Advisory: This episode includes sensitive discussion about addiction, family estrangement, and emotional loss.

This week on Fostering Change, host Rob Scheer welcomes back two dear friends — Julie and David Bulitt — for one of the most personal and moving conversations of the season. Rob and his husband Reece have known the Bulitts for many years, and their honesty, humor, and heart have made them audience favorites.

Julie is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 30 years of experience in family therapy, and David is a leading family-law attorney in the D.C. metro area who has spent decades helping parents and children navigate painful transitions. Together, they’ve raised four daughters, built nearly 40 years of marriage, co-authored two acclaimed books (The Five Core Conversations for Couples and Secrets of Strong Couples), and co-host the podcast Conversations for Couples.

In this emotional and thought-provoking episode, Rob, Julie, and David explore what it means to lose a child while they’re still alive — to addiction, estrangement, or emotional distance — and how families can begin to heal.

Topics discussed include:

* Ambiguous loss: Grieving a child who is still living and learning to coexist with that pain.

* Addiction and family systems: How substance use can fracture relationships, redefine love, and challenge every parent’s hope.

* Parenting through heartbreak: “We can love our children fiercely and still have to let go,” Julie shares. “Healing doesn’t mean forgetting — it means finding peace with what is.”

* Balancing love and self-protection: “You reach a point where love also means protecting yourself and your family from chaos,” David reflects.

* Hope beyond the silence: Grace, therapy, and community as pathways to reconnection.

This episode is a testament to honesty, empathy, and the complicated beauty of parenthood. If you or someone you love is struggling with a similar loss, may this conversation offer comfort and understanding.

👉 Learn more about Julie & David Bulitt:Website: www.thebulitts.comPodcast: Conversations for CouplesFacebook: @TheBulittsInstagram: @thebulittsTikTok: @thebulitts

🎧 After you listen, please like, comment, and share this episode so more families can discover stories of resilience, hope, and healing.

We’re back every Tuesday with a new episode of Fostering Change.

Have a guest suggestion or feedback? Email us at dthalberg@comfortcases.org.

Next week, we kick off our National Adoption Awareness Month series — celebrating families built through love and the thousands of children still waiting for theirs.

Thank you for listening — and for being a GOOD HUMAN. 💙

🎥 Watch the full video episodes on YouTube!

Head over to Comfort Cases on YouTube to catch every inspiring conversation:

👉 youtube.com/@comfortcases

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

⚠️ Advisory: This episode includes discussion of child abuse and family trauma.

Welcome to this week’s episode of Fostering Change, where host Rob Scheer speaks with Susan Chesnutt — a family law attorney, child welfare advocate, and former foster youth based in Vero Beach, Florida.

Susan’s journey is one of resilience and purpose. After growing up in the foster care system, she became a child abuse investigator for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF), then earned her law degree and founded The Chesnutt Law Firm, focusing exclusively on child welfare and family law. She also hosts the podcast From Foster Care to Family Law: A Child Welfare Focus, where she and her guests unpack the toughest issues facing families today.

In this powerful conversation, Rob and Susan explore:

✅ Lived experience as a foundation for advocacy.

“I know what it’s like to feel powerless in a system that’s supposed to protect you. That’s why I fight so hard to make sure every child—and every parent—has a voice.”

✅ What really happens inside a DCF investigation.

Susan breaks down the process from the inside, reminding families that “you have rights, even when it feels like you don’t.”

✅ Why empathy matters in family law.

Her trauma-informed approach prioritizes safety, healing, and understanding over blame.

✅ A call for systemic change.

“We can’t fix the child welfare system until we start valuing families instead of labeling them. Real reform begins with compassion.”

Susan’s unique perspective—combining lived experience, government service, and legal advocacy—shows how justice and empathy must go hand in hand.

👉 Learn more about Susan Chesnutt:

🌐 thechesnuttlawfirm.com

🎧 After you listen: Please like, comment, and share this episode! Your support helps us reach more people and amplify these vital conversations.

🗓 New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Questions, comments, or guest suggestions? Please email us at dthalberg@comfortcases.org.

💙 Thank you for listening—and for being a GOOD HUMAN.

🎥 Watch the full video episodes on YouTube!

Head over to Comfort Cases on YouTube to catch every inspiring conversation:

👉 youtube.com/@comfortcases

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CONTENT WARNING: ADULT/DISTURBING THEMES — ABUSE & VIOLENCE

Welcome to this week’s episode of Fostering Change. Our host, Rob Scheer, sits down with an extraordinary guest — Baron Li, co-owner of Four Tiers Contracting and founder of the CKMD Army.

Baron’s journey is one of unimaginable pain, resilience, and redemption. A former foster youth who endured 17 placements and severe childhood abuse — including being burned with a clothing iron and cigarettes at just three years old — Baron later survived an attempted murder-for-hire plot that left him shot nine times. Yet, through it all, he transformed trauma into purpose.

Today, Baron is building homes and hope through Four Tiers Contracting, employing and mentoring aged-out foster youth, and expanding CKMD Army — a nationwide movement uniting the foster care community with a 50-state resource network.

In this powerful and emotional conversation, Rob and Baron discuss:

How a childhood marked by violence and instability shaped Baron’s mission to help others rebuild their lives

His incredible survival story: “I was shot nine times, left for dead — but I chose not to be a victim. I chose to live, to forgive, and to give back.”

How Four Tiers Contracting provides aged-out foster youth with steady employment, mentorship, and a pathway to independence

The vision behind CKMD Army (Can’t Keep Me Down) — a 50-state foster care resource network empowering youth, families, and advocates nationwide

Why Baron believes resilience is forged through service — and that “purpose is the only thing stronger than pain.”

Baron Li’s story is a testament to the human spirit — proof that even after the darkest moments, there is light. Trauma can shape us, but it never has to define who we become.

👉 Learn more about Baron Li and his work:

All Links: linktr.ee/baronbli

LinkedIn: CKMD Army

🎧 After you listen, please “like,” comment, and share the episode. Your support helps us reach more listeners and shine a light on vital conversations like this.

Fostering Change releases new episodes every Tuesday.

Questions, comments, or guest suggestions? Please email us at dthalberg@comfortcases.org.

Thank you for listening — and thank you for being a GOOD HUMAN.

🎥 Watch the full video episodes on YouTube!

Head over to Comfort Cases on YouTube to catch every inspiring conversation:

👉 youtube.com/@comfortcases

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.