Why?

Because too many kids are spending too many years in foster care, and changes need to be made. Many are waiting to go home; others are waiting for a permanent family.  As a current or former foster youth, you know this better than anyone.

 

Give Something and Get Something Back

Selected video and photo submissions will be featured on a Web site and in a film festival!  We will also select ten youth to fly to the film festival and work with other youth!  Every submission will be entered into a drawing to receive an iPod Nano.  Every person who submits one entry by July 1, 2007 will also receive a My Story Project T-Shirt for participating.  

 

A Little Background Info

A few years ago, a panel of experts, including a former foster youth, came together to try and find answers to some of the problems with the foster care system. The group, called The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, discovered that most federal dollars for child welfare (the money that comes from Congress in Washington, D.C.) can only be used to maintain kids in the foster care system once they have been removed from their families. Very little is spent on services like prevention, family reunification, or other services to help kids get into safe, permanent, loving homes.

 

The Solution

If states could use more of their federal dollars on successful programs, and less on foster care maintenance, more kids would get the help they need and find permanent families more quickly. By ësuccessfulí programs we mean what works best in each community to help some families avoid the need for foster care, to help other families get back together, or to help find new families for kids through adoption, or sometimes permanent guardianship.  Besides this ìflexibilityî idea (letting states decide how to best spend their federal dollars), funds also must be ìreliableî ñmeaning Congress has to commit to providing the money kids in foster care need, and canít take it away to fund other programs.

 

Your Mission

Using photo or video, tell us what you are waiting for; then tell us why you think a change in how Congress pays for services for families in crisis, and youth in foster care, could help kids like you.

 

Strategic Sharing

When sharing your stories, keep in mind that you should only reveal details about yourself that you donít mind sharing with the world.  For instance, you may not want to talk about abuse or neglect that you have suffered, but you can talk about how you wish your experience with the foster care system had been different, or even that you wish it didnít need to happen.  This project is meant to support your voice, so use it strategically!

 

Examples:

I am waiting to go home again. If more money could be spent to help fix families torn apart by drug use and poverty then more kids could go home safely. Paying mostly to keep us in foster care, just keeps us in foster care. I want to go home again.

 

I am waiting for a new family. My mom and dad canít ever get me back, but that doesnít mean I donít want and need a family of my own. There are 114,000 of us waiting to be adopted. Maybe more of the money spent to keep us in foster care could be spent on finding more adoptive parents. The older I get while in foster care, the less chance I have to get adopted. Kids are waiting. I am waiting.

 

I am waiting to see my brother (or sister) again.  Itís hard enough to have to be separated from my parents, but why canít I at least live with my brothers and sisters? It feels like a punishment, but we didnít do anything wrong. They tell me itís because most foster families canít take more than one or two kids. I say find the ones who can. Spend less money moving us around from place to place, and focus on services that will help us live together, or at least get to see each other regularly.

 

I want to stay with my grandma. If more money could be invested to help her with everyday expenses, I could stay with family ñ thatís important to me, itís where I feel loved and safe.

 

I am waiting for ____________.  You tell us!

 

Submission requirements:

ï Your submission must be postmarked by July 1, 2007.  

ï All submissions must be accompanied by a submission form and a signed and dated release of information form.

Under 18 Release Form

Adult Release Form

Submission Form

 

Digital Photo and Photo Series Submission Requirements

ï Single photos and photo stories (up to twelve pictures per entry) will be accepted.

ï Photo submissions must be made on a CD as a .jpg file/s.

ï Please insure that still photography submissions are of as high a quality as your camera will shoot.

ï All photos must be submitted in digital format, no hard copies!

ï Please include a digital photograph of yourself (head and shoulders).

 

Video Submission Requirements

ï All video projects must be fewer than two minutes long.  Shorter submissions are encouraged.

ï Please ensure video submissions are of as high a quality as your camera will shoot.

ï There are two ways to submit video:

   ï Mini Digital Video (DV) format (preferred).  

   ï On a DVD.

ï Please include a digital photograph of yourself (head and shoulders).

 

Tips

ï Want to enter a submission but donít have access to digital camera or video camera?  Try contacting your local school system, or a friend to see if they can help you locate equipment.

ï Be creative!  Think about your background, consider photographing or filming outside, or use props or signs to get your point across.

ï Be concise.  Strict time limits on video project entries mean you probably need to decide what you are going to say, before filming.

ï If recording video with sound: Make sure the audio is clear so we can hear what you have to say!

ï Consider your lighting!  The success of your piece may depend on how well the subject is lit.

ï Questions?  Contact Jessica Schneider Chance at 614-224-5802 or e-mail at jessica@pcsao.org. 

 

Send your submissions to:

My Story Project

c/o Jessica Schneider Chance

510 E. Mound St. Ste. 200

Columbus, Ohio 43202

 

All entries:

ï Must be accompanied by a completed and signed age appropriate release of information form (under 18 and adult) and submission form. Submissions will not be accepted for the Project until all completed forms are faxed to 614-228-5150, or mailed to My Story Project, c/o Jessica Schneider Chance, 510 E. Mound St., Columbus, Ohio, 43215.

ï Will not be returned.

ï Due to space and time constraints, all entries may not be featured publicly.

ï Must be original material.

ï May be edited by the Kids are Waiting My Story Project, The Kids Are Waiting Campaign, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts.