Jen Lilley – The Dark Truth About the American Foster Care System | SRS #314
Jen Lilley is an actress, singer, author, and foster care advocate best known for her roles on Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, and numerous Hallmark Channel films. Alongside her husband, Jen has dedicated much of her life to serving vulnerable children through foster care and adoption, fostering multiple children and adopting through the foster system. Drawing from her firsthand experience, she has become a passionate advocate for foster care awareness, family support, and child welfare reform. In 2026, she co-authored Called to Foster?: An Honest Guide to Getting Started, a practical resource designed to help families navigate the foster care journey and better understand the needs of children in care.
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00:00 Welcome and Introduction
12:10 Predators in the System
25:09 Reunification Goals & Challenges
37:37 Foster Home Rules & Boundaries
49:16 Foster Parent Support Networks
01:01:19 Bystander Effect & Reunification
01:13:44 Politics & Bureaucracy
01:26:21 Adoption Loopholes & Exploitation
01:42:18 Missing Kids & Hidden Placements
01:53:00 Bureaucracy vs Prevention
02:12:23 How to Help Right Now
02:24:56 How Fostering Changes Families
02:35:19 Adoption Trauma & Bio Parent Contact
02:44:37 Fostering Futures Act
02:57:56 Call to Action & Prayer
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I’m sure the government gets kick backs for every child that gets fostered, so they’re going to make it easy, they don’t care what happens to our children but I tell you who does. He says to watch over the orphan and to suffer the little children unto Me. One day they will stand before God and give an account. Justice will be served.
Damn she’s giving erik kirk 😂
Shawn, since protecting children is your passion please help reopen 11 yr old Jacob Wetterling’s case in MN. No statute of limitations on suppressed kidnap/murder evidence. The “official” story in national media for 26+ yrs is lies. Patsy in prison. Suppressed evidence/eye witnesses here in Stearns County MN indicates Jerry Wetterling–Jacob’s adoptive father–was and may still be in child porn ring/ritual cult in this area that went up into Milltown WI. They were bringing in child porn from CA. They had Jacob kidnapped not by guy presently in prison but by cult member Lou Kohls and the Bahner brothers and then held in a cold granite quarry here in Waite Park until halloween and then ritually sacrificed with knives. Eye witness cult member on tape names the father at ritual. Patty Wetterling the mother is “protector” of her husband’s cult. All of America is deceived by this coverup. All of America was looking for Jacob. Time to expose what really happened to Jacob so it doesn’t happen to other children. Children used in child porn/cult rituals.
My wife and I did foster care in a group home licensed for 22. For 5- 1/2 years in the late 80’s early 90’s. Hardest work we have ever done. We adopted a sibling group of 3. I think it was hard on my 2 biological sons. Sad stories of their home life before foster care and an occasional sad story of them being in foster care. Some terrible stories were told as if they were telling me about their day at school.
I have watched your show for years now, Shawn. I have come to the ultimate conclusion that our main issue is our members of Congress. We need a grassroots movement to educate our communities, fund the elections of new members, and force them to pass the purposed limit term bill.
Any organization that profits off of foster children or the foster system is not a “great organization” the idea is that you help these kids. Take the profits away, take the money out of it and watch the system change. These kids need HELP. They’re not there to line your pockets. Treating children and the foster system like a profit center is wrong.
I don’t think make it hard to foster help , what must help is to follow up all cases visits etc , not make difficult to foster
Shawn – Contact JJ CARRELL ( Retired Border Patrol agent. He knows there are 300,000 to 500,000 children & babies who were trafficked into our border DURING BIDEN.
JJ CARRELL knows it all. He’s here on YT
This is what powerful feminity looks like. Feminists take some notes!
And most people don’t know Jacob Wetterling was “adopted” by Jerry Wetterling. But Patty, Jacob’s mother conceived Jacob by another man and Jerry Wetterling legally adopted him. Those reccords are sealed. But local people know the history. Jacob’s biological father came from CA to St. Joseph MN when Jacob was first kidnapped to engage in search. It was in newspapers. Then wasn’t involved in the following 26 yrs of search. Jacob Wetterling coverup needs to be exposed for the child porn ring/ritual cult it was and probably still is. And Jacob’s case reopened.
Finally!!! Foster care facilities
vital in whats going on in todays world. All connected hospitals immigration dark dark
i’ve talked about this enough to know how hard it can be to hear and converse about. its gotten to a point where i’ve almost given up. talking about stuff as a man puts a mark on you sometimes. and the guilty out there will make the ones speaking truth look guilty because if they are blamed for what the guilty are doing then people will be complacent and thing the problem is solved with it is in fact hiding better than ever.
on behalf of the 21st chief chaplain of the United States army thank you.
Wow is she annoying
I can’t be the only one who thought they’d like thisbguest for exposing a serious problem, but ended up disliking her. A bad spokesperson for a good cause can still be a good thing, but she sucks.
She brags about reporting a biological mom for grabbing her kid as he was about to stick a fork in an outlet, complains about abuse but talks glowingly about her gay friend who fosters kids, and confidently talks about forcing a foster son onto psychiatric meds even though she said he’s fine at home.
If this is what the best kind of foster parent is like, the system is way worse than they say it is.
You didn’t give her a Sig?
Good topic! Dark indeed but necessary to discuss. The slogan “A Home for Every Child” sounds like Bush administration “No Child Left Behind” and what did that do to our public education system?…
You should have jamie walden on.
