Academic Articles The Care-Experienced Graduates' Decision-Making, Choices and Destinations Project: Phase one report Zoe Baker 2022 The report presents the key findings from phase one of the Care-Experienced Graduates' Decision-Making, Choices and Destinations project. It also presents a series of recommendations for policy and practice which intend to better support care-experienced graduates' transitions out of higher education and into employment and/or further study. External Website

Television Shows The Good Witch's Garden 2020 The Good Witch's Garden is a 2009 American television film that aired on the Hallmark Channel on February 7, 2009 and is the second installment in the series of The Good Witch television movies. The film stars Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale whose parents died when she was a child and who grows up in the US foster care system. Cassie became accustomed to travelling and moving as she was passed through foster homes. She ran away and continued travelling the world and learning about many different cultures, all the while honing her special gifts. Cassie is psychic and uses her intuition (and at times, a little magic) for good reasons. Cassie has settled into Middleton and is busy making a home of Grey House. Her boyfriend, Sheriff Jake Russell, and his kids are happy to have Cassie in the neighborhood, but she has yet to gain the trust of some people in town. Before long, a stranger rolls into town with papers entitling him to legal ownership of Grey House. Before she knows it, Cassie is left without a home and is convinced Middleton isn't where she belongs. Ultimately, everyone will learn holding on too tightly to something can make it more likely that things will slip through your fingers. External Website

Authors Z The Good Witch's Charm ➝ Back to Top

Non Fiction The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood Kristen Martin 2024 In The Sun Won’t Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood (2024), Kristen Martin questions the mythologized story of American orphanhood in 3 parts. From the publisher: “Martin reveals the mission of religious indoctrination that was at the core of the first orphanages, the orphan trains that took parentless children out West (often without a choice), and the inherent classism and racism that still underlies the United States' approach to child welfare.” External Website

Radio & Podcast Malik and Mark Descendants 2021 In the first half of this episode, Care Experienced poet and performer, Malik Al Nasir talks about his journey to Guyana and finding family members, and his tracing his heritage back to both slave owners and to slaves. External Website

Authors C Coco Chanel ➝ Back to Top

Behind the Scenes Jeffrey Seller An adoptee, Jeffrey Seller grew up in a Jewish family in Detroit. With a long held interest in musical theatre, he moved to New York after graduating from the University of Michigan and worked as a booking agent as well as producer for award winning shows such as Rent (1996), Avenue Q (2003) and In the Heights (2008). After working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on In the Heights, Seller produced Miranda's show, Hamilton (2015), which has received widespread critical acclaim as well as considerable commerical success. External Website

Authors H They Carried the Sword ➝ The reason why so many Disney characters are orphans is SO sad ➝ Empty Cradles ➝ Back to Top

Actors Brian Cox Brian Denis Cox (born 1 June 1946) is a Scottish actor who works in film, television and theatre. Brian's father died when Brian was eight and his mother was institutionalised. Brian was cared for by his older sisters until his mother came home. Brian has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. He currently stars as media magnate Logan Roy on HBO's Succession. Cox is also known for appearing in Super Troopers, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, X2, Braveheart, Rushmore, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Troy. He was the first actor to portray Hannibal Lecter on film, in 1986's Manhunter. An Olivier Award, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner, Cox has also been nominated for a BAFTA and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2006, Empire readers voted him the recipient of the Empire Icon Award. External Website

Authors T Record producer, rapper ➝ American-Swiss singer, songwriter, actress ➝ Back to Top

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Tearsmith (Novel) Erin Doom 2024 The Tearsmith (2024) is a novel by Italian writer Erin Doom. Two teenagers grow up in the same abusive orphanage, Sunnycreek Orphanage. Rigel (Simone Baldasseroni) has been there for as long as he can remember; Nica (Caterina Ferioli) since she was orphaned at the age of 8. Rigel and Nica are adopted by the same couple but Rigel later rejects that adoption and returns to Sunnycreek and to the custody of Margaret Stoker (Sabrina Paravicini). The Tearsmith (2024) is now hit movie on Netfflix. External Website

Radio & Podcast Can new scientific evidence prove a convicted child-killer is innocent? | 60 Minutes Australia 60 Minutes Australia 2021 Kathleen Folbigg (b. 1967) was made a Ward of the State when she was 18 months old, after the murder of her mother by her father. At age 3 she was moved from foster care into a children's home and then into a more permanent foster care placement. In 2003, Folbigg was convicted of murdering three infant children, and the manslaughter of the fourth. New scientific evidence suggests she may be innocent, that her daugters died of natural causes. Petitions have gone to the NSW Governor to review the evidence. External Website

