Bill McElyea

Wow- so much venom about the profanity and how DFS is corrupt and broken on these reviews. Let me drop some real truth. I am a former foster child, from age 11 months through age 21. I had been through 20 plus homes by the time I aged out, some due to aging or unhealthy foster parents, some due to the ease in which you can call a case worker and have a child removed, and some because I wasn’t always perfect. The foster homes were 1000 times better than the “real” home that the courts were obligated to get me back into. Before we burn the social workers to the stake, let’s realize that they are vastly underpaid and very over worked (caseloads). I found this movie to have many examples that I didn’t think were 100% accurate. However, there were also some “real feel” moments that took me back, most notably, the black trash bag reference. This was a staple of mine at every stop (or departure). I loved how they illustrated that nobody wanted a teenager vs the cute kids. I also loved how they portrayed the older sibling as the forced parent in the sibling relationship. I took my wife and two daughters (19 & 14) to watch and hoped for them to see a glimpse of some of the stuff I went through as a foster kid. (It’s tough for me to share and teach as I don’t want them to know everything I went through). I think the movie did that, and I think it entertained. For those of you making absolute statements about how the system is messed up and social workers are the devil, I couldn’t disagree more. The 10-12 that I remember having throughout were all caring people, who wanted the best for me. I am now 42, married for 21 years with two beautiful daughters and a very nice job. I’m living the American dream, and outside of my wife, the system is the single most responsible reason why. (Mic dropped). PS- go see the movie- you will like it, especially if you have had any of the experiences of the various characters in the movie.