In 2003 there were over 530,000 children living in our foster care system. Every year over 200,000 children leave the system and approximately another 200,000 come in. Children generally stay in the system until the age of 18, unless they are reunited with their families or are adopted. Many of the children are shuffled around and moved from home to home as the system is overcrowded, under funded and not equipped to function in today’s society. Social workers are so overloaded with cases that many leave their jobs after a year or two because of burn out. Instead of children being sent to trained therapists for counseling, they are being sent to graduate students who end up leaving at the end of their semester. Children end up having so many social workers and therapists that they can’t even remember their names.

Join us in this section as we take a journey into the hearts and souls of the children, youth and professionals of the foster care system. You will learn about foster care as they share their most intimate experiences of life in the system.

The U.S. Foster Care System as it Has Never Been Seen Before

This is a story of disturbing power about Foster Care in the U.S. as experienced firsthand by those who know it best.

The children.

It is the story of a system that is supposed to provide physical safety and emotional support. A place to heal and integrate into society.

Instead, many foster children experience only more of what put them in the system to begin with: abuse, neglect and indifference. Is it any wonder than that 30% of our country's homeless population was once in foster care? Or that 80% of our prison population was, too?

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This program was made possible by a grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation.