Hawai‘i Child & Family Service to Be Profiled on ‘The Visionaries’

Child and Family Service (CFS) will be profiled on The Visionaries, the award-winning public television series hosted by acclaimed actor Sam Waterston of HBO’s The Newsroom and Grace and Frankie, and formerly of Law & Order.

The CFS episode will air on PBS Hawaii on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019, at 4:30 p.m.

Distributed through an ACCESS offer through National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), this season of The Visionaries began airing on PBS stations nationally in April 2019.

Visionaries includes 12 half-hour episodes that take viewers around the world to experience the lives of extraordinary people tackling some of humanity’s toughest challenges. These are timely stories that address issues from the front page of today’s newspaper—mental health, income disparity, global sustainability, social innovation and more.

“Our goal as a community-based organization is to do the best job we can for the communities we serve, and Visionaries is helping us tell that story,” said Child and Family Service President and Chief Executive Officer Karen Tan. “It was an honor for CFS to be chosen by Visionaries as an organization to feature this season. We are proud that Visionaries recognized our trauma-informed care programs are making such a positive impact with measurable results in Hawai‘i communities.”

“CFS is one of the most extraordinary organizations Visionaries has profiled,” said Visionaries Founder and Executive Producer Bill Mosher. “We recognize that having a deep, profound desire to have a positive impact is a great and wonderful thing. But, it’s equally important that you have a sophisticated system to measure success. What drew us to CFS is all they have been able to do with data to measure their programs to ensure they are delivering quality, impactful services to their participants. We hope this episode of Visionaries showcases what can be done to lift people out of poverty through meaningful social services.”

Now in its 23rd season, The Visionaries will highlight such topics as poverty by showing the work of CFS. Selected from hundreds of applicants, Child and Family Service has been a cornerstone of communities in Hawaii for 120 years. CFS is a family-centered, community-based organization that works to strengthen families and foster the healthy development of children. Through data informed programs and a practice of trauma-informed care, CFS addresses some of life’s most serious situations including poverty, abuse and neglect.

“I believe that the central idea of The Visionaries—doing what you can about huge, intractable problems—is an idea worth encouraging,” said Waterston.

“Viewers will be astounded to discover people just like them who are changing the world in ways they can replicate in their own cities and towns,” added Mosher. “That is the really exciting thing—we are spreading positive solutions across the country.”

About Child and Family Service

Child and Family Service (CFS) is a family-centered, full-service nonprofit that has been at work in the community since 1899, and is dedicated to strengthening families and fostering the healthy development of children.Through nearly 50 programs that welcome everyone from keiki to kūpuna across the Islands, CFS helps Hawai‘i families address some of life’s most serious situations including poverty, abuse, and neglect. CFS proves its effectiveness with data and results; from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, CFS provided direct services, to 15,798 individuals and touched another 75,000 lives through phone calls, referrals, educational presentations, and by providing for those visiting walk-in family centers. For more information, visit www.childandfamilyservice.org.

About The Visionaries

The Visionaries documentary series, hosted by acclaimed actor Sam Waterston, highlights the rarely told stories of individuals and non-profit organizations that are working to create positive social change throughout the world. Visionaries is the winner of several Telly Awards and an Emmy nomination for Best Documentary. It has produced over 220 documentaries for its nationally broadcast public television series, The Visionaries, which is currently airing its 22nd season. For more information, visit www.visionaries.org.