Authors M Yusuf P McCormack ➝ Made With Care ➝ Michelangelo ➝ Back to Top

Fiction by Care Experienced authors The White Bird Passes Jessie Kesson 1958 Jessie Kesson (1916-1994) was the illegitimate child of a woman who lived in the tenements of Glasgow and, through poverty, drifted into casual prostitution. Jessie was taken into care and brought up in orphanages while her mother died slowly and painfully of syphilis. The White Bird Passes (1958) is set in the backstreets of a Scottish city in the 1920s, The autobiographical novel is the unforgettable story of a young girl growing up in ‘the Lane’. Poor, crowded and dirty – but full of life and excitement – the Lane is the only home Janie MacVean has ever known. It is a place where, despite everything, Janie is happy. But when the Cruelty Man arrives, bringing with him the threat of the dreaded ‘home’ – the orphanage that is every child’s nightmare – Janie’s contented childhood seems to be at an end. A gritty and moving portrayal of a young girl facing up to hardship and deprivation, written with warmth, humour and insight, Jessie Kesson’s classic autobiographical novel is widely regarded as her finest work. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors The Queen's Gambit (novel) Walter Tevis 2020 When she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and as she progresses to the top of the US chess rankings she is able to forge a new life for herself. But she can never quite overcome her urge to self-destruct. For Beth, there's more at stake than merely winning and losing. External Website

Authors A A.I. Artificial Intelligence ➝ August Rush ➝ Anne of Green Gables (tv film) ➝ A Chance in the World ➝ Angels & Demons ➝ A child of the state ➝ America ➝ Trade Secrets 1: Maria Amidu on making a living and working internationally ➝ Atomised ➝ A Family Affair ➝ A Mother Finds Her Lost Child After a 40-year search ➝ Alex Cross (film series) ➝ A Cry from the Streets ➝ An Angel for May ➝ Auntie Mame ➝ A Little Princess (Film) ➝ A Thousand and One ➝ A Walz Through the Hills (Film) ➝ Back to Top

Academic Articles Foster Focus Mag Foster Focus Mag 2021 Foster Focus is a monthly magazine dealing exclusively and entirely with the Foster Care Industry. The core of the magazine are seven monthly featured sections, Anonymous Faces, Ask a Pro, Editor’s Notes, Family Adventures, Guest Speaker, What Do They DO? A nonprofit profile, Alumni Perspectives and Lawmakers. These sections coupled with cover stories and coverage of events focused on foster care will, in fact make for the most in depth view of the Foster Care Industry ever published. Accomplished doctors, attorneys and psychiatrists and New York Times bestselling authors make up the writing staff for Foster Focus they add credibility and project a sense of understanding to our readers. A range of stories and subjects are covered, highlights include; interviews with Country star Jimmy Wayne and from the NFL's New Orleans Saints Jimmy Graham & Actress Nia Vardolas, exclusive stories by Dr. John DeGarmo, Rhonda Sciortino, FCAA CEO Adam Robe and Casey Family Programs CEO William Bell. External Website

Films/Videos From Time to Time 2021 From Time to Time is a 2009 British fantasy drama film directed by Julian Fellowes. It was adapted from Lucy M. Boston's children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958). The film was shot in Athelhampton Hall, Dorset. Jacob is a runaway slave who is brought to England by Captain Thomas Oldknow early in the 19th century. Jacob is around 10 years of age and becomes a companion for Thomas' daughter. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Wild Pork and Watercress Barry Crump 2016 This rattling good yarn has now been made into a major movie- Hunt For the Wilderpeople. When Social Welfare threatens to put Ricky into care, the overweight Maori boy and cantankerous Uncle Hec flee into the remote and rugged Ureweras. The impassable bush serves up perilous adventures, forcing the pair of misfits to use all their skills to survive hunger, wild pigs and the vagaries of the weather. Worse still are the authorities, determined to bring Ricky and Uncle Hec to justice. But despite the difficulties of life on the run, a bond of trust and love blossoms between the world-weary man and his withdrawn side-kick. External Website

Authors D Daughters of the Bamboo Grove ➝ 14 Years of Hell ➝ Twelve Mighty Orphans (book) ➝ Listen up! Adult care leavers speak out: The views of 310 care leavers aged 17-78 ➝ Abandon All Hope ➝ Back to Top