Foster Kid Creators Shine

Kids in the Spotlight, Inc. (KITS) is a specialized Southern-California arts education program focused on empowering youth in foster care by teaching them how to tell their stories through film. In 2022, KITS’s Script-to-Screen program funded the production of public service announcements (PSAs) about the pandemic, created, directed, and produced by youth creators. As part of the production process, participants engaged in listening sessions around COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy. As a result, eight kids in the program agreed to receive vaccines. Following the release of their completed PSAs, the youth producers reported that many of their friends who’d viewed their work had also decided to be vaccinated.

Funding for this effort is made possible through a subaward from the CDC Foundation and is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) financial assistance award totaling $2,500,000.00 with 100 percent funding from CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.