What happens when the system meant to protect our most vulnerable ends up failing them?
In this powerful episode of The Last Zebra Podcast, Dr. Sebastian Del-Corral Winder - Clinical Psychologist and expert in infant and early childhood mental health - breaks down the realities of the U.S. foster care system with honesty, clarity, and compassion.
He explains how the system’s origins are rooted in racism, separation, and institutional mistrust… and how those roots still shape outcomes for families today. Most parents in foster care aren’t “bad parents,” he reveals - they’re people who were mistreated themselves, carrying trauma, addiction, and generational wounds they were never taught to heal.
Dr. Del-Corral Winder shares eye-opening truths, including the staggering fact that infants aged 0–2 make up the highest percentage of children entering foster care in the U.S. Many are taken from the hospital nursery within days of birth. And while the public often imagines teenagers and troubled youth, the reality is far more heartbreaking - and far more preventable.
Through his work in psychology, family therapy, and court testimony, Dr. Del-Corral Winder is fighting to change the narrative: healing doesn’t happen by punishing parents, but by understanding the systems that shaped them, restoring compassion, and rebuilding support.
He also opens up about the emotional toll of the work, the concept of moral injury in caregivers, and how play, connection, and cultural identity shape a child’s healing - even in the most chaotic circumstances.
This is The Last Zebra - real stories, real people, and real purpose.
💬 Comment “ZEBRA” if this conversation opened your eyes.
🎧 Watch or listen to the FULL episode with Dr. Sebastian Del-Corral Winder on The Last Zebra Podcast:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13QjxW49xOkSqkP9zQKyRS?si=_94N98AiTYGFD02EgHXZtA
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-last-zebra/id1715958112
Captivate: https://feeds.captivate.fm/the-last-zebra/
▶️ Subscribe for more stories that challenge systems, illuminate humanity, and redefine what healing means:
https://www.youtube.com/@UgoEzemaMD?sub_confirmation=1
🔗 Follow the Conversation:
Dr. Ugo Ezema - https://instagram.com/ugoezemamd
The Last Zebra Pod - https://instagram.com/thelastzebrapod
📧 Join the community newsletter:
https://linktr.ee/ugoezemamd
Hosted by Dr. Ugo Ezema, The Last Zebra explores the stories at the intersection of medicine, justice, identity, and the human mind - reminding us that healing is not just individual, but systemic.
#TheLastZebra, #TheLastZebraPodcast, #DrSebastianDelCorralWinder, #ClinicalPsychologist, #FosterCareSystem, #InfantMentalHealth, #TraumaInformedCare, #GenerationalTrauma, #MoralInjury, #ChildPsychology, #HealthcareHumanity, #SocialJustice, #EarlyChildhoodDevelopment, #MentalHealthAwareness, #PodcastClips, #BeTheZebra
