Staff Recommendations – November 2021

This month’s picks include a TV series going viral, a community conversation tying back to one of our October staff recommendations, and one of the rawest and impactful documentaries our staff has ever seen. We hope that they motivate you to join us in working towards a better community for children and families.

TV Series Pick – Maid on Netflix

Recommended first by Finance and Program Director, Corrine Cavaliere, this limited TV series quickly grasped the attention of our entire staff. The series, based on Stephanie Land’s memoir of the same name, tells her story of escaping an emotionally abusive relationship with her daughter and $18 in her bank account. Land’s character, known in the show as Alex, struggles through the all-too-real and confusing world of the juvenile court system, domestic violence shelters, and government assistance, all in seeking a better life for her and her young daughter. MAID is an amazing story of a mother’s love and determination to overcome insurmountable odds. The series recently became Netflix’s most-watched miniseries.


Community Conversation Pick – Oprah Winfrey + Dr. Nadine Burke Harris on ACES

The legendary Oprah Winfrey joins one of CASA’s favorite ACEs expert, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, to discuss Oprah’s book What Happened to You written in collaboration with Dr. Bruce Perry and recommended last month in our CASA Chronicle. Staff member Ashleigh Conrad recommends this 15-minute discussion for those of us working towards making ACEs more familiar in our communities. Dr. Burke Harris shares how she has worked to bring ACEs to the forefront of public health in her role as California’s first Surgeon General while Oprah shares an impactful new way to look at the effects of trauma by reframing the question “what is wrong with you” to “what happened to you.”


Documentary Pick – Jacinta on Hulu

Labeled a “must watch” by Executive Director Darcy Hubbard, Jacinta is a gripping new documentary examining the intersection of substance abuse, recovery, the corrections system, and familial ties. Beginning in the Maine Correctional System, we are introduced to Jacinta, a young woman incarcerated with her own mother. Filmed over three years, the film follows Jacinta’s release from prison, reunification with her family including her own daughter, and her subsequent struggle in maintaining sobriety. The generational storytelling between Jacinta, her mother, and her daughter is deeply intimate and shows the effects of how trauma can impact a family for multiple generations.