The Art of Advocacy Gala Honorees Announced!
It’s Gala time! Art of Advocacy 2024 is just around the corner and we hope you will join us as we celebrate over 30 years of excellence in advocacy! This year, we will honor Chris Lakey, Senior Vice President of Global Creative Synch at Kobalt Music Publishing, and American Business Bank for the financial literacy work they have been doing with our clients.
More than ever, we need the support of our CLC community.
This year, we have entered a season of new budgetary challenges, and we are really feeling the strain. With the reductions in state funding, we are struggling to provide the same level of direct support to our clients, which includes things like housing support, emergency food services, school uniforms, sports equipment, musical instruments, and much more.
In order to bring our clients the support they need to thrive, we need your help!
Legislative Wins: All Five CLC Sponsored Bills Head to the Governor’s Desk!
We are thrilled to share some fantastic news with all of you! This legislative session has been an outstanding one for CLC, and we are proud to announce that all five of our sponsored pieces of legislation have successfully passed through the legislative process and are now on their way to the Governor’s desk for final approval.
Here’s a brief overview of each bill:
- AB 866 Medically Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (ASM Blanca Rubio) guarantees timely access to medication-assisted treatment for older youth in the foster care system suffering from opioid use disorder. AB 866 will address the opioid crisis among foster youth by making effective, life-saving strategies equally accessible to youth in foster care.
- AB 2664 Fair Family Reunification Timelines (ASM Isaac Bryan) provides families with child welfare cases a fair opportunity to reunify. AB 2664 will prevent counties from prematurely terminating a parent’s right to reunify with their child by clarifying that the timeline does not start until reunification services are actually ordered.
- AB 2906 Preserving Benefits for Foster Youth (ASM Isaac Bryan) requires counties to conserve Social Security survivors’ benefits received by a youth in foster care for that youth’s current and future needs, rather than using those benefits to pay for the cost of the child’s foster care placement. With AB 2906 California will join a national movement of states ending the archaic practice of recouping the costs of a child’s time in foster care through collecting their survivor’s benefits.
- AB 2929 Advancing Foster Youth Family Finding Efforts (ASM Juan Carrillo) ensures all parties involved in a child welfare case (attorneys, judicial officers) will have the information necessary to facilitate meaningful and ongoing connections between the youth and their family. AB 2929 serves as a testament to CA’s commitment to advancing the well-being of our foster youth by promoting important and stable family connections.
- SB 1197 In-home respite services (SEN Alvarado-Gil) will improve access to critical developmental services for vulnerable children and youth in the foster care system. SB 1197 will further California’s goal of providing coordinated, timely, and trauma-informed services to youth served by both child welfare & Regional Center.
These legislative achievements are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and our commitment to driving positive change in California’s child welfare system. We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who supported these initiatives, including the dedicated authors, our co-sponsors, and stakeholders.
As these bills make their way to the Governor’s desk, we need your help to ensure their successful enactment. We are currently seeking letters of support to demonstrate the widespread backing these bills have. Your support is crucial in showcasing the strong consensus behind these legislative efforts and can make a significant difference in their final approval.
Please submit your letters of support by September 6th and feel free to reach out to clcpolicyteam@clccal.org if you need any additional information or assistance.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication. Together, we are making a difference!
Goodbye Summer Law Clerks, Hello Post Bar Fellows!
CLC is waving goodbye to the 2024 class of law clerks as we also welcome six new 2024 post bar fellows!
CLC’s “Summer for Strengthening Families” summer law clerk program is available to currently enrolled law students at all experience levels (rising 2L, 3L, and evening years). During the ten-week summer term, summer law clerks are matched with an attorney and work on all aspects of client representation, including case review, client interviewing, and appearing on the record for those who are eligible for the California State Bar’s Practical Training of Law Students (“PTLS”) certified law clerk program.
“I just finished my Summer clerkship with Children’s Law Center last week and it was an experience I will always look fondly on,” said Samantha Nichol, who thanked her supervisors Grecia Macias and Kaveh Landsverk for fostering an amazing learning environment and trusting her to take the lead on projects. “I was placed on a specialized team that represented non-minor dependents and parenting youth in care. The parenting youth in care team worked tirelessly to stop the cycle between becoming a dependent and losing their children to the system. Dependency law is not often spotlighted, I feel so honored to have been able to learn about this area of law while being a part of a team that allowed me to view the system from every angle.”
Now staff will welcome six new people around the office. CLC’s Post-Bar Law Clerk program is available to recent law school graduates who plan to take the first offering of the California Bar Examination available to them after completing law school. The Post-Bar Law Clerk program is available to takers of the July exam and is 14 weeks in duration, from August to November. Clerks in the Post-Bar program are paid a pro-rated salary and provided benefits.
For more information, please email clerkships@clccal.org.
CLC Staff Share Expertise at NACC Conference
CLC staff took center stage at the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) Conference in vibrant Salt Lake City, and we’re proud to report that our team truly shined!
Our recruitment team had an invigorating time connecting with a diverse group of professionals, sharing insights about the outstanding work of our attorneys and investigators. Their enthusiasm was contagious as they highlighted the impactful cases we handle and encouraged talented individuals to consider joining our dedicated team. The energy and excitement at the conference underscored the importance of our mission and the opportunity for growth within our organization.
In addition to making valuable connections, our advocacy experts played a pivotal role in shaping the conference discussions. They contributed their expertise to several key panels and sessions, including:
“My Crown and My Glory: What Advocates Should Know About the Significance of Hair to Black Youth”
This session delved into the cultural and emotional significance of hair for Black youth, emphasizing how advocates can better support and understand their clients’ experiences.
“Rethinking Termination of Parental Rights: Mitigating Unintended Harm”
Attorneys and lived experience experts engaged in a critical discussion on the complexities surrounding the termination of parental rights, exploring new perspectives and strategies to navigate this challenging aspect of child welfare law.
“Unlikely Accomplices: Making Friends and Influencing People to Promote Legislative Reforms”
This panel highlighted the art of building alliances and influencing stakeholders to drive meaningful legislative changes, showcasing how their collaboration advanced policy plans that positively impacted families involved in the system, even if their overarching goals or reasoning diverged.
“How Hands-On Lawyering Can Advance Your Current Legal Theory and Better Prepare Transition Age Youth for Adulthood”
This session focused on the benefits of practical, hands-on legal work in advancing legal theories and preparing youth for successful transitions into adulthood, reflecting our commitment to impactful, client-centered legal practice.
The conference was an invaluable opportunity for our staff to showcase their expertise, exchange ideas with peers, and strengthen our presence in the field. We are grateful for their hard work and dedication, which continues to elevate our organization and further our mission.
Thank you to everyone who participated and supported our efforts at the NACC Conference. We look forward to leveraging the insights gained and the connections made to continue advancing our work and making a positive difference in the lives of our clients and their families.
DEIB Network Holds First Meeting!
CLC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Network had its first meeting in August!
This network will work to connect key DEIB groups and stakeholders in not only their individual work but also our collective goals and support for DEIB work within CLC.
The team strives to provide collaboration, coordination, and support for the network so that they can continue to provide resources and care for both employees and clients.
Thanks to the CLC DEI team Phyllis Stricklan, Caprial Koe and Ashley Spann for creating and nurturing the network.
