Foster Care Video

**Music by Snow Patrol “Open Your Eyes” Album Eyes Open**
I wanted to achieve with this video several concepts. First I wanted to get past the concept that foster children only reside in extreme poor ridden areas, and are always the problem children in society. The fact is that foster children can be found in every level of society, in every city. They are anywhere and everywhere. Second, I wanted to point out that every level of society has its own problems and its own hindrances to society; for instance in every level of society there are drug problems, etc. However, it is important to note that these problems vary and are widely different depending on economic status, and may be more hidden or upfront in daily life depending on one’s status as well. Thirdly, the video is supposed to point out that this cycle of poverty and foster care needs to be broken. The biggest and most straight forward way of doing this is in fact through education, including higher education. Sadly, the most ironic part about all this is that our national education systems are not all equal making it increasingly and incredibly hard for those in poverty to then escape it. For instance, for one to escape poverty they have to find the resilience to work through high school and get good enough grades to get into college; possibly with a scholarship because even if one gets in they still must pay the incredible costs of a college education; once there they might find that college is exceptionally hard and that their high school did an inaccurate job of preparing them; because this high school is dealing with a completely broken down system that leaves kids behind the moment they start, because of lack of funding or other environmental reasons. This is all even with a supportive and encouraging and helping family support structure behind you. Now add all of the above in and take away that support structure, and people wonder why the foster children can fall behind and in the cracks of a broken system. Finally, I wanted the video to point out the wonderful accomplishments Kids Matter Inc. and CASA volunteers add to the community. This can be as simple as just being there for a child acting as a role model, mentor, just someone they can turn to, look up to, and go to for help. Someone that helps them feel connected and understood in a world that can be incredibly confusing and unkind. They offer the light at the end of the tunnel, as long as someone is willing to be helped.