Love And Diane

Discussion Guide

www.pbs.org/pov

Love & Diane

A Film by Jennifer Dworkin

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Letter From The Filmmakers

Dear Viewers,

Making this film was a long journey for me. I first met members of Diane Hazzard’s family many years before I started

filming. I was working as a volunteer at a homeless shelter where Diane’s brother Victor lived with her dead sister’s

children whom he had adopted. I worked with the children living at the shelter. We did photography projects and made

Super 8 films, some of which are used in Love & Diane. I spent time talking to the children living there and several times

visited children I knew who had been taken from their parents and put into group homes. I began to see Diane’s nieces

and nephew on weekends, taking them to places they didn’t know and introducing them to my friends. And they

reciprocated, showing me aspects of life in the city I had never known about. I was stunned by what these young children

had been faced with. They had survived circumstances that had often included weeks spent sleeping on the floors of

emergency housing offices, and withstood constant, terrifying uncertainty about the future. I saw the strength of these

children, the ways they fought for each other, kept their families together and often parented their younger brothers or

sisters.

Over the years that I spent getting to know the children in the shelter, I thought more and more about how I could pass

on what I was learning to other people. Watching the Super 8 films the children made helped me realize the power of

film to convey the way the world feels from a particular point of view. I began to make a kind of home movie with the

Hazzard children. As Victor became ill, the family began to split up and two of the children moved in with their Aunt Diane

and her children. I went over to meet them and spoke to Diane and her daughter, Love. I was struck by their profound

self-knowledge and intense desire to understand the past and escape from its power. I changed the focus of the film to

concentrate on these two women. Diane, Love, and I had many conversations about the kind of film we all wanted to

make. Diane and Love wanted above all to see and show others a truthful account of their lives. They felt that their voices

were never heard in society; that they were seen as “statistics.” As we talked about making a documentary, however,

none of us had any idea that it would take years to finish or that it would include a terrible repeating of past trauma. It is

an extraordinary gift that Love and Diane remained committed to the process and to an uncompromising honesty with

each other and with the audience. My greatest hope for this film is that viewers will honor that courage and will leave the

film feeling a greater sense of understanding and empathy for Diane and Love themselves, certainly, but also for those

many people in our society who struggle to escape devastating poverty and the weight of historic oppression.

Jennifer Dworkin

Producer/Director, Love & Diane

NEW YORK, NY 2004

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Table of Contents

4 Introduction

5 Key Issues

5 Potential Partners

6 Background Information

7 Using This Guide

7 Planning an Event

8 Facilitating a Discussion

8 Preparing Yourself

9 Preparing the Group

10 General Discussion Questions

11 Discussion Questions/Take Action

15 Resources

19 How To Buy The Film

Credits, Acknowledgements

riter

Dr. Faith Rogow

Insighters Educational Consulting

Producers

Cara Mertes

Executive Director, P.O.V.

Eliza Licht

Community Engagement Manager, P.O.V.

Theresa Riley

Director of P.O.V. Interactive

Design: Rafael Jiménez

Copyeditor: Claudia Zuluaga

Thanks to those who contributed

and / or reviewed this guide:

Crystal Butler

Educational Services Manager, WPBS

Jennifer Dworkin

Producer/Director, Love & Diane

Sam Sills

Director, Video Unit, New York City Administration

for Children's Ser

vices

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Introduction

In just under two hours, Love & Diane documents a

remarkable real-life drama of a mother and daughter

desperate for love and forgiveness, but caught in a

devastating cycle set spinning by drugs, guilt, poverty, and

mental illness. Shot over several years, the film centers on

eighteen-year-old Love, an HIV-positive mother of an

infant son, and Diane, her once crack-addicted mother

who has struggled to regain her life and get her children

back from foster care. We see a

reunited family haunted by Diane’s past

mistakes but laboring to reconnect and

get off the treadmill of addiction and

poverty.

Honest and immediate,

Love & Diane

shatters stereotypes and offers hope

amidst seemingly insurmountable

odds. It provides communities with a

portrait of survival and a powerful

springboard for discussing a wide

range of issues related to the

intersection of family, social policy, and

personal responsibility.

Photo: Carolina Zorilla de San Martin

Filmmaker Jennifer Dworkin

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Potential Partners

Love & Diane is well suited for use in a variety of settings and

is especially r

ecommended for use with:

•

Your local PBS station

• Social services related degree and in-service

training programs

• Faith-based organizations

• Community organizations with a mission to pro-

mote education and learning such as P.O.V.’s

national partners Elderhostel Learning in

Retirement Centers, members of the Listen Up!

network, or your local library.

