What if I told you that, in America,
50% of the homeless population and 80% of prison inmates
can be traced back to one source?
Nope, it's not immigration. It's not Muslims.
It's the foster care system.
There are currently almost half a million kids
living in foster care.
We're basically turning these kids into criminals
by not providing them with the resources that they need.
I don't think anybody has that vision in their future.
Hey, I think I'm gonna be homeless.
Troubles with the foster care system remain largely unheard,
but that's going to change
because everyone's heard of Ty Burell.
So I sat down with Ty to hear about his involvement
with Kids in the Spotlight,
a charity that teaches filmmaking to foster kids.
So what is your connection to this charity?
I teach an acting class,
and then I am honored to host the awards ceremony every year.
Compared to everybody, I do very little.
There are people who are in the program day in and day out,
working with these kids to make sure
that they feel really like they're being heard.
I just show up to be on television.
Yeah, but I'm doing even less.
Yeah.
How do you relate to these kids?
I got into this because my father was a social worker
in the foster care system.
Most of these kids have been through stuff
that I can't really image.
I can relate on a very general note of,
I was a very much a lost person in my late teens and twenties.
I got into Shakespeare.
Right. Which is the name of crystal meth back in the day.
And I went deep.
I was snorting Shakespeare off of a toilet.
Yeah, I've done that.
Kids in the Spotlight says,
do you have a story you want to make a film out of?
Could be dark, and sometimes they are.
It's therapeutic. It's empowering.
Could be that. Or it can be ridiculous.
But it is a little cruel to teach them
about the most competitive industry in the world?
Yeah.
Like, just a little bit?
I'm going to comedy clubs every day going,
you shouldn't do this, man.
Oh my God, you're so right.
To see the program in action,
Ty invited me to attend one of the acting classes.
We're going to start with just saying your first name
in the mood you're feeling right now.
Ty.
Jim.
I learnt two things in Ty's class.
First, I'm a shit actor. Second, these kids are amazing
and I wanted to get to know them better.
So what's your favorite thing to do outside of school?
Well, I like anime so I would read or watch anime.
I really love reading and watching TV shows.
Yeah, it's the same with me except for the reading.
How could you not read?
Oh, I hate reading.
Although you should read kids. It's very important.
These kids are friendly, funny
and they make me feel self conscious
that I can barely read, just like my writing staff.
What is the one thing that you wish people understood
better about kids who are in your situation?
That we're not all bad kids.
We don't want your pity, we just want you to treat us the same.
We're not alien from a different planet.
Just because we were brought up different,
they think that I might just pop off
and go off on someone or something like that.
That's not the case, it's just ...
I don't know.
It's okay.
After everything these sweet kids have been through,
all they want is to stop being judged
based on negative stereotypes.
When my father was alive,
and when he was working in that field,
most, if not all case workers,
their deepest hope is for these kids to feel loved
and to try to give them self esteem
and help them to feel just validated.
A bunch of kids that I have met are now in college,
and that is way ahead of the odds.
Do you feel like it's as simple as,
if we just raised everyone's tax by 1% could we fix it?
That went to foster care?
Went to foster care system.
And then we would fix the homeless problem,
and then a lot of the drug issues
and the prison populations would drop.
The ripple and effect would be substantial.
Yes. If you are a person who is wanting to give money
to try to make the world better, you're investment dollar
can't go further than the foster care system.
Foster care is a complicated issue,
and as the federal government cuts funding,
the number of kids entering foster care keeps going up,
which means that programs like this
are more important than ever.
Plus, these kids, now that they know how to make movies,
might be able to help me someday.
So, will any of you every hire me on anything?
There's got to be some part where it just goes podgy,
pale Australian guy.
If you're still around and popular.
I'll still be around.
I may not be popular but I'll be around.