Actor Christian Bale Launches Project to Keep Foster Siblings Together
Actor Christian Bale has broken ground on a project he has envisioned for 16 years – the building of several houses and a community center intended to keep foster care siblings together.
The Oscar-winning actor who played Batman in the “Dark Knight” movie trilogy stood alongside local officials last week in Palmdale, a community about 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, as they celebrated the new village's construction.
Even though he was born in Britain, Bale, 50, has lived in Southern California since the 1990s. Around 2008, he had the idea to build such a community after learning about the huge number of foster children in Los Angeles County, and finding out how many brothers and sisters get separated by the system.
"I was stunned and mad to learn that we have more foster kids here than anywhere else in the country. I was also kicking myself for not knowing that before. So I thought, 'Well, this is it. Let's focus on this,'" Bale told The Hollywood Reporter (THR). "My wife and I decided that we were going to do everything we could in our power to change that."
At first, he thought getting the community built for foster kids wouldn't take that long.
“I had a very naive idea about kind of getting a piece of land and then, bringing kids in and the brothers and sisters living together and sort of singing songs like the Von Trapp family in ‘The Sound of Music’," Bale said.
But he then learned, "It's way more complex. These are people’s lives. And we need to be able to have them land on their feet when they age out. There’s so much involved in this.”
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Bale visited Chicago and spent several days in children and family services meetings. He recruited Tim McCormick, who had set up a similar program, to head the organization that became known as Together California, a group Bale would co-found with UCLA doctor Eric Esrailian, a producer on one of his films.
"He said we've got to do this in California," McCormick said. "To his credit, through all sorts of challenges, COVID and everything else, he never gave up."
The men eventually found a sympathetic leader in LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. In Palmdale, a semi-rural city of about 165,000 people, they found a city with both a need and a willingness to take part.
The 12 homes, anchored by the community center, are set to be finished in April of 2025.
"With our Together California model, {the village} is something absolutely new, totally transformative, and something completely needed. Imagine the absolute pain and trauma of losing your parents or being torn from your parents, and then losing your brothers and sisters on top of that. That's no way to treat kids," Bale told THR.
"And so, we will be the hub for that. I hope that this village will be the first of many, and I hope that people, Californians, and Angelenos, know to come join us in opening our eyes to what's happening right under our noses. These are our children, and we must help our children."
Bale, who began acting as a child in films including Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and the Disney musical Newsies, won an Oscar for best supporting actor for 2010's The Fighter.
According to 2021 data, roughly 391,000 children are in foster care, according to usafacts.org.
The website reports the U.S. foster system serves more than 600,000 kids annually with West Virginia, Alaska, and Montana having the highest rates.
Foster Care Battle Taking Place on Another Front
Meanwhile, a proposed Biden administration policy change may prevent foster children from being placed in the homes of Christians.
The new rule would disallow the placement of children into the homes of foster parents who oppose the transgender agenda and LGBTQ ideologies.
The policy was announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in September and requires caregivers to undergo "cultural competency" training to ensure that minors are placed in homes accepting of LGBTQ identities.
In December, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act to protect faith-based agencies holding onto their religious beliefs.
"Faith-based organizations have always played an extraordinary role in caring for our nation's most vulnerable children. Millions of Americans are better off today because of their noble work," Rep. Kelly said. "Since coming into office, President Biden has discriminated against these faith-based providers because of their deeply held religious beliefs. I'm proud to work with Senator Tim Scott on this commonsense legislation to protect faith-based organizations who are simply seeking a level playing field to help those in need."