Love & Diane is an excellent tool for dialogue because it

shows life in all its complexity and avoids simplistic answers.

It will be of special interest to people interested in exploring or

working on the issues below:

biography

child welfare

drug addition

education

family

foster care

HIV / AIDS

job training

mental health

parenting

poverty

social services

social work

sociology

teen parenting

Key Issues

• Diane

the matriarch of the family

•

Love

Diane’s daughter

•

Donyaeh

Love’s infant son

•

Courtney – Love’s boyfriend

• Tomeka

Love’s older sister

•

Trenise

Love’s younger sister

•

Morean

Love’s younger sister

•

Willie

Love’

s younger br

other

•

Charles – Love’

s older br

other who, prior to the film,

committed suicide

During the 1980s, a crack cocaine epidemic ravaged many

impoverished inner city neighborhoods. As par

ents like Diane

succumbed to addiction, a generation of children (like Love)

enter

ed the foster care system.

Love & Diane explor

es the far-

reaching impact of that situation on just one family:

Since the completion of the film, Diane has been working at the

same company; she has been pr

omoted twice and is now an

administrative assistant. She has been going to school at night

to get her GED. Love is still healthy

. Trenise is a claims adjuster

for an insurance company. Willie was incarcerated but is now a

member of a teen theater group. Morean has graduated job

corps and is working as a hair stylist.

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Background Information

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Using This Guide

This guide is designed to help you use Love & Diane as the centerpiece of a community educational event. It

contains suggestions for or

ganizing an event as well as ideas for how to help participants think more deeply about

the issues in the film. The discussion questions are designed for a very wide range of audiences. Rather than

attempt to address them all, choose one or two that best meet the needs and interests of your group.

A special resource is available for this film. A series of clips has been digitized by P.O.V. Interactive

and the Enhanced Television group at the Georgia Institute of Technology and provided online at:

http://www.pov.org/loveanddiane/timeline. Videos are available for both high- and low-bandwidth

connections. [Discussion questions relating to these clips are designated with this video symbol and

a corresponding theme color.]

Planning an Event

In addition to showcasing documentary films as an art form, P.O.V. films can be used to present information, get people interested in

taking action on an issue, provide opportunities for people from different groups or perspectives to exchange views, and/or create

space for reflection. Using the questions below as a planning checklist will help ensure a high quality / high impact event.

•

Have you defined your goals? With your partner(s), set realistic goals. Will you host a single event or engage in an ongoing

project? Being clear about your goals will make it much easier to structure the event, target publicity, and evaluate results.

•

Does the way you are planning to structure the event fit your goals? Do you need an outside facilitator, translator, or

sign language interpreter? If your goal is to share information, are there local experts on the topic who should be present? How large

an audience do you want? (Large groups are appropriate for information exchanges. Small groups allow for more intensive dialogue.)

•

Have you arranged to involve all stakeholders? It is especially important that people be allowed to speak for themselves.

If your gr

oup is planning to take action that af

fects people other than those pr

esent, how will you give voice to those not in the r

oom?

If, for example, your group decides to offer help to teen mothers or demand revisions to social service agency practice, it would be

important that teen mothers or social service staf

f have a voice in choosing specific actions or shaping policy

•

Is the event being held in a space where all participants will feel equally comfortable? Is it wheelchair accessible?

Is it in a part of town that’

s easy to r

each by various kinds of transportation? If you ar

e bringing together different constituencies, is it

neutral territory? Does the physical configuration allow for the kind of discussion you hope to have?

•

Will the room set up help you meet your goals? Is it comfortable? If you intend to have a discussion, can people see one

another? Ar

e ther

e spaces to use for small br

eak out groups? Can everyone easily see the screen and hear the film?

•

Have you scheduled time to plan for action? Planning next steps can help people leave the r

oom feeling energized and

optimistic, even when the discussion has been dif

ficult. Action steps ar

e especially important for people who already have a good deal

of experience talking about the issue(s) on the table. For those who are new to the issue(s), just engaging in public discussion serves

as an action step.

