Children’s Law Center of California (CLC) provides skilled legal representation for abused, neglected, or abandoned children and youth under the jurisdiction of the dependency court. CLC is the largest children’s legal services organization in the nation, advocating for nearly 25,000 children and youth in foster care in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Placer counties each year. 

CLC’s highly skilled, passionate and committed staff fight to ensure the well-being and future success of our clients through legal representation, multidisciplinary advocacy, and public policy. We seek the best possible long-term outcomes for every child. We believe that every child should be treated with dignity and have the ability to fully participate in the court process. We hold true to the ideal that every child deserves loving and permanent relationships.  

We are a powerful voice for our clients. In addition to our work on behalf of individual clients, CLC is proud to be a driving force in local, statewide, and national policy change and child welfare system reform. We strive to fundamentally improve the child welfare system and its impact on children and youth across the country.   

History 

Founded in 1990, CLC currently employs a highly trained staff of nearly 500, including attorneys, investigators, paralegals, subject matter specialists, and support staff. We provide multidisciplinary representation to clients age 0-21 in the hope that our advocacy will help them find safety, security, and a bright future.  

Our attorneys serve all of Los Angeles County, as court-appointed counsel for every child and youth with a child welfare case in either the Monterey Park and Lancaster dependency courtrooms. In 2011, CLC opened our doors in Sacramento to represent the foster children of Sacramento County, and as of 2016, we represent children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned in Placer County as well.