Sesame Street to Highlight Foster Care with New Character “Karli”

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, announced today a new initiative to offer support to children, foster parents, and providers who serve foster families. The initiative features Karli, a young Sesame StreetMuppet in foster care, and her “for-now” parents, Dalia and Clem. Children in foster care often experience many transitions—from their separation from birth parents, to their placement in foster care, to many moves—and the new resources are designed to help children in crisis cope along the way.

The initiative is part of the Sesame Street in Communities program, which provides free, easy-to-use resources for community providers and caregivers on a range of topics, including tough issues like family homelessness and traumatic experiences. The free, bilingual resources released today help caregivers and providers support children as they navigate the world of foster care, and they provide simple, approachable tools to help reassure children and help them feel safer. 

“Fostering a child takes patience, resilience, and sacrifice, and we know that caring adults hold the power to buffer the effects of traumatic experiences on young children,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President of US Social Impact at Sesame Workshop. “We want foster parents and providers to hear that what they do matters—they have the enormous job of building and rebuilding family structures and children’s sense of safety. By giving the adults in children’s lives the tools they need—with help from the Sesame Street Muppets—we can help both grownups and children feel seen and heard and give them a sense of hope for the future.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Zach Hyman

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