MOTHERHOOD

RESPONSIBILITY

TRUST

PERSEVERANCE

STABILITY

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Facilitating a Discussion

Controversial or unusual topics often make for

excellent discussions. By their natur

e, those same

topics also give rise to deep emotions and strongly

held beliefs. As a facilitator, you can create an

atmosphere where people feel safe, encouraged, and

respected, making it more likely that they will be

willing to share openly and honestly. Here’s how:

Preparing yourself:

Identify your own hot button issues. View the film before your event and give yourself time to reflect so you aren’t

dealing with raw emotions at the same time that you are trying to facilitate a discussion.

Be knowledgeable. You don’t need to be an expert on child welfare, addiction, foster care, depression, or poverty to

facilitate a discussion, but knowing the basics can help you keep a discussion on track and gently correct misstatements

of fact. In addition to the Background Section, you may want to take a look at the suggested websites in the Resource

Section on p.15.

Be clear about your role. You may find yourself taking on several roles for an event, e.g., host, organizer, projec-

tionist. If you are also planning to serve as facilitator, be sure that you can focus on that responsibility and avoid

distractions during the discussion. Keep in mind that being a facilitator is not the same as being a teacher. A teacher’s

job is to convey specific information. In contrast, a facilitator remains neutral, helping move along the discussion without

imposing their views on the dialogue.

Know your group. Issues can play out very differently for different groups of people. Is your group new to the issue or

have they dealt with it before? Factors like geography, age, race, religion, and socioeconomic class can all have an

impact on comfort levels, speaking styles, and prior knowledge. If you are bringing together different segments of your

community, we strongly recommend hiring an experienced facilitator.

Finding a Facilitator

Some university pr

ofessors, human resource professionals,

clergy, and youth leaders may be specially trained in facili-

tation skills.

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Facilitating a Discussion

Preparing the group:

Consider how well group members know one another. If you are bringing together people who have never met,

you may want to devote some time at the beginning of the event for introductions.

Agree to ground rules around language. Involve the group in establishing some basic rules to ensure respect and

aid clarity. Typically, such rules include no yelling or use of slurs and asking people to speak in the first person (“I think….”)

rather than generalizing for others (“Everyone knows that…”).

Ensure that everyone has an opportunity to be heard. Be clear about how people will take turns or indicate that

they want to speak. Plan a strategy for preventing one or two people from dominating the discussion. If the group is

large, are there plans to break into small groups or partners, or should attendance be limited?

Talk about the difference between dialogue and debate. In a debate, participants try to convince others that

they are right. In a dialogue, participants try to understand each other and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints

and listening to each other actively. Remind people that they are engaged in a dialogue.

Encourage active listening. Ask the group to think of the event as being about listening, as well as discussing.

Participants can be encouraged to listen for things that challenge as well as reinforce their own ideas. You may also

consider asking people to practice formal “active listening,” where participants listen without interrupting the speaker,

then re-phrase to see if they have heard correctly.

Remind participants that everyone sees through the lens of their own experience. Who we are influences

how we interpret what we see, so everyone in the group may have a different view about the content and meaning of

film they have just seen, and all of them may be accurate. It can help people to understand one another’s perspectives

if people identify the evidence on which they base their opinion as well as share their views.

Take care of yourself and group members. If the intensity level rises, pause to let everyone take a deep breath.

You might also consider providing a safe space to “vent,” perhaps with a partner or in a small group of familiar faces. If

you anticipate that your topic may upset people, be prepared to refer them to local support agencies and/or have local

professionals present.

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

General Discussion Questions

Love & Diane documents disturbing as well as

uplifting experiences. Immediately after the film, you

may want to give people a few quiet moments to

reflect on what they have seen. If the mood seems

tense, you may want to pose a general question and

give people some time to themselves to jot down or

think about their answer before opening the

discussion.

Unless you think participants are so uncomfortable

that they can’t engage until they have had a break,

don’t encourage people to leave the room between

the film and the discussion. If you save your break for

an appropriate moment during the discussion, you

won’t lose the feeling of the film as you begin your

dialogue.

One way to get a discussion going is to pose a general

question such as

• If you could ask anyone in the film a single

question, who would you ask and what would

you ask them?

• Did anything in this film surprise you?

If so, what? Why was it surprising?

•

What insights or new knowledge did you gain

from this film?

• What, if anything, did you learn about yourself

from the film?

• Two months from now, what do you think you

will remember from this film and why?

Photo: Jennifer Dworkin

Love Hinson (back) and Diane Hazzard (front)

EXPLORING FAMILY

• What does “family” mean to you? Beyond naming who

constitutes “family,” what are the basic things that family

ovides? What does Love’s family provide for her? What kinds

of things does Love need from her family that they don’t or can’t

provide?

