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Whilst visiting Los Angeles on May 3, 2006,
Family Court Chronicles pursued its research
into the practices of the courts in
other jurisdictions. On this day, we visited
the Edmund
D. Edelman Children's Court, the central
courthouse for nearly all juvenile dependency
cases (child abuse/neglect) in Los Angeles County.
Of course, L.A. County has the Mother of All
Court Systems, serving a multicultural
population of about 10 million squabbling souls.
Juvenile delinquency, for example, is
adjudicated at 10 different locations around
the county, and there are some two dozen
county-run juvenile camps and detention
facilities. However, there is only one
principle location for Juvenile
dependency hearings — that is, for cases
where the government has taken legal
responsibility for children, typically due to
their parents' drug abuse. Here, children are
victims, not perpetrators, and they are
treated as such.
The Edelman Children's Court is a
purpose-built facility on a wooded hillside
about five miles east of downtown Los
Angeles. It resembles not a courthouse but
the campus of some high-tech company in the
hills above Silicon Valley.
Coming from the provinces as we do, we were
awed by the set-up: 19 courtrooms for
juvenile dependency, compared with our three
in Las Vegas. Child welfare in L.A. County
may be a mess, but the courthouse itself is a
dream. The architecture is warm and friendly,
as are the people we encountered, and everything in the
place seems thoughtfully designed for its purpose. Dare we
say, the L.A. Children's Court is a virtual
Disneyland for juvenile dependency, versus
our rather pitiful Adventuredome.
The building was opened in 1992 but still
feels new. It has six floors plus a basement and an
adjoining parking structure providing ample
vehicular accommodations.
Courtrooms occupy three of the floors.
Outside the courtrooms on each floor is a
spacious and comfortable waiting
area—nicer than any airport
lounge—with big windows overlooking the
city.
The Disney Channel plays on monitors
overhead (a service graciously donated by the
company). As part of a privately funded
program, volunteers roam the waiting areas,
plying children with crayons and other craft
supplies and facilitating their artistic
expression as they wait for their cases to be
called.
An unused courtroom converted for use as an
art workroom for waiting children.
(Photographed with permission of occupants.)
Behind the scenes, we are told, the
entertainment is even more elaborate. Every
morning, a fleet of DCFS vans fans out across
the county, collecting the children in foster
care whose cases will be heard that day.
Children have a right to participate in every
hearing concerning them, and they are
actively encouraged to do so. Once they are
brought to the courthouse, they are wined,
dined and entertained in a "shelter area"
hidden from the public on the first floor.
They may receive breakfast and lunch here
while they wait for their cases, and they are
diverted with an outdoor playground area, a
basketball court and untold Disney-sponsored
wonders indoors. When their case is called,
they enter the courtroom through a back
corridor.
Playground and basketball
court behind the courthouse.
Every child who is the subject of
dependency hearings in L.A. County gets his
own attorney to represent his interests.
(Governed by California
law, WIC 317. Here is our annotated
copy of the code.)
Not only that, but he's explicitly entitled
to a competent attorney, with
standards established for training and
evaluation.
Representation for children is provided by
about 100 attorneys in three
non-profit "law firms" which are all housed
on the sixth floor. The firms are known as
CLC 1, CLC 2 and CLC 3,
where CLC = "Children's Law
Center." (Personally, CLC 3 is #1 to us
and can kick any other CLC's ass.)
Each unit is firewalled off from the others:
They have separate computer systems and
separate management and are not supposed to
communicate with each other regarding their
cases. This eliminates the need for outside
"conflict" attorneys when the interests of
one child conflicts with those of another.
When such a conflict arises, the conflicting
clients are simply handled by different
firms.
While every child gets an attorney, CASA
volunteers are used only for certain
exceptional cases. There are only about
300-350 active CASA volunteers in the county,
most of whom handle only one child at a
time. (It appears to us that CASA is more
prominent in Las Vegas because our attorney
system is so weak.)
Representation of indigent parents is handled
by a panel of outside attorneys, but there
are plans to convert this function to
contracted "firms" similar to the CLC.
From the court website
We did not ask to enter the courtrooms
during our short visit, as we were told that
all hearings are closed. We did ask about
the proceedings, however, as well as about the
chain of command from the electorate to the
court.
Both juvenile dependency and juvenile
delinquency are presided over by a single
elected superior court judge.
He appoints the Judicial Officers who
preside as judges over the 19 active courtrooms.
