Not Quite Home: When Systems Meant to Help Fall Short

About this episode

Rob Scheer and Temple Lentz discuss the shortcomings of social service systems designed to help vulnerable families.

On this episode of Fostering Change Podcast, Rob Scheer is joined by Temple Lentz — nonprofit CEO, local elected official, and debut novelist — for a thoughtful conversation about what happens when the systems designed to protect vulnerable families don’t always work the way they’re supposed to. Temple is the author of the novel Not Quite Home, which explores the cracks in America’s social service safety net. While the book is fiction, its themes are grounded in real-world experience. Having worked both inside nonprofit leadership and as an elected official, Temple brings a rare systems-level perspective to the conversation. Together, Rob and Temple discuss the gap between policy and lived reality, how well-intentioned systems can sometimes cause unintended harm, and why storytelling may be one of the most powerful tools we have to illuminate the need for reform. Episode Highlights • Why systems meant to help families often fall short • The unintended consequences of well-intentioned policies • What people misunderstand about how social service systems actually function • Why fiction can humanize policy failures more effectively than reports and data • How civic engagement and…

People in this episode

Host: Rob Scheer

Guest: Temple Lentz

Topics covered

• social services
• nonprofit leadership
• policy reform
• storytelling
• family support

Keywords

• social service safety net
• policy failures
• civic engagement
• fiction and policy
• nonprofit CEO

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Chicago, Claremont Lincoln University

Books & works: Not Quite Home

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