Letter From Diane Sawyer on Foster Care Series

May 31, 2006 — -- Below is a message from Diane Sawyer on ABC News' special series on foster care, "A Call to Action: Saving Our Children." Watch "Primetime" this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET for Sawyer's report.

Four young children found eating from a raw deer carcass in Kentucky. A 3-year-old in Oregon, behaving oddly, panting, licking food off the floor. Apparently imitating his companion, the family dog, in the home of his methamphetamine addicted mother. A teenager, visiting her mom in jail, hoping against experience that this time her mom's rehab will take. In the meantime, entering her sixth placement in a foster home.

During the years that I've been covering this topic, I've met children who were in 11 homes, 18 homes -- moved from place to place and then moved again. Even though everyone knows this shatters lives -- one study says there's a higher percentage of post traumatic stress disorder among these kids than war veterans.

So what if we made a commitment to stop bouncing kids from home to home to home? What if we asked communities to band together, to find homes, to support damaged families, to help these kids have a better chance for a normal life? What if, instead of lurching from horror story to horror story, we agreed to do what works.

We can change their chances. As adults, former foster care children make up 30 percent of the homeless and 25 percent of the prison population. Children most of all want one constant adult to love in their lives. That's why I've asked ABC News to dedicate the entire division's resources to this issue. We are calling it: A Call to Action: Saving Our Children. We hope you'll watch, and join in.

Diane Sawyer