On Thursday, September 12, the Alliance will participate in the 15th New Beginnings Partnership Conference for Children and Families in Los Angeles County. Hundreds of judges, lawyers, child welfare works, advocates and other stakeholder associated with dependency and delinquency court systems will attend the event at Cal State L.A.
The conference presents the Alliance with an opportunity to share our work and focus areas with our partners and key stakeholders in the L.A. County child welfare community. Workshops we’ll present, include:
Breaking Barriers to Higher Education: Innovative Education Programs for High School Foster Youth
This workshop will provide various stakeholder this information regarding the education rights of foster youth and the responsibilities of each stakeholder in enforcing these rights. We will also speak about the Education-Legal Partnership recently established between the Alliance for Children’s Rights and First Star. This innovative collaborative provides extensive and long-term education advocacy for foster youth participating in the UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholars Academy.
Presented by Paige Fern, Alliance Education Skadden Fellow and Peter Samuelson, First Star
Medical-Legal Partnerships: A Prescription for Children in Foster Care and Those With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
This session explores how children’s health and well-being can be improved through an interdisciplinary collaboration known as a medical-legal partnership (MLP). In a panel discussion, Dr. Lyn Laboriel, a fetal alcohol spectrum disorders expert, and Taylor Dudley, staff attorney at the Alliance for Children’s Rights will help participants survey specific issues common among children in foster care, including fetal-alcohol spectrum disorders, that can be improved through doctor-lawyer collaboration.
Presented by Taylor Dudley, Alliance Healthcare Attorney/MLP and Doctor Lyn Laboriel, LAC+USC Medical Center, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Clinic, VIP CATC Hub
Interventions for Ending the School to Prison Pipeline
This workshop will address the funneling of students out of school and into the juvenile delinquency system, i.e. “The School to Prison Pipeline” and highlight some of the interventions being utilized to stop this cycle. Panelists will discuss several of these interventions, including but not limited to, special education and school discipline rights, new developments in the Informal Juvenile Traffic Court ticket process, 241.1 Multidisciplinary Team Meetings, and re-entry supportive services for youth leaving Camp.
Presented by Alaina Moonves, Leb, Alliance Equal Just Works Fellow and Public Counsel
Serving Pregnant and Parenting Teens in Foster Care: Best Practices
The workshop will focus on current policies and practices related to serving pregnant and parenting teens in foster care, designed to ensure better outcomes for both the teens and their children. The presentation will also include a discussion of recent efforts underway to provide reproductive health and pregnancy prevention information and resources to youth in care.
Presented by Barbara Facher, MSW, Alliance Healthcare Program; Danielle Arnerich-Combs, Esq., Children’s Law Center; Donna Fernandez, LCSW, Department of Children and Family Services; and Mara Ziegler, LCSW, Public Counsel
Obtaining Early Intervention and Special Education Services for Children Ages Birth to Five
This workshop will provide attendees with practical knowledge regarding how to obtain early intervention and special educaiton services (such as speech therapy, physical therapy, specialized preschool settings, etc.) for the children 0-5 they work with. We will discuss both Early Start services through the regional center, as well as special educaiton services through the shcool district.
Presented by Sasha Stern and Kathryn Fitzmaurice both Attorneys for the Alliance’s Saltz Family Early Intervention Advocacy Center
Serving Regional Center Children in the Dependency System: Recent Changes in Law and Local Policy
This workshop will address recent changes to child welfare law and DCFS policy affecting children and youth with developmental disabilities. Topics will include, but not be limited to, consents, appointing educational rights holders and developmental services decisionmakers, DCFS’ revised regional center referral process, revisions to Judicial Council forms and Rules of Court, and pending legislation involving this population.
Presented by Sasha Stern, Alliance Attorney, Saltz Family Early Intervention Advocacy Center; Brian Capra, Esq. Public Counsel; Eva Casas-Sarmiento, Esq., Disability Rights California; Pat Garcia, North Los Angeles County Regional Center; and Shirley McNeal, MA, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services
