A Call to Action: Saving Our Children

May 26, 2006 — -- In an unparalleled call to action, Diane Sawyer and ABC News look at the crisis of the foster care system and ways children can be saved in "Calling All Angels," a "Primetime" report that airs Thursday, June 1, at 10 p.m. ET.

As part of an ABC News call to action, additional reports on foster care will air on "Good Morning America," "World News Tonight," "Nightline" and "20/20" through Saturday, June 3.

In her report, Sawyer casts a light on young, fractured lives as she takes a rare look at foster care across the country. With unprecedented access -- bringing cameras where they have never gone before -- she explores a system many consider broken but that struggles to change.

According to the latest statistics, just over 800,000 children pass through the system every year, with more than 500,000 taken into foster care. For them, the average stay is 31 months. One-third stay in the system for more than three years and 17 percent remain in foster care for five years or more. Foster children have on average three different placements. There are currently more than 100,000 foster children across the country available for adoption.

Beyond the statistics and headlines about abuses, Sawyer reveals the human stories -- the sagas of endurance, of hope, of unforgettable children wise beyond their years. Her in-depth report looks at foster care from several perspectives including:

Each problem and challenge reaps seeds of hope in innovative approaches that work for children and families across the country. Following is an overview of next week's "Primetime":

First, Sawyer looks at the children who are in the system, and those who have made it out. They tell her their stories of getting bounced around from home to home, and how they would fix the system. Sawyer then goes home to Louisville, Ky., and visits Maryhurst, a private, non-profit institution that receives some state funding, and tries to save some of the most vulnerable girls. There she hears gripping stories that provide rare insight into the disturbing effects of domestic instability and abuse. Sawyer discovers that having one loving and stable adult in a child's life can make all the difference.