• There are several places in the film when family members

talk about the importance of “sticking together.” For example,

Love runs away from foster care to be with her mother, Love’s

sister agrees to take care of Donyaeh so he won’t have to be

outside the family, and Diane includes in her prayer over their

new apartment, “we got to stick together because we got to do

this as one whole family. All we got [sic] is each other.” In your

view, why is “sticking together” so important to them? How

important is “sticking together” to you? What kinds of allegiances

do we owe family members?

• What expectations did Love and Diane have of one another

and of their reunited life? Which expectations do you think were

realistic? Which seem less than realistic? How did their

expectations influence their ability to reconnect and re-create a

stable family unit?

• As a child, what was Love’s reaction to being forcibly

separated from her mother? Do you know what criteria your

coummunity's child welfare agency uses to determine whether

or not to remove a child from their home? If so, does that seem

appropriate to you? If not, what criteria would you suggest they

use?

Taking Action

• Make a list of the basic things you think every family should

provide to its members. Then examine how your community

makes it hard or easy for families to provide those things. Do you

know which institutions or services are offered in your

community to help family members provide these basics? If so,

what are they? Are there services needed in your community that

don’t now exist? How might you help create them?

PARENTING

• Both Love and Diane talk about why they had babies. Love

says, “I had a baby for myself, ‘cause I needed something in my

life that made me feel good.” Diane says, “I had six childr

en…I

figured the more I had, the more I’d be loved.” What do you think

of their reasons? Were their expectations realistic? What other

kinds of reasons have you heard for people wanting to have

childr

en? Do the reasons change with age (i.e., are teens’

reasons different than someone in their thirties)?

• What is Diane’s opinion of Love’s parenting skills? Do you

concur? Do you think an outside agency should be in a position

to decide child custody? What are some alternatives?

• Diane says to Love, “Now you’re a mother, you can’t think

about yourself.” Is this a reasonable expectation? Is it a healthy

expectation? What do you think the responsibilities of a mother

are? Do they differ from the responsibilities of a father? If so,

how?

• Diane says, “Willie and Love both feel that I owe them

something. I know that Charles did. Charles went to his grave

hating me.” What do you think Diane (or any other mother) owes

her children?

• Love indicates that the presence of Donyaeh has

prevented her from harming herself. Do you think this is a

common feeling with parents? In your view, is it an appropriate

attitude?

• What kinds of things did Love do as a child to get her

mother’s attention? Why is having the attention of a parent so

important? If you are a parent, what do your children do to get

your attention? How do you show them that you are paying

attention?

• In justifying her actions to her lawyer, Love repeatedly says

that the she never engages in hurtful or danger

ous behavior

“while my child is around.” What is the impact of parents’

behavior on children, even when children are not in the room?

Love’

s lawyer says, “But hurting your child doesn’

t mean that

you’re hitting them, okay?” What do you think she meant? Aside

from the physical, what other ways can parents hurt children?

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

STABILITY

Discussion Questions/Taking Action

iew video clips associated with this discussion question

online at www.pov.org/loveanddiane/timeline

MOTHERHOOD

RESPONSIBILITY

RESPONSIBILITY TRUST

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Discussion Questions/Taking Action

• Love’s sister says, “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do

to get your baby back.” Should a par

ent be willing to do anything

to regain custody of a child? Where would you draw the line? Are

there things you wouldn’t do?

Taking Action

• Investigate what types of parenting skills training programs

exist in your community. Would you use these programs? Why or

why not?

• When Love finally gets custody of Donyaeh, she says she

is happy but too tired to act overjoyed. She has won her battle,

but her war to survive and succeed continues. If you could

provide one thing for Love that would help her with the rest of

her battle, what would you provide? Where are the people like

Love in your community? What could you or your community do

to support them?

INSTITUTIONS & POLICIES

• The State became aware of Donyaeh’s situation because

Diane called her therapist for help and he called child welfare.

Having Donyaeh removed from Love’s custody was not Diane’s

intention: “You said you was gonna help me, but this is not the

help I’m askin’ you for.” What would you do in Diane’s situation?

Do you think the State has a right or r

esponsibility to intervene if

children are being hurt in non-physical ways?

• Love was put in foster care with the intention of helping her,

yet she remembers feeling like “nobody didn’t give a damn…It

was scary. I was alone.” How might the system make a foster

child feel better cared for?

