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Foster parents and Mississippi child welfare leaders will attend a preview screening of the new Paramount Pictures Instant Family film next week at Tinseltown Theater in Pearl.
The invitation-only screening of the new film starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne is co-sponsored by Paramount Pictures, WIT PR, Families First for Mississippi and Rescue 100. The event is designed to draw attention to the need for foster and adoptive families to care for children in custody of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services – and to publicly thank foster parents for their commitment to the children entrusted to them.
“This movie is putting foster care and adoption in the spotlight and this is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our foster parents, our local foster care ministries, agency partners and our MDCPS staff,” said Commissioner Jess Dickinson. “We wish every one of our foster families could join us but seats are limited.”
Mississippi’s child welfare agency is working statewide to recruit, train and license at least 400 new foster homes by year’s end.
Instant Family is inspired by the real events from the life of Sean Anders, who co-produced, co-wrote and directed the film. Set to release nationwide on November 16, it tells the story a couple who stumbled into the foster care system in hopes of making their dream of starting a family come true. Also featuring Octavia Spencer, Tig Notaro and Margo Martindale, the story illustrates both the joys and challenges involved with adopting three siblings, including a rebellious 15-year-old girl, out of the foster care system. (Comedian Tig Notaro is a Mississippi native; Spencer and Martindale have both starred in movies filmed in Mississippi.)
“People who take in foster kids are really special people. They’re the kind of people who volunteer when it’s not even a holiday. We don’t even volunteer on a holiday,” Wahlberg’s character pleads to his wife when she first suggests fostering a child.
Sabrea Smith, director of the Rescue 100 program which partners with Mississippi’s faith-based community to recruit and license foster families, said Wahlberg’s character authentically voices the commonly held attitude most people have when first considering fostering. Rescue 100 and MDCPS staff rely on current foster parents to share their first-hand experiences with those considering fostering in hopes of removing that misconception.
“Foster families are just like you and me. They don’t have it together any more than the rest of us – they have just realized that they have something a child needs and they are willing to open their hearts and their homes to them,” Smith said. “Every foster parent will admit it is not easy but it is always worth the effort.”
MDCPS currently has custody of about 5,000 infants, children and teenagers in foster care statewide. The agency has licensed and regularly monitors almost 2,800 foster homes including about 1,100 licensed only to care for relatives.
“These kids deserve all the fun we can give them – and we could never do something like this without the wonderful support provided by our community volunteers, foster family support groups, child welfare organizations and our faith-based community,” Dickinson said. “Not everyone feels like they can be a foster or adoptive family, but every single one of us can do something to support and encourage and assist these families and the children they care for. We all must do our part.”
Three Rankin County churches — Meadow Grove Baptist, Crossgates Baptist and Lakeside Presbyterian – are reimbursing foster parents for the cost of childhood for their night out at the movies. Families First is treating the parents to concessions at the Instant Family Preview.
“We could never do this thank you event without the help of our wonderful partners,” said Smith. “They support our foster families all year long in so many varied ways.”
To find out more about what is involved in becoming a foster parent, go to www.mdcps.ms.gov/Rescue100 or call 769-798-3586.
