Using a Podcast to Raise Awareness for Issues within the Foster System and Lift the Voices of Ex-Foster Youth
Using a Podcast to Raise Awareness for Issues within the Foster System and Lift the Voices of Ex-Foster Youth
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Date
2023-12
Authors
Vasudeva, Serena
Journal Title
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Publisher
University Honors College, Middle Tennessee State University
Abstract
For this Honors creative thesis, I recorded, edited, and produced a podcast in
which I interviewed people about their experience with foster care. The intent of the
podcast was to make information about the foster system more accessible, make current
and previous foster youth visible, and hold residential treatment facilities accountable for
abuse and neglect. Most of the sources interviewed were ex-foster youth or adoptees but
also included were a previous Tennessee Department of Children’s Services worker, an
adoptive parent, and an individual who was “restraint trained” to protect people from
harm. Prominent topics included restraints, seclusions, family court, revictimization in
foster care, and mental health. Over seven episodes, the podcast grows the body of
knowledge about foster care while including reforms and changes that ex-foster youth
would like to see implemented in residential treatment facilities, group homes, and
traditional care. A continuation of the podcast series would expand to more testimonies
from ex-foster youth about group and residential homes and discussions about the
representation of current and previous foster youth in popular media.