Children’s Bureau Associate Commissioner Ryan Hanlon
Welcome to our latest edition of WonkCast: People Power Policy.
In DC, there’s the old adage that “personnel is policy”; who you appoint to policy roles is itself a policy choice, and a signal worth watching.
At the Administration for Children and Families, Assistant Secretary Alex Adams is already advancing significant reforms to federal child welfare policy.
Amid that ongoing overhaul, there’s now new leadership for the Children’s Bureau.
Ryan Hanlon is the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau, leading the approximately $12B institution overseeing much of child welfare policy and financing.
Before he came into that role, he was President and CEO of the National Council for Adoption, bringing a background in adoption advocacy and direct practice.
We talked about his role and approach in implementing the Trump Administration’s child welfare policy agenda, and the shifts he’s had to make in moving from adoption-focused advocacy to public sector leadership on all of child welfare policy.
He also shared his thinking on child welfare financing and fiscal federalism; the rising tension between declining federal investment and persistent policy expectations.
This is a key starting point for understanding how the new leadership at the Children’s Bureau is thinking about policy priorities and what’s ahead.
Sponsorship Shoutout
Special thanks to Binti for their foundational sponsorship of WonkCast.