• Diane and Love disagree about the role of faith in their

ability to cope. Love says, “It’s not about faith.” Diane says, “You

have to have faith.” What do you think accounts for their differing

points of view? What do you think about the role of faith? Diane

also attributes her over

coming an addiction to crack cocaine in

part to her faith. What role do faith-based solutions play in

addiction services in your community? What should the

government’s role be in supporting or not supporting these

services?

•

What role did drugs and alcohol play in this family? What

treatment programs exist in your community? Do you think they

e sufficient? Do they address the kinds of issues you see in the

film?

• In showing Donyaeh with his foster mother, the film

provides a glimpse of what it is like to be a foster parent. Would

you consider becoming a foster parent? Why or why not? What

do you see as the benefits and drawbacks?

• Diane wants to do office work rather than factory work

because she likes getting “dressed up.” In reality, factory work

usually pays more than office work. Why might Diane prefer

office work? Is it just personal preference or might there be other

aspects of her identity involved in her choice? Would you hire

Diane? Why or why not?

Taking Action

• Make a list of all the different support services that help this

family survive and reunite (e.g., foster care, therapy, job training,

housing subsidies, health care, etc.). Investigate which of these

services exist in your community. Choose one or two services on

your list and research their role in the community

. How would

you improve the services? Do individuals have a role in that?

• Some encounters with the agencies trying to help Diane

and her family seem like “Catch 22s.” For example, they want

Donyaeh to be free of HIV, but when he is found to be negative,

they lose their apartment subsidy. And Willie comments on the

place he is sent when he is removed from Diane’

s custody: “Why

y’all sendin’ me to a place where there’s troubled kids? I’m tryin’

to get away from that.” Through your research, identify “Catch

22s” in your community’s safety net, then work together to

suggest ways of eliminating the conflicts.

STABILITY

TRUST

PERSEVERANCE

MOTHERHOOD

iew video clips associated with this discussion question

online at www.pov.org/loveanddiane/timeline

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Discussion Questions/Taking Action

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY /

PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT

• We see the family sharing resolutions on New Year’s Eve.

How dif

ferent from or similar to your own resolutions are they?

What do you have in common with this family? What is different?

What accounts for the similarities and differences?

• Both Diane and Love say that their current situation was

the result, in part, of things over which they had no control. What

kinds of things happened to them that were beyond their

control? What was within their control?

• Child welfare wants Love to see a therapist. She resists, at

one point saying, “That’s not how you get rid of the past, by

talking about it constantly.” Do you think she has a valid point?

Do you think therapy is a fair requirement for the return of her

son?

• Caseworker Annette Gady and attorney Lauren Shapiro,

discuss the fact that everyone in the family has “rage issues.”

What do you think are the sources of Love’s rage? In your

experience, what kinds of things help rage dissipate?

• What kinds of repeating cycles of behavior do we see in the

generations of this family? Does Diane see the connection

between her own experience and the actions of her children?

What connections does she make? Which ones does she miss?

Which cycles do you think she will succeed at breaking?

•

Diane says to Love, “Y

ou don’t trust me or believe me.

That’s the bottom line.” How might a parent in Diane’s position

earn back her children’s trust? What would she need to do?

•

Sometimes Love and Diane don’

t feel heard by each other.

What do you think Love wants Diane to understand about her?

What do you think Diane wants Love to understand? Do you

think Love and Diane understand each other’s emotions?

• Love describes Diane: “I remember your face used to be

really, really pretty. It had a glow. But now your face is like, your

face is like so sad. I don’t like seeing you like that. It be stressing

me out…I wish I could do somethin’, but I don’t know what to

do.” What could she do?

• Diane says, “I want to get off public assistance so bad, but

it’

s all I knew. I want to stop hiding. I want to let go of the guilt.”

Why is letting go of guilt important? In your experience, what role

does guilt play in holding people back or motivating them to

move forward?

• Love observes, "I did not make my problems for myself."

How does her statement compare to the American notion that

everyone should be able to "pull themselves up by their own

bootstraps," or that everyone is responsible for their own

actions?

• Diane thrives when she has an opportunity for

accomplishment. Why was it important for Diane to have her

children witness her accomplishment? Why are recognition and

the opportunity to achieve important? Do current services

available in your community meet those needs? How?

