In this re-release of one of our most impactful episodes, host Valerie Frost revisits her conversation with Adam Ballout, public defender and co-founder of the F.I.R.S.T. (Family Intervention Response to Stop Trauma) Legal Clinic in Washington State. The clinic provides a groundbreaking model of early legal advocacy, partnering with healthcare and community organizations to support mothers facing substance use challenges—helping to keep families intact before the trauma of separation takes hold.

This episode goes straight to the heart of the child protection system, challenging the assumption that termination of parental rights and adoption should always be considered success. Instead, Adam offers a powerful alternative: that keeping families together is true success.

Listeners will learn how early intervention and a holistic, family-centered approach—with legal advocates and parent allies involved from birth—can dramatically improve outcomes. The F.I.R.S.T. Clinic has kept mothers and infants together in 83% of their cases, offering a hopeful example of a prevention-focused child welfare system.

This conversation is both deeply personal and systemic, exploring how compassionate legal advocacy can disrupt cycles of trauma and create a more just, dignified future for families.

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Here are some additional resources Adam would like to share with you.

• The First Clinic – Family Intervention Response To Stop Trauma
• The F.I.R.S.T. Legal Clinic: A New Frontier of Partnerships to Stop Trauma
• Being Gina - Institute for Family
• Family First: A group of Washington lawyers works to keep infants with their mothers

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. comminsite@gmail.com