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Actors Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (born December 18, 1954) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989), playing Henry Hill in Goodfellas (1990) and voicing Tommy Vercetti in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). Raymond Allen Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 18, 1954. Having been abandoned at an orphanage, he was adopted at the age of six months by township clerk Mary and auto-parts store owner Alfred Liotta. His adoptive parents each unsuccessfully ran for local office; he recalls attending parades to hand out flyers for his father's run. Liotta has a sister, Linda, who is also adopted. He has said that he knew he was adopted as a young child and presented a show-and-tell report on it for kindergarten. He hired a private detective to locate his biological mother in the 2000s, and subsequently learned from her that he is mostly of Scottish descent. He has one biological sister, one biological half-brother, and five biological half-sisters. External Website

Films/Videos Changing The Narrative 2019 A film about the use of language in social work. Inspired youth and North Yorkshire county council have made a film about changing the narrative of social work lingo! Funny, powerful and provocative. Produced by inspired youth in collaboration with Scott Akoz, written by Jonny Hoyle. External Website

Non Fiction Conversations that Make a Difference for Children and Young People: Relationship-Focused Practice from the Frontline Lisa Cherry 2021 Conversations that Make a Difference is a "call to action", an opportunity for those professionals working with children and young people to reflect on their practice and consider how they can "bring about social change, one interaction at a time." External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors State Ward Alan Duff 1994 State Ward (1994) is Alan Duff’s fictionalized account of being incarcerated as a child. Charlie Wilson is a boy sent to Riverton Boys' Home as a state ward until such time he is seen fit to return to society. Writes Duff: 'I'm thirteen and I'm in a cell. A cell. It's got real bars, up there protecting that high window. I can jump up and touch them. I'm in a cell. That door is for real; it's made of solid steel, and it's got a peephole. So they can spy on me. But I ain't gonna bust. I damn well ain't.' There’s also the name “George” scrawled on the walls of Charlie’s cell, along with ‘kehua’ which means ghost. External Website

Writers Brandi Morin Brandi Morin is a French/Cree/Iroquois journalist from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta, Canada. She was in foster care as a child. Morin has written for Al Jazeera and National Georgraphic and has appeared on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. She investigates stories of injustice, particularly against Indigenous peoples. Brandi Morin won an Edward R Murrow award in 2022 for her story about Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Rubyfruit Jungle Rita Mae Brown 1973 Rita Mae Brown was born in 1944 in Hanover, Pennsylvania to an unmarried teenage mother and her mother's married boyfriend. Brown's birth mother left the newborn Brown at an orphanage. Her mother's cousin Julia Brown and her husband Ralph retrieved her from the orphanage,[1] and raised her as their own in York, Pennsylvania, and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.[2] Rubyfruit Jungle is the first novel by Rita Mae Brown. Published in 1973, it was remarkable in its day for its explicit portrayal of lesbianism. The novel is a coming-of-age autobiographical account of Brown's youth and emergence as a lesbian author. The term "rubyfruit jungle" is a term used in the novel for the female genitals. Rita Mae Brown tells the story of Molly Bolt, the adoptive daughter of a dirt-poor Southern couple who boldly forges her own path in America. With her startling beauty and crackling wit, Molly finds that women are drawn to her wherever she goes—and she refuses to apologize for loving them back. This literary milestone continues to resonate with its message about being true to yourself and, against the odds, living happily ever after. Winner of the Lambda Literary Pioneer Award | Winner of the Lee Lynch Classic Book Award. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Hackney Child Hope Daniels 2014 At the age of nine, Hope Daniels (Jenny Molloy) walked into Stoke Newington Police Station with her little brothers and asked to be taken into care. Home life was intolerable: both of Hope's parents were alcoholics and her mum was a prostitute. The year was 1983. As London emerged into a new era of wealth and opportunity, the Daniels children lived in desperate poverty, neglected and barely nourished. Hounded by vigilante neighbours and vulnerable to the drunken behaviour of her parents' friends, Hope had to draw on her inner strength. Hackney Childis Hope's gripping story of physical and emotional survival - and the lifeline given to her by the support of professionals working in the care system. Despite all the challenges she faced, Hope never lost compassion for her parents, particularly her alcoholic father. Her experiences make essential reading and show that, with the right help, the least fortunate children have the potential not only to recover but to thrive. External Website

Television Shows The Good Witch 2008 The Good Witch is a film that aired on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2008. It stars Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale whose parents died when she was a child and who grows up in foster Care. Cassie is psychic and uses her intuition (and at times, a little magic) for good reasons. There are 6 sequels to the original film, and a television series, Good Witch. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Man who Made Husbands Jealous Jilly Cooper 1993 The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous is part of the The Rutshire Chronicles (1985-2023) a series of romantic novels. Set in the fictional county of Rutshire, characters recur across the series repeatedly, including the upper-class MP Rupert Campbell-Black. Rupert and his second wife Taggie O’Hara adopt two little South American children. This softens Rupert’s character considerably, as throughout earlier books he was notorious for being a ruthless, womanising cad. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Emigrants W G Sebald (2) 1992 The Emigrants (1992) by WG Sebald is an award-winning collection of 4 stories involving characters the narrator has been involved with. In the 4th story, the narrator befriends German-Jewish painter Max Ferber. He finds out that Max was 15 years old when his parents had him flown to safety in England in 1939. In England, Max stayed with his Uncle Leo in Bloomsbury, close to the British Museum and finished his schooling “at a third rate public school at Margate…” Instead of going to New York when Uncle Leo does in 1942, Max finishes school and moves to Manchester, which is where the narrator meets him. External Website

