Thompson on Hollywood, a blog on the latest movie news, movie reviews and Oscar predictions, posted a blog this week entitled “Why Shocking ‘Kids for Cash’ is the best Oscar doc contender you haven’t seen.”
Blog-writer Ryan Lattanzio’s informative piece focuses on why Kids for Cash may not be getting the attention it deserves. He discussed how this real-life crime story that examines the Luzerne County judges scandal will “scare the wits out of anyone worried about how institutional neglect is affecting our kids.”
Lattanzio interviewed film-maker Robert May, who felt that one of the problems with lack of audience may be that because the scandal broke in 2009, making international news at the time, and the documentary was not released until earlier this year, five years after news of the scandal, the story already had it’s news cycle.
May also felt that there is a lot of fear out there when stories like this involve children. People may not want to believe that things like this are happening in their own hometowns, or that they could possibly happen to their own children. This is a movie that will make some people feel very uncomfortable, and some may just not want to see it, because they don’t want to experience the effect the film is having on those who do.
According to May, there have been judges, prosecutors and government officials who have screened the film on Capital Hill, some of whom have been moved to tears after viewing, because of the profound effect it has on those individuals.
May and his producing partner, Lauren Timmons, worked on editing more than 600 hours of footage taken over a four-year period into a 2-hour documentary. They covered the scandal from its early days until the incarceration of those judges involved. Most importantly, Kids for Cash focused on the real life stories of several of the children involved, showing the reality of how it affected their lives not only at the time, but also today. It is these candid testimonials from emotional children that can bring an audience member to tears.
Read Ryan Lattanzio’s full blog.
If you are interested in seeing Kids for Cash, but were not able to see it in theaters, it is currently available On-Line and On-Demand at iTunes, Vudu, Amazon instant video, Comcast, Google Play, Play Station Store and XBOX 360. The Kids for Cash DVD will be released on December 2, 2014. It can be pre-ordered now on the Kids for Cash Website.
Kids For Cash 
I am one of those kids, now grown except it wasn’t in PA. Who gives me my childhood back? Don’t touch the Children or they will grow and touch you….
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Can someone please help me, I was involved in the Kids for Cash scandal. In 2013 I was supposed to get a check for $14,000 but they lawyer firm sent in to my old address which is where my dad lives. He kept my check from me for 14 months and no one will give me a new one. I was locked up for 3 years I am entitled to this money ans they refuse to give it to me.
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I am writing you in regards to “small town corruption” that has taken place in Family Court and Dept. of Child based services in Christian County, KY. My husband and I were both Charged with Heinous counts of Incest and for Facilitation, all brought on by False Allegations. We were arrested because investigation was incomplete and we do understand that is possible since KY is a Commonwealth State. Here is the thing we were both served with a “NO TRUE BILL” and after 3 wks of being released we kept contacting the DCBS to go through there process to have our children returned and once at wk 3 I was finally able to make contact with case worker. My children, both girls, and ages 5 and 2 have been in my mothers care since I allowed them to go to Grandma’s for the summer. Since, 3 wks into visiting Grandma my mother took my children to the local hospital with allegations of Penetration in front and back on both girls. The state ran with it. That isn’t the bad part,my 5yr old father came in from California and was able to leave with her back to California, this was while my husband and I were still incarcerated. While my 5yr old was in his care, my 5 yr old proceeded with information that Grandma would hit her with a stick to get her to say that her stepdad “Touched her here” while pointing the stick at her private areas. Her father made complaints to the case worker and the Det. whom the Criminal charges stemmed from. No one has listened. Now fast forward 3 months later, my husband and I were just in court yesterday and was informed that my ex has 5 days to return my 5yr old to the state of KY or could have a warrant issued on him and that my 5yr old is going back to the Grandma’s. I have been told from the Prosecutor, whom I should also add is the same prosecutor in our criminal charges and would have burned us at the stake, is also the same prosecutor in our Family Court Proceedings. This Prosecutor, Lindsay Adams says he cannot adjudicate our case and make a determination until Paternity is established through his courts. I have heard lies come out of his mouth. I have been told, “We are leaving this case up to the Judge, since Family Court holds a Higher Standard than Felony Court does.” I have been told that my mother-in-law whom has no criminal record, owns her own business, and lives very well, “We cannot place the kids into your care because you live in Florida”, and “the best we can do is put these girls into Foster Care”. My husband and I almost lost our lives and Freedom. We still remain innocent and our children are the ultimate victims in this and there is a complete miss justice here. Also it should be noted that our Court Appointed Attorneys still have not been given and Paperwork regarding any of the states “reasons”. It should be further noted that these officials are work together and have been deemed supporters of the “State Funded Foster/Adoption care system”. They must be stopped!
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Kids are the greatest resource we have on this planet to build a better future. They are born with fantastic possibilities into a world that, by and large, does not recognize the gift that each child brings into the world.
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I watched this movie and was so moved by it. Every parent should watch the movie and discuss this with their kids. I see the Judge C and remember him saying that parents do not know how to parent and that is why he put the kids away to do the parents job. Poor excuse for ruing kids lives. I think how can a 13 year old be held accountable at that age like an adult and look at Judge C, a 60 year old man who also made a bad choice.
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Please, make a movie about this tragedy in Sweden:http://mabpsyndrom.com/scandalous-role-of-karolinska-institute/
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I had been interested in the “Kids For Cash” case as it was presented online — a fairly straightforward story, if appalling. I just finished watching the movie on Netflix; it took me nearly a week because I simply could not watch it straight through. Not only is it a far more complex case than I thought, it’s truly heartbreaking. How could anyone honestly believe that the proper response to kids being kids is to imprison them? How could any government honestly believe that for-profit prisons were a good idea? While I have no children and no experience with the so-called justice system (thank God) I am deeply concerned with social justice, so the next question has to be: “What can we do to repair a deliberately destroyed system?
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Any idea of when can we expect to see the film on the Australian iTunes store?
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