The Art of Advocacy is right around the corner and tickets are now available for purchase! The evening promises to be a night of delicious food, fun and inspiring words from our honorees and staff. This year, we are thrilled to be honoring Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as our Champion Award recipient! Throughout her career in public service, Mayor Bass has been a dedicated advocate for children and families impacted by the child welfare system. Longtime board member and CLC ambassador, Joseph D. Mandel, will also be recognized as our Founder Award recipient for all he has done for CLC and the youth we serve. Our Community Hero Award will be presented to Jenny Sheets, a dedicated Uplift with a Gift supporter who has brought immeasurable joy to children during the holiday season.
The evening will be a festive event under the stars, led by our Master of Ceremonies, Angela Gibbs, talented actress and longtime friend to CLC. Angela stars in the hit ABC show, “Not Dead Yet,” and starred in such shows such as “SWAT” and “On My Block.”
We hope you can join us! If you cannot attend, please consider making an in-kind or monetary donation. All proceeds from the Art of Advocacy Gala will go towards supporting the over 25,000 children and youth we serve in the California foster care system.
NACC’s 46th National Child Welfare Law Conference Recap
CLC was thrilled to join the top leaders in child welfare law from across the country for the 46th National Child Welfare Law Conference. This year’s theme focused on From Learning to Action: Shared Accountability for Disrupting Harm and Promoting Healing.
Our CLC team was well represented in Minneapolis, with multiple speakers and presentations. In addition, we were honored to be on hand to see our very own Kaveh receive the Outstanding New Lawyer award.
Congratulations to CLC presenters Brenda C. Robinson and Luciana Svidler. Brenda presented on two topics. Her first presentation was on racial disparity in child welfare and the ABA’s response through the passage of Resolution 606. The second presentation was on promoting success for children of incarcerated parents. Luciana also presented on abortion and gender affirming care.
Staff Spotlight: Kaveh Landsverk
Last month, the National Association of Counsel for Children hosted the 46th Annual Child Welfare Conference. We are thrilled to share that CLC Attorney Kaveh Landsverk was the recipient of the Outstanding New Lawyer Award!
No one knows better than CLC just how deserving Kaveh is of this award. Kaveh spearheads CLC’s Pre-Filing Intervention program, which works with our expectant and/or parenting clients who are at risk of losing their own children to the child welfare system. He and his incredible team have prevented countless children from experiencing intergenerational system involvement and the painful challenges of family separation. Please join us in congratulating Kaveh on this accomplishment!
Family Support and Advocacy Center Update
The Family Support and Advocacy Center is continuing to break the foster care cycle.
CLC’s FSAC team is hard at work identifying former clients and their children who might be at-risk of entering the child welfare system. One recent client, Marilynn, was supported by the FSAC team in accessing tools and resources to help her navigate an investigation by the Department of Children and Family Services. Thanks to the diligent efforts of the FSAC team, Marilynn’s child was not removed from her home and they were able to relocate. Read Marilynn’s testimonial below:
“The Family Support and Advocacy Center helped my small family with legal advice and got our DCFS case closed. Christopher Fry and Maria were super supportive, friendly, and consistently checked in on me to see how they can help with finding resources or even directing me in the right direction. They gave me updates consistently throughout the duration of working through my DCFS investigation and helped put my mind at ease. I would recommend FSAC to any family in need of support because they are great team.” -Marilynn F.