Take into consideration how many children simply disappear out of fc. How many testimonies talking about sra children that came from fc and how many parents out their fighting for their children. Fostercare is for money. They get paid per child and case workers get incentives. Just like ice facilities and prisons. All independent corporate owned …..for money. They feed sra, and adrenachrome business
My wife and I decided to become foster parents this year and so far have had 6 kids in our care. The system is so messed up and the children’s needs do not seem to come first most of the time. OCOK, CASA and the kids reps are so hit or miss. Most foster parents quit their first year and based on our experience with the system (not the kids) I see why so many good foster parents quit. My wife and I however are just digging in more and refuse to quit.
X case workers will tell you about the lies they are trained to tell the courts
My husband and I adopted three kids from DCF. We actually had a very pleasant experience working with them. These kids absolutely should have been removed from the care of their parents and the kids were fortunate enough to have only spent one year in foster care and they were with the same family for the entire year (before moving in with us).
Hit the like guys help this move out
I was a foster parent for 4 years and I won’t do it again; pathetic organization.
Christian Bale has a huge Foster home is Southern California.
SRS Foster Care program! I’d work there ❤️🩹 step one I imagine is a DCS level background check…
My daughter is going through hell with the DHS within our state. It’s so bad that the courts haven’t known what to do for going on 3 years now. My daughter’s whole family needs therapy. It’s extremely frustrating and heartbreaking
1:20 so they are better off staying with their bio parents. ( supposedly unfit parents)… smh
Ty for being such a great advocate i work in the CFS system and we need ALLL THE HELP and OUTREACH WE CAN GET!! THE NUMBERS ARE GETTING MUCH LARGER THAN WHAT PEOPLE HAVE ANY
CLUE ABOUT🎉🎉🎉🎉
People need to join together, join the dots, get the receipts and take down these bad actors in these organizations ‼️Child protection is clearly and unapologetically the paramount issue here⁉️
The family court should be abolished !! No justice for men and the Children end up abused in the name of “protection”
Big sister and Big Brother is messed up*
I’m a single foster mom and adopted my youngest 2 kiddos through foster care……I’m so scared to watch this all the way through. My heart breaks for ANY child that may be abused in ANY way. Thank you for having this conversation. We need more good foster parents!
Such dramatics. Love the topic but she could’ve put her acting skills away.
Epstein told Peter Theil he worked for the Rothschilds. Epstein taped everything. Where are the videos? Prosecute every adult caught with a minor in Epstein’s home. Its undeniable evidence.
In an interview, Bondi stated: “There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn”.
This woman may have needed a walk through or something because wow this is so tough to listen to.
Americans tolerates this, says all you need to know about the US.
Mr. Shawn Ryan, you are doing God’s work. I can’t express my gratitude in words. May you have the longest & healthiest life & keep doing what you’re doing. 🙏
I was never put into foster care. I was in protective custody till I was adopted at 2 years old. I lived with a foster home from 8months until I was officially adopted 9/11/1987 . Yep Sept 11th has always been special for my family
Im totally down for good foster care, but I do not like this woman. She’s fake af.
Keep the gay’s from adopting or fostering!
Thank you for covering this Shawn. What a heavy episode.
I dont really like the way this lady talks, she has a subtle arrogance that is off putting
Shawn bringing to light all these horrible situations in America and our government is sending billions to isreal, Argentina and now Iran. WTF.
Thank you so much for this show. It’s the kids just breaks my heart It’s no suprise to me that the kids are your passion.
My first 2 kids I had when I was young were in foster care with my parents btw not a stranger and as I do have custody of my children now that I’ve currently had within my marriage, social workers did take my kids away and remove my rights and my parents did adopt them with my first two and I’m telling you I was not so terrible that they should’ve been removed. Granted I’m doing way better now in my walk with Jesus, I’m married, home owner etc. when I was 19 and 20 I didn’t have all of this but I was not abusive ever, I did not neglect my kids although they said I did because their dad had issues and we all lived together. He was also not abusive, he did fail one drug test and that was it.. No other issues .they were removed. I know you’re going to think I must be leaving something out, I’m not. Some of those social workers are completely out of line and are happy to take kids away instead of help the parents. I’ve actually heard social workers say that they aren’t interested in helping the parents (or the kids for that matter I guess). CPS has put such a disgusting taste in my mouth, and then I see the cases where the kids absolutely should’ve been removed but were not and ended up dying. This CPS part of the government is hurting our children and eating up our social security money. They are completely irresponsible and malicious. Of course there are a few good ones but the system is so broken and backwards that even the good ones can’t help anybody. Although I am grateful for the good people doing foster work I wish this system would disappear and do everyone a favor.
A few years ago when I found Shawn and heard his CV, I thought for sure he’s a ‘fed’, propaganda puppet…I no longer identify with that school of thought. Shawn is on the right side of this battle. Sending you and your family and staff prayers for Many blessings 🙏🏼
I think the concentration should be on CHANGING LAWS. Otherwise nothing will fundamentally change.
Shawn, I wish you’d have started this one with a prayer brother 🙏 Thank you for discussing this. There are loads of good people who were unaware. Thank you for being present Jen. Godspeed 💪💪💪🙏
Main issue with saying “the church” is that among the protestant and evangical faiths there is no one unified church to help coordinate but rather smaller disparate congregations that do not have the resources to coordinate on a larger scale. Really is an issue of western Protestant society that is focused on rugged individualism and “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality so then it falls on overachieving Christian families to try to help but they are limited. This is what happens when you go away from the larger church organizations and try to strict out faith and community on your own as has happen in the US since it’s conception.
Its been a minute since wathin a video has made me cry. I really want to help children but I don’t even know where to start. Maybe they will say….