In each courtroom, there is a judge, bailiff,
clerk, and court reporter. The state is
represented by two DCFS social workers who are
permanently assigned to each courtroom.
(The District Attorney plays no role in these
proceedings.) Parents and children may
appear at each hearing, along with their
respective attorneys.
DCFS caseworkers normally do not
appear at court hearings unless there is some
cause for them to be there. (With caseloads
approaching 40 cases per worker, each of
which requires a home visit once a month, the
burden of also going to court would be too great.)
Caseworker notes are conveyed electronically
to the permanent DCFS representatives in each
courtroom.
We spoke to the court administrator for
some ballpark statistics about cases in the
county....
All juvenile dependency cases in the county
are handled in this building except for a
relatively small number handled in a single
courtroom in Lancaster (for cases in the
remote Antelope Valley). Currently, there are close to
28,000 children in the county dependency
system (unverified), which includes foster children,
relative placements and cases under home supervision.
We asked the court administrator if Los
Angeles, like Las Vegas, was experiencing an
explosion of dependency cases due to the meth
epidemic. His surprising answer was "No."
The administrator's personal sense was that
one drug epidemic simply takes over from the
previous one — heroin, crack, meth, etc. —
and that meth was no worse than the
others.
The number of dependency cases has remained
stable in the past couple of years, and there
has even been a dramatic drop in active cases
over the past decade, perhaps due to better
case management. It should also be noted
that
the population of L.A. County has also
stabilized, with nearly all available land
having been built out.
Local DCFS may be stretched beyond its limit, but
the court itself is not bursting. The
building has three unoccupied courtrooms that
are now used for other purposes (like the art
room above) with no threat of caseload growth
in the foreseeable future.
With a smooth running facility and no crises
at hand, this seems to be a good time
to be a court administrator.
Looking to Big Brother in California can be
useful to us in Nevada. California has "real"
law, vs. our relatively primitive frontier
law. With its long history and huge
population, many more issues have been worked
out in California law. If they do things in a
certain way, maybe that's something we should
think about. (Of course, they also have the
concept of taxes to pay for all this, which
Nevada is always resistant to.)
In the clerk's office, there are forms for
everything, from requesting a CASA to
announcing yourself as a "de facto parent" (a
very interesting concept that gives you some
limited rights, even if you aren't related to
the child). Here is an example
of one of the forms (pdf, 177k).
Clark County doesn't have
many forms. Maybe that's what we need to fix
everything: more forms!
The most important part of our visit? Good
food, cheap. In the cafeteria downstairs, you
can get a fresh-made omelette for $2.75. Add
bacon for 60 cents and hash browns for 90
cents. Try to find those prices at a casino
these days!
The L.A. Children's Court has everything we
dream of. It's got a children's mental
health unit on site. It has a
mediation center. It has free teddy bears
for every child who wants them. It has arts
and crafts, sensitive architecture and cheap
food.
For us, it isn't like visiting Disneyland so
much as as peering over the fence at
Disneyland and never being able to go in.
You know Nevada could never pull this off.
We can only dream.
The view from the 5th floor
is totally L.A. (Scroll right.)
Reader Comments
“nice”
— curtisha jackson 1/24/07
“dcfs child robbers”
— me 7/7/07
“DCFS has many partial case workers... too bad they get partial to the women not the men. It's just not fair,”
— unhappy father 10/16/07
“The place is nice, the cafe is great. The parents expose too much ugliness. The visiting area has a mix of patient and inpatient staff.”
— Capitalism Brings Drugs 5/6/08
“Beautiful building-unfortunately terrible system. Free teddy bears will not compensate the trauma these children go through. DCFS should conduct proper investigation before making a final decision regarding a case; the mother is not always the best option there are good fathers as well.”
— disappointment 6/27/08
“DCFS-21st Century Slavery! the court appointed attorneys are rats, the judges are rats, the social workers are rats,who ends up being the cheese, the children! Not all children are the product of drugs, mine were the victims, of rats, who lied on me! once DCFS, has your children, they don't let go, no matter, how many tears, you cry, no matter what you do, even families turn on each other, as they are not about to let go of those monthly dollars, from your children. It's the work of the DEVIL!”
— A Child of God! 7/2/08
“Newsflash! the so-called foster parents, who chidren are taken away from are given to "ILLEGAL ALIENS!" yes, "ILLEGAL ALIENS" are not screened the way Americans are? They abuses chidlren and everybody looks the other way?”
