Helping foster children find families while breaking down stereotypes
‘Thursday’s Child’ was a monthly series on WDAF-TV aiming to help foster children in the Kansas City metro find their families. It is hosted by reporter Sherae Honeycutt working directly with Jackson County’s Children’s Division and its adoption specialists to identify children they believe need immediate help.
In 1981, FOX4 started the program as a commitment to the community. Anchor Cynthia Smith interviewed children for ten years and brought their stories into viewers’ living rooms.
In 2019, Honeycutt rebooted the television franchise as part of the station’s ‘Working for You(th)’ initiative. She is a former court-appointed advocate for children (CASA) and has worked with current and former foster children for around ten years. She was also a foster teen herself and is passionate about using reporting to share the importance of not only adoption but volunteerism to help kids who need it.
“Sherae is very trauma-informed and does a great job meeting with the children and taking the time to get to know them before filming, as some children may have reservations,” Jackson County Children’s Division said.
To bring these children’s stories to viewers, ‘Thursday’s Child’ takes them into a day in the life of a child or group of siblings. What makes the series unique is a voyeuristic look at the child’s personality. Our goal is for the viewer not to look at the children in a way that evokes pity but to see them as they are—happy, fun, caring, worthy children and teens.
Honeycutt worked with a still photographer to take professional photos of the child, and the pictures are shared across social media to connect with viewers on several platforms. The images are sent to Jackson County for them to help get the children adopted. Children across the states of Missouri and Kansas are listed online for adoption, but the photos used are sometimes taken with cellphones or do not show the child at their best. These photos allow them to stand out positively.
According to Children’s Division, it takes a person around three times to connect with stories of adoption to take action. Through this program, Honeycutt not only tried to help children find homes but also make information on how to get involved readily available. She shared resources on how you can adopt that child other children, become a foster parent, or advocate for foster children in Kansas and Missouri.
Through this program, children have connected with potential adoptive parents or are in the process of adoption. In one instance, 70 families reached out to adopt one child. Several of those families completed training as foster parents after viewing the series.
‘Thursday’s Child’ aimed to show our viewers these children’s hearts and that they deserve a family like any other child. Honeycutt wants people to know these children are worth their love and, hopefully, a place in their home. They play, feel, and love like any other child. If there are people in our community looking for a way to help, all they need to do is see one Thursday’s Child, and there is tangible information they can use to make a change in our community and the life of a child forever.
Sherae Honeycutt 