FOSTER

Oscar-winning filmmakers Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer go beyond the sensational headlines and stereotypes to take an unprecedented look at America’s child-welfare system. Filmed over a year and a half in Los Angeles, home to the largest county foster-care system in the nation, FOSTER dispels myths and reveals truths about foster care through five moving and illuminating stories that provide an inside look at the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services. Following a screening of FOSTER, the filmmakers will speak with Jessica Chandler, a social worker who grew up in foster care who is featured in the film, and faculty from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and Keck School of Medicine of USC in a thoughtful panel discussion reflecting on the problems and possibilities of the foster-care system today.

Wendy Smith, distinguished continuing scholar in child welfare and retired clinical associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, will be speaking on the panel.