• Diane says to Love, “So if you decide to hold a grudge the

rest of your life, then you go ahead. But you know what? I’m

lettin’ it go…you’re back in my life just to make me feel sorry, just

like your brother did, then so be it, you’d better move…” Is Diane

right? Can Love build a healthy and happy life for herself if she

continues to blame Diane? What happens when one person is

ready to move on but the other isn’t?

•

Love forgives her mother

, recognizing that Diane came

back: “If you would have said this to me seven years ago, I

wouldn’

t have said the same thing, but I think I’ve really, really

forgiven my mother for letting us get took away, because before

I wasn’t doing that… Now I can just see, yeah, she did make her

mistakes, just like me, but she came and got me back, and

some par

ents don’

t do that. And I know it’

s har

d for my mother

I guess it’s hard for both of us. I don’t know…She did her best.”

How does Diane benefit from the forgiveness? How does Love

benefit fr

om being able to forgive her mother?

PERSEVERANCE

MOTHERHOOD

RESPONSIBILITY

iew video clips associated with this discussion question

online at www.pov.org/loveanddiane/timeline

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Discussion Questions/Taking Action

Taking Action

• Imagine that you could help a single family and that they

could help you. Brainstorm a list of things that you might do and

that they might need (e.g., offer babysitting or arrange a

playdate, help someone study for their GED, share a meal,

provide rides to doctor’s appointments, etc.). Then, investigate

ways to pair up families in need of help with families willing to

provide help. Are there ser

vices in your community that work

with volunteers in this way? If so, offer your brainstorm list as a

starting point for partnering families to negotiate one or two

things that they will do for one another.

Photo: Jennifer Dworkin

(from left) Courtney White, Love’s son Donyaeh

and Love Hinson

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Resources

P.O.V.’s Love & Diane Website

www

.pbs.org/pov/loveanddiane

Interviews

Log on to read two Web-exclusive interviews: Diane Hazzard

talks about what inspired her to allow her family to be filmed in

Love & Diane, and her reactions after watching the film for the

first time. Distinguished psychologist Carol Gilligan shares her

insights on the thorny questions that the film raises for

everybody who has experienced personal conflict.

Watching Love & Diane

More than just a financial matter, poverty affects every aspect of

a person’s physical, mental and emotional well-being. In this

feature we’ve asked experts and practitioners to expand upon

some of the far-reaching issues that are tackled in Love & Diane.

Dr H. Wesley Clark, Director of the Center for Substance Abuse

at SAMHSA, Keely A. Magyar, Senior Program Director, Lawyers

for Children America and authors Adrian Nicole LeBlanc and

Diane Brown comment on the film from their own perspectives

and experiences working with individuals and families in similar

situations.

Behind the Lens

Filmmaker Jennifer Dworkin talks to us about her motivations for

making

Love & Diane and the challenges and rewards of

spending 10 years documenting the lives of one family

. How did

she maintain her distance as a filmmaker to subjects with whom

she developed strong personal attachments?

What’s Your P.O.V.?

P.O.V.’s online Talking Back Tapestry is a colorful,

interactive representation of your feelings about

Love & Diane. Listen to other P.O.V. viewers talk

about the film and add your thoughts by calling

1-800-688-4768.

www.pbs.org/pov/talkingback.html

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Resources Websites

Websites

Find links to informative websites on the topics of welfare and

welfare to work programs, poverty, the foster care system and

par

enting advice. There have been several recent PBS programs

and NPR reports dealing with these topics, each with its own

website. Learn about, watch and listen to other PBS and NPR

programs with these helpful links.

WOMEN MAKE MOVIES LOVE& DIANE WEB SITE

www.wmm.com/loveanddiane

This website for Love & Diane includes information about the film

and filmmakers, as well as an excellent collection of contact

information for organizations with information on child welfare,

foster care, social services, HIV/AIDS, addiction, and more.

PBS.org Websites

There have been several recent PBS programs dealing with

foster care, each with its own website. Each website includes

additional background information and links to resources:

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fostercare

For the Frontline program, “Failure to Protect”. The death of a

five-year-old child in Maine leads the state to investigate its fos-

ter care system. You can watch the entire video online.

(February 2003)

www.pbs.org/now/society/fosterres.html

For a NOW with Bill Moyers feature story on foster care and child

welfar

e policy

. The number of kids in the foster car

e system has

doubled in the last decade. Meet some of those kids in that

oubled system and some valiant people doing their best to help

them in NOW's piece "The Last Hope" filmed at the residential

eatment center of Childr

en's Village in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

www

.casey

.or

g/cnc/recruitment/take_this_heart.htm

For the outreach project developed for the film “Take This Heart”.