Academic Articles The Adultification of Black Girls in State Care: Perspectives Sylvia Ikomi 2023 The adultification of Black girls stems from misogynoir, leading to them being treated as older than they are and judged unfairly. In England, this issue gained attention after the Child Q case but remains underexplored, particularly for Black girls in state care. These girls often experience adultification both before entering care and from professionals within the social care system, affecting key decisions like housing. Sylvia Ikomi investigated the causes and solutions during a 2023 Churchill Fellowship in the USA, gathering insights from experts and professionals to inform potential reforms in England. External Website

Films/Videos Lamb (Film) 1985 Bernard MacLaverty’s wrote the screenplay for the 1985 adaptation of his novel Lamb. The film starred Liam Neeson as Michael Lamb and Hugh O’Conor as Owen Kane. The film begins in a Home for boys run by christian brothers. One of the youngest brothers, Brother Sebastian who real name is Michael Lamb, is horrified by the violence and forms an attachment to one of the boys there. When he inherits a small amount of money, Michael Lamb leaves, taking with him 10-year-old Owen Kane. Michael and Owen pose as father and son until the money—and time as Michael Lamb is being pursued for kidnapping Owen—runs out. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Desperate Hearts Katherine Summers 2005 Desperate Hearts tells the story of Katherine Summers and her three sisters growing up in London's East End in the 1960s, where their violent father is caught up in the gangland world of dodgy deals, murder and the notorious Kray brothers. Times get tough, Katherine's father forces her mother into prostitution, and the family falls apart when her mother goes into hiding and the four little girls are placed in institutional care.But with the support of each other and help from an unexpected source, Katherine and her sisters gradually rebuild their lives, ending their school days in an exclusive girls school. Then, on St. Valentine's Day 1974, from an upstairs window, Katherine witnesses her father shoot her mother's lover dead in the street below. External Website

Films/Videos Instant Family 2018 Instant Family is a movie starring Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, and Isabela Merced. A couple find themselves in over their heads when they foster and finally adopt three children. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Mansfield Park Jane Austen 1814 Jane Austen's 3rd novel, Mansfield Park (1814), is about a girl growing up in kinship care. Fanny Price is 10 when she is sent to live with a wealthy aunt and uncle. The Bertrams have 4 children, all older than Fanny. Only Fanny's cousin, Edmund, treat her kindly; her other cousins and aunt Norris are mean. Many readers find Fanny Price a difficult character to emphathise one; she's described by as "Jane Austen's least popular heroine." Tara Isabella Burton (2014) points out, however, that in reading Mansfield Park we need to pay attention to social class and how class privilege plays a key role in determining our expectations of what a 'good' heroine should be like. External Website

Radio & Podcast CBC Come by Chance CBC Podcasts 2024 The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Commission) Come by Chance podcast (2024) tells the disturbing story of children being mixed up at birth in Newfoundland. Hosted by Luke Qinton, the podcast begins with the story of staff taking a break to celebrate the birthday of 52 year old Craig Avery. A coworker, Clarence Hynes, was born on the same day 52 years ago at the same hospital, Come By Chance. Clarence Hynes is often mistaken for Craig’s older brother, Clifford Avery. And the men begin to explore – reluctantly – why that would be the case. The podcast includes the stories of other babies switched at birth in Newfoundland. External Website

Authors T Making home: Orphanhood, kinship and cultural memory in contemporary American novels ➝ Back to Top

Radio & Podcast Episode 74 - The Care Experienced Conference The Adoption and Fostering Podcast 2019 Jamie Crabb and Rosie Canning representatives from the Care Experience Conference give some background in relation to the conference that was held earlier in the year, share some of the reasons behind it and being to discuss the recently released report that they have been sharing with a range of professionals and politicians. External Website

Poetry How do you #definecare? A collaborative poem by care experienced people IMO Latest 2020 We asked care leavers from across the UK how they define care, and what it means to them. This is what they told us. External Website

Authors A A Reading Life, A Writing Life ➝ Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking ➝ An obscenity trial that shocked Victorian Britain ➝ The Songwriter: Willie Nelson ➝ Access All: Disability News and Mental Health ➝ A Sea-Brooding Poet ➝ Andrea Levy - Small Island ➝ Alone with J.S. Bach ➝ The Poet: Dr. Maya Angelou ➝ Nina Bernstein and June Norton on Ella Fitzgerald ➝ Adoptees Crossing Lines ➝ Adoption: The Making of Me ➝ My ancestors were both slaves and slave owners ➝ Frank Auerbach (Podcast) ➝ Back to Top