— Mexican American who don't like it one bit. 7/2/08
“I cant believe this system what happend to OUR constitutional rights , maybe where not in the United States of America anymore. I think to take a child from there home on hear say is far from the childs best interest. Just think anyone your mad at that has kids just make a call and have there kids taken away what a system..”
— For The Kids 7/6/08
“It has to STOP!the way childrens court works.The only one who is BENIFET$$$is the court.Children are being taken every day and if you have't notice lower income family children are the ones easy target.Can not pay for legal represation so they have the court apointed attorney so you can forget,discovery,facts ,testimoney truth.They have there own way of doing things Circumstantial evidence ,gathing information and puting into there own words.And every time you go back to court they have no intent to give your child back.Even if you were not given any informaiton about your child frist court hearing and your attorney he lies even if you had the right documents for him to file to get a new hearing due to the fact all Circumstantial Evidence he does nothing.ITS A JOKE!based on my observation I am more attorney than he.Maybe i need to attend law school we are in trouble there is no way to win your case with your court appt. attorney.”
— For The Children 7/8/08
“I have an 18 month review October, 30th and, I am still being offered family reunifications services. I have complied with all court orders 100%. The Court sustained a petition and report which States that I have convictions for crimes that I have never even been arrested for. The confidential meeting of the "w.i.c. 317 panel" (county council,minors council ect) and, judge is basically a closed court room discussion on how the are going to approach you when you get into the courtroom. Damage sustained from undue separation between my 2 year old son and I is permanent and we both will be forever adversely affected. The deliberation, consensus and, confidential discussion between the commissioner and the w.i.c. 317 Panel attorneys is held in secrecy because, the discussion is equivalent to mutilating an innocent human being. The judge and panel makes there descisions in secrecy because, The construction of a cold, heartless, plan of action to severe any and all possible connections to your child is taking place. The evilness of the selfish hearts that practice ways to throw you thinking off balance so that you dont realize what they are trying to accomplish. The botomline is that the commissioner, social worker and the wic 317 Panel all work together to kill off anything heritage, knowledge and or,love that you would of gifted you beautiful creation with. The Commissioner, social worker and, wic 317 panel attorneys think that they can control the population by personally choosing to make your death be your extinction,to affect your individual offspring adversly. Your bloodline may carry on but they want change your progeny and put their own name on your child after they seperate you from you offspring they stunt their development with the unwarranted removal or their failure to return your innocent. If they dont like you personally they may think that the damage that they do to your child from seperation is ok because they feel that they have a real heart and they will make sure that they "fix the child back again" the truth is that the damage done at such a tender age is severe and permanently limits the future of the infant and or toddler to ever fully develope. In the eyes of the commisioner, social worker and the wic 317 panel attorneys the damage is ok because it is not their child. They will stomp on your little child and crush the very delicate soul that is developing in a second and they will make sure that their "kind" or, child is given every oppurtunity to grow, develope to be powerful and strong. Do you know what would happen if people actually knew what takes place in the secret discussions held in the juvenile dependancy courtroom? Many people would make a last stand right then and there but, they keep it confidential so, you dont know about it. But now you do so, in return you yourself must now make a stand but, in order to make the stand you have to approach this situation similar to how they are handling their execution of your offsprings future life with you, "in secret". Your blood line your child. Who does it matter too. Will you give up? do you even care? will you do anything possible to protect what is left of it and will you know when it is time to make the closing actions representing what you were wrongfully delt by selfish people full of a personal hate for your innocence and offspring . The nature of the wic 317 panel is to cause irreversible damage, if possible illiminate you.”
