Foster

This is essentially an advert for Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which is an agency that quintessential basket case. If anything the data support privatizing this work. I suggest for a more honest appraisal that you read "A Culture of fear: An Inside Look at Los Angeles County's Department of Children & Family Services" for a primer on the documented systematic abuses by DCFS and avoid this emotional cherry picked bogus "documentary."

On top of that, the peer reviewed DATA and STUDIES show that 90% of kids with a given number of issues who would normally be put in foster system, do BETTER staying with their parents. Ie the science shows for nine out of ten kids put in foster care, their long term outcomes would have been better if they had not been taken from their parents.

Lastly the ten star reviews for this nonsense "documentary" are single use accounts, meaning the makers and their pals at DCFS are even dishonest in shilling reviews.

It seems that since the book and film White Oleander gave us a glimpse into foster care from a child's perspective, the only news we've gotten is the negative. All parenting is difficult and natural parents are equally imperfect or we wouldn't need foster care as much as we do. The documentary Foster gives us a side of the system that won't make the nightly news. We get to see the necessity, the opportunity, and the hope that foster care can bring into the lives of those involved. It's moving, we see the challenges, and the heroes like Ms. Beavers, and in the end it made me feel want to support those who devote their lives to this important cause.

I shed a lot of tears watching this documentary by HBO called Foster. There were many happy tears and many sad tears. My heart ached for these children and it made me wish that I could help them. My heart also rejoiced in their successes.

A movie that is, at the same time, uplifting and heartbreaking. Navigating a broken system that has so many people trying to make it work, the film introduces us to an amazing group of kids struggling to love and be loved, to workers who are doing their best to optimize the lives of these kids and the obstacles that need to be overcome. It is simultaneously hopeful and daunting. Definitely, a most insightful documentary.

Have watched twice (because this is my field) and was underwhelmed both times. Not sure what one learns by watching, and know that many people connected to the system feel this exploited the youth profiled.