Download a fr

ee discussion guide developed by the Annie E.

Casey Foundation for the outreach project developed for the film

"Take This Heart."

URBAN POVERTY

NATIONAL POVERTY CENTER

www.npc.umich.edu

The University of Michigan's National Poverty Center was

established in the fall of 2002 as a university-based, nonpartisan

research center. The Center conducts and promotes multidisci-

plinary, policy-relevant research on the causes and

consequences of poverty and provides mentoring and training to

young scholars. The website offers interesting facts about

poverty, as well as links to other poverty research centers in

America, most notably the Joblessness and Urban Poverty

Research Program at Harvard University and their Smart Library

on Urban Poverty.

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU - POVERTY

www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html

This site is a good starting point to learn about trends in poverty

in the United States over the past 50 years.

POVERTY AND FAMILY BUDGETS ISSUE GUIDE

www.epinet.org/content.cfm/issueguides_poverty_poverty

Economic Policy Institute's issue guide to poverty and family

budgets, with an informative FAQ, state-by-state listings of

poverty levels, and a calculator that determines the EPI's own

measur

e, the Basic Family Budget.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHILDREN IN POVERTY

(NCCP)

www

.nccp.or

The NCCP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy

organization at Columbia University. Their mission is to identify

and promote strategies that prevent child poverty in the United

States and that impr

ove the lives of low-income childr

en and

families. Look up your state in the state profiles section to find

out how families in your state ar

e doing economically

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Resources Websites

WELFARE

CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

www.cwla.org

The Child Welfare League of America is one the oldest child

advocacy organizations in the U.S. Its website provides

information on a variety of the issues introduced in

Love & Diane.

WELFARE LAW CENTER

www.welfarelaw.org

The Center works with and on behalf of low-income people to

ensure that adequate income support — public funding provided

on the basis of need — is available whenever and to the extent

necessary to meet basic needs and foster healthy human and

family development.

URBAN INSTITUTE

www.urban.org

The Urban Institute is a nonpartisan economic and social policy

research organization. Their website provides research papers

on vital national issues. You can research their publications by

topic, including Welfare and Family Well-Being issues and

Welfare / Welfare to Work issues.

Welfare / Welfare to Work

WELFARE REFORM INDICATORS

www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/faqs/faq9.htm

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of

Wisconsin, Madison, provides an answer to the question "How

will we know if welfare reform is successful?"

WELFARE INFORMATION NETWORK

www.financeprojectinfo.org/win

The Welfare Information Network is a clearinghouse for

information about all aspects of welfare programs, at local, state

and national levels.

THE FUTURE OF WELFARE: WHERE DO WE GO FROM

HERE?

www.theatlantic.com/unbound/forum/welfare/intro.htm

After the Clinton welfare reform of 1996, the Atlantic convened a

panel to discuss the prospects of the new law.

FOSTER CARE

ORGANIZATIONS

CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND

www.childrensdefense.org

The CDF has been working for America's childr

en for over 30

years. Their website provides a lot of data about the realities that

exist for childr

en in moder

n-day America. Their 25 Key Facts

About American Children includes statistics like 1 out of every 24

childr

en does not live with his or her par

ents.

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

www.childrensrights.org

By creating beneficial and lasting change in child welfare

systems, the people at Children's Rights strive to promote and

otect the right of childr

en who ar

e abused and neglected to

grow up in permanent, loving families. Read their latest report —

available for fr

ee online — entitled "T

ime Running Out: T

eens in

Foster Car

e." The study is the first qualitative look at teens living

in group and residential care in New York City.

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Resources Websites

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND

FOSTER CARE

FACT SHEET: CHILD PROTECTION/ALCOHOL AND

DRUG PARTNERSHIP LEGISLATION

www.cwla.org/advocacy/aodfactsheet.htm

Child Welfare League of America's factsheet on the Child

Protection/Alcohol and Drug Partnership Act of 2001. CWLA

describes the impact of alcohol and drug abuse on children in

the child welfare system—including foster children.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/topics/issues/substance.cfm

HHS's National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect has

a series of reports on the connection between parental

substance abuse and child welfare.

GENERAL

NEW YORK CITY ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN'S

SERVICES

www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/acs

New York City's first agency devoted solely to serving children

and their families.

GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/general/legal/statutes/sag

/gr

oundtermin.cfm

Overview of legal gr

ounds for termination of par

ental rights, with

links to state information.

PARENTING ADVICE

PBS PARENTS

www.pbs.org/parents

Special site from PBS offers expert advice for parents on a

variety of issues, including links to Mr. Rogers, The Whole Child

and Frontline. Sign up for the PBS Parents email newsletter and

keep track of upcoming PBS programs about parenting and

children.

P.O.V.: LARRY V. LOCKNEY: TALKING TO YOUR KIDS

ABOUT DRUGS

www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/larryvlockney/resources.html

Read an excerpt from the book, "Just Say Know: Talking With

Kids About Drugs and Alcohol" for tips on how to listen to teens

and empower them to make the right decisions. Also available

en español.

PARENTSOUP

www.parentsoup.com

This award-winning site has been helping parents with advice

since 1996. Read helpful articles for working mothers, including

tips for coping while juggling work and family and the Parents'

Problem-Solver.

ARENTING.ORG

www.parenting.org

A team of pr

ofessionals at the Girls and Boys T

own National

Resource and Training Center brings this helpful site to you. They

specialize in training, consulting, and r

esearching parenting

practices that help parents deal with the day-to-day care taking,

guidance, and child development.

ARENTING SKILLS: 21 TIPS AND IDEAS TO HELP

YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE

www.health.org/govpubs/PHD826

This excellent guide counsels parents on how to keep children

f drugs. It's published by SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse

for Alcohol & Drug Information.

To purchase Love & Diane

please go to www.wmm.com

Discussion Guide | Love & Diane

Now entering its 17th season on

PBS, P.O.V. is the first and

longest-running series on

television to feature the work of

America’s most innovative independent documentary storytellers.

Bringing over 200 award-winning films to millions nationwide, and now a

new Web-only series, P.O.V.’s

Borders, P.O.V. has pioneered the art of

presentation and outreach using independent non-fiction media to build

new communities in conversation about today’s most pressing social

issues.

Major funding for P.O.V. is provided by the John D. and Catherine T.

MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New

York State Council on the Arts, the Open Society Institute, the

Educational Foundation of America, PBS, and public television viewers.

Funding for

Talking Back and P.O.V.’s Borders (www.pbs.org/pov) is

provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. P.O.V. is presented

by a consortium of public television stations including KCET/Los

Angeles, WGBH/Boston, and WNET/New York. Cara Mertes is executive

director of P.O.V., a division of American Documentary, Inc.

P.O.V. Interactive

www.pbs.org/pov

P.O.V.’s award-winning Web department produces our Web-only

showcase for interactive storytelling, P.O.V.’s Borders. It also produces a

web site for every P.O.V. presentation, extending the life of P.O.V. films

through community-based and educational applications, focusing on

involving viewers in activities, information, and feedback on the issues. In

addition, www.pbs.org/pov houses our unique Talking Back feature,

filmmaker interviews and viewer resources, and information on the P.O.V.

archives as well as a myriad of special sites for previous P.O.V.

broadcasts.

American Documentary

, Inc.

www

.americandocumentary

.org

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company

dedicated to cr

eating, identifying, and pr

esenting contemporary stories

that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream

media outlets. Through two divisions,

P.O.V. and Active Voice, AmDoc is

a catalyst for public cultur

e; developing collaborative strategic

engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, on

line, and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger

action, fr

om dialogue and feedback, to educational opportunities and

community participation.

ITVS funds and presents award-winning

documentaries and dramas on public television,

innovative new media projects on the Web and

the PBS series Independent Lens. ITVS was established by an historic

mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs

that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved

audiences. Since its inception in 1991, ITVS programs have helped to

revitalize the relationship between the public and public television. ITVS

is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private

corporation funded by the American people. Contact [email protected] or

www.itvs.org.

Love & Diane was produced in association with the

Independent Television Service.

P.O.V.'s

Love & Diane is a PBS

Program Club pick. PBS Program

Clubs work like book clubs, but for TV.

Talk about Love & Diane with your

friends, family or co-workers.

Discuss what "cycle of poverty" means to you or chat about the child-

welfare system in your area. Visit www.pbs.org/pbsprogramclub to find

out how to start your own club and get tips on getting the conversation

started.

All Photos by Jennifer Dworkin

Front cover (main) and above:

Love Hinson with her son Donyaeh

Front cover (top):

(left) Love Hinson and (right) Diane Hazzard