ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
Charged with physically and permanently terminating parental rights for the state, a harried family therapist has a come-to-Jesus moment with a family he‘ll never forget.

SYNOPSIS
NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE is about a family fighting against a system that seems designed to tear them apart. Anyone who has ever struggled with the Child Welfare system in the United States knows how extremely hard it is to be poor and a person of color. The process is dysfunctional and hopelessly bureaucratic. Overloaded agencies, a legal system in disarray, and family court bias that adjudicates poor families too strictly. Once encountered, the system is very difficult for a family to legally escape. Many call it “the loop.”

A black family caught in “the loop” experiences a different judgment scale entirely. When an average American family is disrupted by general misfortune or stresses of various kinds, they don’t usually expect to have their lives upended by the state. Such blows do not necessarily diminish the ability of a family to continue. But unfair judgments and bias against minority families caught in perpetual conflict with ACS have resulted in 200,000+ Black and Brown children flooding the foster care system nationwide. While claiming the need to “protect children” family court seems designed to tear poor black families apart.

This dysfunction must be shone for what it is—institutional racism.

NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE details the final moments when a mother must part with her children forever only to find that her children aren't willing to give up on her. It's based on lots of people's true stories.

PROJECT TYPE Narrative Short

DIRECTOR Christopher Grant
PRODUCER Christopher Grant