Foster Care Videos

Nearly 70 percent of Washington foster kids are now getting an almost monthly face to face visit from a caseworker. That's a key result from a survey of foster parents released today (Monday). The survey charts the state's progress in complying with a 2004 court settlement.

What is a good mother? Can a homeless, former prostitute raise two young children after being accused of an unthinkable act? The emotionally charged documentary, Athena, chronicles the 8 -month journey of a young mother as she wages a mission to get her two daughters out of foster care. With the clock racing, Athena has mere weeks to prove to child welfare officials that she is truly a good mother as defined by the state or lose her kids forever. The 20 -minute documentary, Athena delves into the heart of prostitute life in a small, Western Ohio community to expose a human side of sex workers rarely seen by outsiders. With the guidance of her mentor, a former prostitute and mother herself of five young children; Athena slowly develops the courage to leave her dangerous past behind to start a new life for her children. That is, until she suddenly falls in love with a charismatic man whose secret threatens to ruin everything Athena has worked so hard to accomplish. Written and Directed by Nicole Tarver

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Ms. Liz Welch and Ms. Diana Welch authors of The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir with Dan and Amanda Welch published by Harmony. Liz Welch is an ASME award-winning journalist, and contributing writer at Glamour and Inc. magazines. Her work has also been published in Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and many others. She lives in Broooklyn, NY. Diana Welch is a writer living in Austin, Texas, where she works with the multimedia label Monofonus Press. Her reportage, fashion, and travel writing has appeared in the Austin Chronicle, Nylon and Night Magazine. Visit their website. Visit KD Booksellers for affordable quality fiction and non-fiction books online

Auston Higgins suffered a lifetime of heartache. Growing up with a mentally ill mother, he taken to live with his grandparents. He had a special bond with them and them one by one, they both died. In an out of the foster care system, finally aging out, he's on his own now but one things for sure, he wants a college education. With your help, he can do it. Auston needs a scholarship and The Orphan Foundation of America need you to help make it happen. Will you consider funding a scholarship for a deserving youth? Visit http://www.orphan.org.

Rosie makes her return to TV on the Lifetime series, "Drop Dead Diva." But what is her favorite part about being back at work?

Produced for the Do1Thing ProjectInterview and Photographs by Lori GrinkerEditing by Dan Baker http//do1thing.org

All children are our future. They all deserve our love. Join us to feed, teach, protect, and nurture children in America and around the world.In keeping families together, we have avoided the placement of children into foster situations. In keeping families together, we have provided a safe, loving, nurturing environment that has already existed. Parents become more happy when they are self sufficient and are able to earn the income they need to raise the standard of living for their family. Childrens Wish list Foundation doesn't claim to be the biggest wish granting organization, just to be the best. The services and personal attention that we provide our families are unsurpassed and our Wish Families praise us daily for our professionalism, attention to each detail of their child's wish, and the extra mile we always go for our families. We know, however, that all of these efforts would be impossible without the support of individuals and corporations that choose to contribute to CWLF. We make it easy for our donors to give in many ways. http://childrenswishlist.wordpress.com • There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world • There are an additional 20,000,000 displaced children in the world • The combined count of these categories makes the orphan population the 7th largest nation on the planet slightly larger than the population of Russia • In Eastern Europe, less than 50% of the orphan population will live to see their 20th birthdays • In Eastern Europe, of the orphans that survive their 20th birthdays, 50% will end up in organized crime, drugs, or prostitution • In Africa, homeless children are armed and used for war • In Africa, there is a concerted effort to extend childrens lives beyond 5 years of age • In the US, 25,000 children will leave the foster care system without families • 25% of these foster children become homeless, • 56% of these emancipated foster care children enter the unemployment ranks • 27% of the male children who leave the foster care system end up in jail • 30% of the female children who leave the foster care system experience early parenthood • 30,000 children in foster care are simply dropped from state care because they have run away • In the US, most young adults ages 18 24 still live at home with their parents, while approximately 25,000 children are annually released at age 18 from the foster care system without families to support them Each Day in America for All Children 2 mothers die in childbirth. 4 children are killed by abuse or neglect. 5 children or teens commit suicide. 8 children or teens are killed by firearms. 33 children or teens die from accidents. 78 babies die before their first birthdays. 201 children are arrested for a violent crime. 404 children are arrested for a drug crime. 928 babies are born at low birthweight. 1,154 babies are born to teen mothers. 1,240 public school students are corporally punished.* 2,224 babies are born without health insurance. 2,367 high school students drop out.* 2,479 children are confirmed as abused or neglected. 2,583 babies are born into poverty. 4,184 babies are born to unmarried mothers. 4,520 children are arrested. 18,493 public school students are suspended. * Based on calculations per school day (180 days of seven hours each). http://CWLF.org

It is impossible to be immune from the news of these challenging times we live in today.So often we feel unsettled and uncertain.For many that can't eat today and that have no home or family, this is the everyday uncertainty facing abandoned children http://childrenswishlist.wordpress.com CHILDRENS WISH LIST FOUNDATION® goal is to provide Child Sponsorship,where we not only address the physical and educational needs of a child, but also contribute to family permanency, allowing children to stay with their families in the country in which they were born. The further we reach the more likely it is that a child begins the long climb out of poverty toward a more hopeful future. Please help by sharing our mission with loved ones and your community. Families need your help to survive. We need your help to provide the tools, and they will be able to flourish. http://www.CWLF.org

All children are our future. They all deserve our love. Join us to feed, teach, protect, and nurture children in America and around the world. http://childrenswishlist.wordpress.com CHILDRENS WISH LIST FOUNDATION® goal is to provide Child Sponsorship,where we not only address the physical and educational needs of a child, but also contribute to family permanency, allowing children to stay with their families in the country in which they were born. The further we reach the more likely it is that a child begins the long climb out of poverty toward a more hopeful future. Please help by sharing our mission with loved ones and your community. Families need your help to survive. We need your help to provide the tools, and they will be able to flourish. http://CWLF.org

Co-founders Najlah Feanny Hicks and Pim Van Hemmen are joined by photographers Martin Schoeller, Timothy Fadek, Danielle Richards, Les Stone, editor Jimmy Colton and a teen named Knowledge in their appeal for everyone to spend Valentine's Day 2009 doing one thing to help teens who face homelessness as they age out of the foster care system. Produced by Curt Chandler for the Do1Thing Project http://do1thing.org

My Life is about the filmmaker's experiences with living in foster homes. Created by Clifton Jones. 3 minutes, 4 seconds.

As a Pasadena charity founded in 1913, Hillsides creates safe places for children in foster care living in its residential treatment center and is a community treatment center preventing the cycle of abuse for children at risk and their families. To learn more about Hillsides, visit www.Hillsides.org.