Film

During the first moments of HBO’s new film “Foster,” the camera pans across an office of Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and lingers on a cluster of infant car seats.

HBO has acquired the rights to air a documentary that weaves together the stories of youth, families and workers in the child welfare system. “Foster,” created by filmmakers Deborah Oppenheimer and Mark Jonathan Harris, uses the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) as the frame to bring viewers into the day-to-day world of protecting children and helping families in crisis.

Growing up in foster care in Los Angeles, Johna Rivers didn’t always get the opportunity to express her creativity. Once she got older, Rivers wanted to offer something for kids like her.

A Brief Note from the Author (6/12/16): I was very much looking forward to publishing my first story on The Imprint and happy to share this story with those who were involved.

by Becca Sanchez After leaving her job in corporate insurance, Tige Charity visited an all-girls group home and decided she wanted to do something to give back to youths in the foster care system.

In Short Term 12, the abused but irrepressible heroine Grace leads us into a typically hidden world: the foster care group home. In doing, she helps illustrate how steep the hill is that confronts youth in the child welfare system.

The other night, I found myself alone, sporadically wracked by tears, but feeling an intense sense of purpose. Three years earlier, I was handed a white DVD, imprinted with the words: “Short Term 12.”