ARTICLE TAG

Leslie Heimov

5/9/2019

No More Heartbreak? California Governor Newsom Moves to Boost Funding for Dependency Courts

On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a proposed $54 million boost to the budget of the state’s dependency courts, blending an increase in state investment with federal funds newly available for the legal representation of children and families involved in the child welfare system.

Youth Services Insider

2/26/2019

Webinar Recording: A New Era of Funding Family Justice

  On Feb. 21, 2019, we hosted a webinar, A New Era of Funding Family Justice, featuring special guests Vivek Sankaran of the University of Michigan and Leslie Heimov of the Children’s Law Center of California.

2/5/2019

Trump Administration Rule Change Could Unleash Hundreds of Millions in Federal Funds to Defend Rights of Parents, Children in Child Protection Cases

Documentarian Karen Grau has been filming dependency court proceedings for decades. In her experience, there’s one variable that makes it easy to know early in a case if justice will be served.

11/7/2018

Why The Washington State Supreme Court Got It Wrong on Lawyers for Kids

Over the past year, there has been increased attention on the right to legal representation for children who have been separated from their families at our borders. Images and stories of young children attending court hearings alone, without an attorney, have been shared by media outlets all over the world.

8/9/2016

L.A. Child Welfare Community Loses Leading Voice, Reporter Garrett Therolf

Garrett Therolf, a longtime Los Angeles Times reporter who focused on the nation’s largest child welfare system, will be leaving his post on Wednesday, Therolf confirmed today in an email to The Imprint.

3/30/2016

Landscape Begins to Shift for Calif. Dependency Attorneys

California advocates and legislators are gearing up to push for a second budget increase to pay court-appointed attorneys representing children in foster care across the state. At the same time, the Judicial Council of California is debating whether to revise the methodology used to determine how much counties are awarded for juvenile dependency counsel, and how many cases each attorney should be given.

    8/26/2015

    Out of County, CA: L.A. Kids Head East to Mrs. J’s House

    Los Angeles County’s aim to place foster children in homes within their own communities is often thwarted by the stark reality that those communities lack sufficient foster beds. Economics make it so that many times the only suitable placement for an L.A. youth...

    2/25/2015

    Getting to the Heart of Foster Children’s Problems

    This article is adapted from an earlier piece that ran in the San Jose Mercury News. By Adam Pertman and Graham Wright It is heartening to hear that California’s Legislature may finally address the chronic overuse of psychotropic medications for children in foster care in that state, a problem that unfortunately exists from coast to coast.

    9/22/2013

    Adoption Certification Requirement Compounds Foster Care Shortage in L.A.

    Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is at a crossroads. While the number of children coming into the system steadily climbs, the number of suitable homes where they can be placed continues to dwindle.