Rosie O'Donnell has signed on to star in and executive produce a new Lifetime original move, America, about problems in the foster care system.
O'Donnell optioned the rights to the E.R. Frank novel of the same name in 2002, according to Lifetime, and is hoping the movie can help raise consciousness about the need for reforming the foster care system.
America will be produced by The Sanitsky Company in association with Sony Pictures Television. It stars O'Donnell as a psychiatrist who helps a bi-racial teenager, America, deal with his life of abandonment and sexual abuse as he is "shuffled through" the healthcare system.
The announcement comes a day after Lifetime President Andrea Wong was given an award from The Media Institute in Washington in part for Lifetime's commitment to pro-social programming and campaigns for everything from spousal abuse to breast cancer awareness.
