Children's Court

Los Angeles County is home to the nation’s largest foster care system, with approximately 30,000 children currently in its care. Foster parents, relatives and other caregivers are dependent on the laws and systems that have been put in place to help them. Yet accessing the financial and social service support to which they and their children are entitled can be a struggle.

Appropriate benefits are routinely denied, largely because of improper or inadequate assessments of a child’s special needs. The Children’s Court Program provides the help they need to access appropriate benefits and resolve difficult legal issues. For families dealing with a host of concerns ranging from providing 24 hour care for a severely disabled child to securing a special wheelchair for a young girl with a heart defect, the assistance received by The Alliance can be the difference between the success and failure of their children and their family.

Through our on-site office inside the Edelman Children’s Court, we offer direct and pro bono representation for an increasing number of clients each year, as well as invaluable trainings and resource materials. In addition, this program offers advocacy and outreach to severely at-risk populations including emancipating youth, pregnant and parenting teens and gay, lesbian and questioning youth. It also acts as a critical referral mechanism, often helping families access other services offered by The Alliance. Through these individual cases, we have helped recognize trends in the child welfare system of Los Angeles County that are in need of broader reform.

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