What happens when you're “too old” to get adopted?
Of the 440,000 kids in foster care in the U.S., more than a quarter are over age 12. Adoption rates for these older kids are abysmally low. What happens when you're “too old” to get adopted? After 20 years in foster care, Noel Anaya was never adopted. He was determined to investigate what went wrong, and finds the answers in his first documentary film.
Unadopted starts with Anaya untangling his own unique story, which leads him to a wider examination that reveals the social welfare system’s silent but pervasive systemic bias against families of color, and teenagers aka “older youth.”
While most young adults look to their parents for answers about identity and upbringing, Anaya turns to court records, social workers, and most importantly, three California teens who reveal the critical decisions they’re currently making to secure a “forever family” — or not.
How to Watch
Explore streaming, screening and DVD purchase options of Unadopted with GOOD DOCS. Housing an award-winning collection that engages and inspires students, GOOD DOCS feature rarely heard stories about frontline communities working towards a more equitable world.
Unadopted has premiered on PBS! Stream it now or check our local listings.
Awards
James Madison Award
Platinum AVA award
Festivals
Salute Your Shorts (2020)
BronzeLens Festival (2020)
Crossroads Film Festival (2020)
Pittsburgh Shorts (2020)
Reviews
“Unadopted packs a punch yet leaves the viewer somewhat hopeful due to the filmmakers decision to showcase the positive outcomes for kids who have successfully survived the system either through emancipation or in one rare case adoption at age sixteen. This film will resonate with students from high school through college and would complement course work in children/family/youth studies. It is equally valuable to adult viewers inspiring the desire to get involved to change this broken system.”
"Filmmaker Noel Anaya takes a hard look at America’s broken foster care system in the thoughtful documentary Unadopted [...] [T]he most compelling material concerns Anaya himself, as he unravels his life story and gets some answers as to why he ended up in foster care to begin with. The answers, steeped in outrageous cultural and racial biases that separated Anaya from his Latina, non-English-speaking mother, when he was a small boy, will leave one brooding over our treatment of vulnerable minorities."
Screenings
Meet The Team
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Noel Anaya is a public speaker who focuses most of his energy to create awareness for people in the community. He uses multimedia as a medium to produce quality storytelling primarily about foster care and his own life. His Story “After 20 Years, Young Man Leaves Foster Care On His Own Terms,” as seen on NPR, won an Edward Murrow award, a Third Coast Festival award and an NYF Radio Award. Noel plans to receive a BA in Media Communications and wishes to keep on telling stories on social topics.
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Bob Calo is a Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. He began his career in television at KQED in San Francisco, where he produced daily news and documentaries for the local and national PBS audience. He moved to New York to join ABC News’s Primetime Live, and then to NBC News as a broadcast producer. He’s produced news and documentaries for PBS, ABC, NBC and Al Jazeera
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Ellin O’Leary has reported and produced numerous high impact investigations, most of which started with one person brave enough to share their story with the world. Ellin has been part of teams winning Emmys, Peabody's, a White House Award for Arts and Humanities and more. Working with Noel Anaya and his story Unadopted, along with the great team assembled at YR Media, is a dream come true.
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Hanna Lane Miller is a documentary filmmaker from Collins, Mississippi. She lives and works between home and Oakland, CA. Hanna enjoys all parts of a good story and works as a film director, director of photography, and film editor. Hanna's work has been considered for Oscar nominations, won film festivals, and received support from the Tribeca Film Institute, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, and the Bay Area Video Coalition.
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Paula Neudorf is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She is part of the team that produced Season 1 of the documentary series "VICE" on Showtime, which was nominated for a 2020 Emmy Award. As a director, shooter and field producer, Paula is interested in stories that highlight people's humanity, creativity and resilience, as well as investigative projects that hold the powerful to account.
Music Produced and Composed by YR Music
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Arianna LaPenne is a documentary director who focuses on stories about possibility, highlighting the bold work of artists, revolutionaries and change-makers in diverse and challenging environments. Arianna has directed and shot for The New York Times, Al Jazeera, Viceland and National Geographic on issues ranging from child marriage, wildlife conservation, gang violence, to political conflicts around the world.
Oliver Rodriguez, Senay Alkanbu-ian, Marquise Carr, Jessica Brown, Clay Xavier, Oluwa Femi
Resources
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https://adoptioncouncil.org
National Council For Adoption is the leading expert on adoption issues, providing resources, education, and advocacy for all people and organizations connected to adoption so that every child can thrive in a nurturing, permanent family.
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nationalcasagal.org
The National CASA/GAL Association, together with state and local member programs, supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy so every child who has experienced abuse or neglect can be safe, have a permanent home, and the opportunity to thrive.
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jbaforyouth.org
John Burton Advocates for Youth improves the quality of life for youth in California who have been in foster care or homeless by advocating for better laws, training communities to strengthen local practices and conducting research to inform policy solutions.
It was founded in 2005 by progressive champion John Burton, a former member of Congress, the California State Assembly and President Pro Tem of the California State Senate. John Burton Advocates for Youth works in three areas: education, housing and health. Click below to see a short video about the work of John Burton Advocates for Youth.
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calyouthconn.org
California Youth Connection (CYC) is a youth-led organization that develops leaders who empower each other and their communities to transform the foster care system through legislative, policy, and practice change.
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The mission of First Place is to help foster youth build the skills they need to make a successful transition to self-sufficiency and responsible adulthood.
We believe that all young people in foster care have the potential to achieve long-term success in adulthood, and we envision a world where the disparities between them and the general population have been eliminated. First Place is a national leader in providing evidence-based direct support, increasing awareness, changing perceptions, and building a movement to make this vision a reality.firstplaceforyouth.org