Say Brother | Native American Foster Care

Native American Foster Care
Program 823
Original Airdate: 3/31/1978

Subject Keywords
Afro-Americans - Attitudes
Foster home care - Boston - Massachusetts
Indians of North America - Massachusetts
Indigenous peoples
Interracial adoption

Subject Genre
Public Affairs: Current Events

Personal Names
Brown, Kevin
Colorado, Pam
Lappen, Linda
Letendre, Suzanne

Corporate Names
Boston Indian Council - Boston - Massachusetts
Department of Public Welfare - Boston - Massachusetts

Program Description
Program focuses on foster care in Massachusetts with an emphasis on the proper placement of Native American children. Host Barbara Barrow-Murray speaks with guests Pam Colorado (a social worker and Ph.D. candidate at Brandeis), Kevin Brown (a Child Welfare Development Specialist for the Department of Public Welfare, Boston), Linda Lappen (a Co-supervisor for the Home Finding Unit of Boston's Welfare Department), and Suzanne Letendre (Director of the Foster Care Program at the Boston Indian Council) to discuss if it matters if a child is not placed within their family unit, if there a need for placement within a family of the same cultural background as the child's, the process by which children are placed with families, if relatives or foster families of the same ethnic background are always considered first, the problems facing Native Americans in terms of developing foster care programs, and whether or not the inability to place a child with the same ethnic group threatens the survival of a culture as a whole. Program includes previously filmed interviews with each of the guests, as well as Native American young adults who were raised by non-Native American families. Program includes a "Third World Connection" segment (in which theories related to the original inhabitants of North America are discussed) and "man on the street" interviews conducted by Barrow-Murray to assess whether or not the "average" person feels it is a problem when minority children are adopted by white families.

Producer
Barbara Barrow-Murray

Associate Producer
Melvin Moore

Director
David Atwood

Host
Barbara Barrow-Murray

Guests
Kevin Brown
Pam Colorado
Linda Lappen
Suzanne Letendre

Others
Ron Buccheru (switcher)
Bail Chigas (assistant cameraman)
Marvin Clark (intern)
Brian Clarke (assistant director)
Vern Coleman (audio)
David Crane (videotape recordist)
Leo Demers (videotape recordist)
Doug DeVitt (videotape recordist)
Bill Fairweather (video)
Rich Harrison (video)
Rebecca Hill (fashion consultant)
Danny Horne (intern)
Nat Johnson (audio)
Ann LaBillois (intern)
Larry LeCain (camera)
Webster Lewis (theme music)
Gene Mackles (graphic designer)
Fran Mahard (scenic design)
Wil Morton (audio)
Chas Norton (lighting assistant)
George Rivera (production assistant)
Kathy Smith (switcher)
Lee Smith (camera)
David St. Onge (videotape recordist)
John L. Sullivan (lighting director)
Skip Wareham (camera)
Conrad White (stage manager)
Eileen Yang (researcher)

Formats
Master (WGBH program)	2" videotape	A2-03375
Original footage	3/4" cassette -1	(item number not yet assigned)
Original footage	3/4" cassette -2	(item number not yet assigned)
Preservation master	digital beta cassette	AP-01545A
Preservation master	beta SP cassette	AP-01545
Viewing copy	3/4" cassette	363-60
Viewing copy	VHS cassette	(item number not yet assigned)