Flowers are blooming, and spring is officially here! The new season marks the start of the California legislative process and the Big Day of Giving! Check out the highlights from the past month in our March Newsletter.
Spring Into Action
Flowers are blooming, and spring is officially here! The new season offers new opportunities for growth and change. CLC is always looking for new ways to strengthen families and promote the well-being of children. We all have a role to play in supporting communities where children can flourish!
Each April, we recognize the importance of families and communities through National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This year’s theme is “Thriving Children and Families: Prevention with Purpose.” Rather than just raising awareness, we can treat the root causes of maltreatment and promote protective factors that allow children and families to flourish by committing to purposeful action. To find resources and more, visit The Children’s Bureau website.
In addition, spring marks the start of the California legislative process and Big Day of Giving! As CLC shifts its focus to Sacramento and our vital policy advocacy on behalf of children and families, please look below to discover more about our slate of sponsored and co-sponsored bills and learn how to support our work.
Meet Our Plant With Purpose Host
Courtney DempseyCLC is thrilled to share that our friend, Courtney Dempsey, will join us for our Big Day of Giving kick-off event, Plant with Purpose, on Tuesday, May 3rd! Courtney is a well-loved news anchor on Good Day Sacramento who has covered CLC’s important work in past years. We are grateful for Courtney and her continued support of CLC, our clients, and our mission. Plant with Purpose will include a relaxing evening of wine, delicious food, music, and an opportunity to hear about CLC’s work with children and youth in foster care. Learn more about our host and how you can get tickets to Plant with Purpose here.
Donor Spotlight: BDOG Supporters
In honor of the Big Day of Giving (BDOG), CLC would like to celebrate and highlight our business partners in the Sacramento region that believe in our essential work.
This year, our friends at Interwest and Signal 88 are supporting our BDOG efforts by signing up to be event sponsors! You can also become an event sponsor or donor clicking the link below! Every donation made on BDOG will go to our client needs fund, which provides direct support to address the unmet needs of our young clients – such as educational costs, emergency food, housing, clothing, and more. Thank you, Interwest, Signal 88, and all our in-kind sponsors for supporting our child clients in the Sacramento foster care system!
We are grateful to this year’s sponsors and in-kind donors:
Staff Spotlight: Jasmin Martinez
Jasmin Martinez is a dedicated CARE Social Work Investigator in Los Angeles. During her tenure at CLC, Jasmin has shown an impressive talent for building rapport with her young clients. She believes the keys to her success have been patience, consistency, and commitment.
Jasmin’s persistence and steadfast commitment to her clients were recently on full display. Jasmin took the initiative to help her young client get an appropriate hearing aid – coordinating with doctors, the county social workers, the caretaker and others to complete the necessary paperwork and documentation. Her client’s godmother and caretaker referred to Jasmin as an “angel” for all of her efforts on the case.
Jasmin’s upbeat personality makes her an excellent addition to CLC. She’s a team player who is always looking for ways to support the well-being of her clients and to help her co-workers. CLC is lucky to have her as a member of our team!
Policy Update
AB 740 Foster Youth Suspension and Expulsion
This bill would ensure that whenever a school takes disciplinary action against a child in foster care, the child’s attorney and the appropriate representative of the county child welfare receive notice and an opportunity to attend suspension and expulsion meetings and conferences.
AB 1735 Eliminating Language Barriers for Youth in Foster Care
This bill would require that essential court documents, such as court reports, case plans, and transition to independent living plans, be translated into a youth’s native language so they can participate in their case meaningfully.
AB 1735 unanimously passed the Assembly Human Services Committee and now heads to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
AB 1794 Strengthening Family Connections for Adopted Children
This bill would strengthen family connections for adoptees when appropriate by promoting ongoing contact between siblings and allowing parental rights to be reinstated for children and nonminor dependents in foster care when it is in the youth’s best interests.
AB 1794 unanimously passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee and now heads to the Assembly Human Services Committee.
AB 2085 Addressing Racial Disparities through Mandated Reporting Reform
This bill would look to address racial disparities and ensure families are not unnecessarily brought to the attention of the child welfare system by revising the standards for mandated reporting.
AB 2189 Ensuring Youth Exiting Foster Care Can Succeed
This bill would clarify that a court can maintain jurisdiction over a youth past the age of 21 if the requirements to terminate jurisdiction have not been satisfactorily met and the youth is not prepared to exit the foster care system. Additionally, current law ties certain supplemental benefits for youth in foster care to a placement. Given the housing crisis, this bill would ensure that youth experiencing housing instability can still receive these critical benefits.
AB 2189 will have a hearing before the Assembly Human Services Committee on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. You can find the hearing and agenda here.
AB 2665 Establishing a Blind Removal Pilot Project
This bill would address racial disparities in the child welfare system by establishing a pilot “Blind Removal” project, where participating counties would create and implement a process to remove identifiable information from a case file before the file is reviewed and a decision is made to separate a family.
AB 2189 will have a hearing before the Assembly Human Services Committee on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. You can find the hearing and agenda here.
March is Social Worker Month!
March is Social Worker Month, so we want to celebrate our amazing team of social work investigators and case managers! Our staff work tirelessly to advocate and enrich our clients’ lives as part of our multi-disciplinary team. Social workers are needed more than ever as our nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism, economic inequality, global warming, and other crises. Social workers are everywhere where people need help navigating tough life challenges. We also want to recognize all of the social workers we partner with at schools, hospitals, mental health centers, community-based organizations, and county welfare agencies –THANK YOU!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Building Safe Online SpacesEveryone has a role to play in ending sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. The focus for this Sexual Assault Awareness Month is Building Safe Online Spaces. We believe that together we can build a safer online world. We encourage parents, caregivers, and youth to join us in building online communities centered on respect, inclusion, and safety. Parents and caregivers can help kids stay safe online by having regular, age-appropriate conversations about healthy and unhealthy ways to communicate online.
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