More than 30 Years of Impact
Since its founding, the Alliance has been committed to justice for young people—so that they might access the stability, healing, and opportunity that all children and young adults need and deserve. This steadfast commitment to our mission is what has led us to monumental policy victories, the expansion of programs and services, and has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of young clients.
Ours is a story of advocates, attorneys, social workers, policy makers, educators, caregivers, and volunteers coming together through the years to change the future for young people. The Alliance’s history is not just our clients’, it’s not just our organization’s—it’s your story as well. We look at the past three decades of impact, with fervent optimism and fortitude for the future.
1992
The Alliance for Children’s Rights is established to provide free legal services to indigent and underserved children in Los Angeles County. Founding Executive Director Pamela Mohr and first President of the Board of Directors Francis M. Wheat announce the opening of the new nonprofit organization, created with the help of Vice President Barbara Reeves and Treasurer Paul Boland and launched with the help of founding Board Members Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and Susan Friedman.
1993
The Alliance opens its first office.
1994
The Alliance establishes a direct referral system with the Children’s Court for Los Angeles County.
1994
The Guardianship Program is created in conjunction with Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Legal Services, a collaboration between the Alliance and The Los Angeles Pediatric Aids Network to deliver critical legal services to children impacted by HIV or AIDS.
1996
The Adoptions Program is established, and the Alliance co-creates “Adoption Saturday” to address a backlog of over 10,000 adoptions from foster care waiting to finalize.
1998
The Healthcare Program is established to ensure children can access medical care. Since its start, the program has served 5,500+ clients.
2000
The Alliance co-creates National Adoption Day, a collective national effort based on the “Adoption Saturday” model, to raise awareness for children waiting to be adopted. To date, more than 80,000 children across the nation have joined their forever families as part of National Adoption Day.
2001
The Alliance begins working with tribal families and children, advocating for American Indian children in foster care. To date, the Alliance has partnered with tribal leaders to advance policy reforms and has served clients from over 22 Indian Nations.
2001
The Education Program is created to advocate for the educational rights of young people in foster care. Since its start, the Education Program has served more than 14,500 students.
2002
The Alliance launches a Public Benefits Program to address routine denials of foster care funding. To date, our team has recovered more than $34M in benefits for caregivers and families who were wrongfully denied.
2005
The Transition Age Youth Program is launched to provide young adults with legal advocacy, support, and mentorship as they transition out of the foster care or juvenile justice systems into independence. To date, our program has supported more than 24,000 teens.
2007
The Alliance successfully co-sponsors AB 1331 to ensure youth in foster care with disabilities receive SSI benefits before they age out of the system.
2009
The Healthy Teen Families Program is created. The Alliance advocates for support for pregnant and parenting teens and helps to create and implement Expectant and Parenting Youth conferences, in an effort to reduce the intergenerational cycle of foster care.
2010
The Alliance co-sponsors groundbreaking AB 12 legislation, allowing youth to stay in extended foster care until 21.
2010
The Saltz Family Early Intervention Advocacy Center is created to serve children ages 0-5 living in out-of-home care to secure early intervention and special education services through the regional centers and school districts.
2011
Alliance protects the rights of caregivers to bring administrative appeals of public benefits decisions.
2012
The Alliance expands the Education Program to protect general educational rights and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline for students in foster care.
2014
Championing equity in funding to support relatives, the Alliance successfully leads efforts to pass SB 855, creating Approved Relative Caregiver funding, followed four years later by AB 110, establishing the Emergency Caregiver Funding Program.
2014
Alliance of Moms, a philanthropic membership group, is created to support the Alliance’s Healthy Teen Families Program and amplify the needs of parenting youth in foster care.
2014
The Alliance spearheads the Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Collaborative (LAOYC), a multi-sector collaborative driving systems change with and for youth in foster care.
2015
Knowb4ugo.org campaign was created to empower youth to become their own advocates, armed with the knowledge and information they need to succeed in work, school and life. The website breaks down complicated issues and helps youth tackle the barriers they face.
2015
The Foster Youth Education Toolkit is created to address common education challenges and improve outcomes for children and youth in foster care and on probation in California Schools. The guide is followed two years later by a court companion for judges, lawyers, social workers, and probation officers.
2017
Resource Family Approval Toolkit is created to assist families in completing the Resource Family Approval process.
2018
Caregiver Day at the Capitol is created, uniting hundreds of caregivers, advocates, and community-based partners from across the state in Sacramento each year to educate policymakers to support young people and families in foster care and in “hidden foster care.”
2019
In partnership with Public Counsel, the Alliance recovers $1.2 M in wrongly assessed foster care benefits.
2019
The Alliance successfully co-sponsored legislation to support ICWA compliance and the preservation of social and cultural standards for Indian children in the child welfare system.
2021
Successful passage of Alliance co-sponsored SB 354 which removes common barriers that prevent many relative caregivers, who are predominantly Black and Brown, from being approved for children’s placements.
2021
The Alliance successfully sponsors AB 260, ensuring that probate courts and dependency courts work together to protect the due process interests of parents and children and support information sharing to help inform decision making.