— David Crockett State Park 8/16/08
“Los Angeles County has the lowest rate of reunification in the nation, why would they want it any other way? they get $ 30,000 per year per child. It is called JOB SECURITY and they only pick the weakest, the families who can least afford to fight back with a high powered attorney would would rip them to shreds. When was the last time you heard about someone rich and powerful having their children taken by DCFS? , can't remember, because it doesn't happen. I can't believe in this country that people turn their heads and look the other way when their is so much suffering in the children that are ripped from their parents and the parents who's children have been ripped from their arms, litterally, or stolen from school without your knowledge. I have never been investigated before for neglect but I do know someone that is currently going through this hell that Los Angeles County called DCFS with unsubstanstiated claims of abuse from their young single father, trampling all over his constitutional rights, this has been going on for over 3 years, reunification?, what is that, DCFS has not done one single thing to help reunificate his family. Finished all of his required classes, parenting, anger management, ect. The "100 attorneys in three non-profit "law firms" are working for a paycheck, that's it, nothing more. The one attorney who did say that the children should be reunited with the father was "reassigned" and a new attorney was assigned that thinks parental rights should be terminated. I do not how people can sleep at night that knowing in this day, a child is without their parent(s) and a parent is without their child. What kind of world are we living in when someone can make allegations about abuse without solid proof. I am ashamed to live in a country where the government can actually take your child, these children are not possestions that can be placed where YOU think they should be, heal the family , not split them up. Get up people and do something, I know that I am going to commit myself to this young man, that I will do everything in my power to help him get his children back, I will not rest until they are safely back in his arms, off the medication that they put his youngest son on for ADD, his oldest daughter was recently taken out of another foster home due to abuse from the foster parent, they have been to a half a dozen different schools in 3 years. You too can be a foster parent, look at the employment section in the LA times, look how many "Become a foster parent" ads there are. DCFS workers are securing their future job security, every child they steal will pay their salary for a year, and don't get me started on their bonus they receive for every child they get adopted out. Watch out DCFS you are about to lose 3 of the children in your care, I will not rest until that day comes.”
— Cindy Lee Ingram 10/8/08
“wow i was about writing a petition concerning the way my case is being handled at the court and dcfs. all the cases needs to be invesgated by an independent government agency who has no vested interest. not all cases needs to be in that court in the first place. more also dcfs needs to be investigated too”
— adenireti ajai 2/4/09
“i think the system is not fair to parents and the rights we should have towards getting our children back”
— evangelina castro 3/2/09
“Stop abusing your children and then the social workers, the courts and all those people will be out of a job”
— I read a newspaper 3/18/09
“My name is Anthony Coles im now 22 and was given up at birth. I was raised in the system and its hard i was abused by my foster perants and interduced to drugs by there relitives at age 9. There are some group home that are good like project six they help me turn in to the man i am now. I am a supervisor for B&R Security in fresno and also run my own bussness i stuggle but i have hope becouse of Project Six. Now the bad one like Hathaway in Sylmar they like to punk kid and i fought alot over there becouse no one would help me. they would be too busy trying to go on a field trip or flirting with workers the encurged fights so they can restrain us the liked that there but they could not change me. Remember you become a great person if you believe in your self. Ps. Im also looking for my posibble brother Anthony M. Coles. Call me at (559) 237-0289 or my bussness at (559) 312-5050”
— Anthony Coles 4/30/09
“It's sad to hear about so many people's lives destroyed due to the "System". I was a victom once of the "System" horror. However, I made it out alive. I thank the lord I have my children back with me. I hope that all who walk through the doors of this court house make it out with a happy ending. Stay strong.”
— Dorene Ramirez 5/8/09
“all i really wanna say to the whole court system and everyone in it. FUCK YOU ALL. every kid they take away is money in their pockets, they dont give up shit about the children and their true wellbeing. so FUCK YOUR COURT SYSTEM,”
— a mother who was a victim of the system 7/18/09 ... RESPONSE
FROM THE WEBMASTER:
Well, there you have it! I guess it's time to shut down this comment system.
—G.C.
Because this website has been frozen,
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The Edelman Children's Court is a
purpose-built facility on a wooded hillside
about five miles east of downtown Los
Angeles. It resembles not a courthouse but
the campus of some high-tech company in the
hills above Silicon Valley.
Behind the scenes, we are told, the
entertainment is even more elaborate. Every
morning, a fleet of DCFS vans fans out across
the county, collecting the children in foster
care whose cases will be heard that day.
Children have a right to participate in every
hearing concerning them, and they are
actively encouraged to do so. Once they are
brought to the courthouse, they are wined,
dined and entertained in a "shelter area"
hidden from the public on the first floor.
They may receive breakfast and lunch here
while they wait for their cases, and they are
diverted with an outdoor playground area, a
basketball court and untold Disney-sponsored
wonders indoors. When their case is called,
they enter the courtroom through a back
corridor.
In the clerk's office, there are forms for
everything, from requesting a CASA to
announcing yourself as a "de facto parent" (a
very interesting concept that gives you some
limited rights, even if you aren't related to
the child). Here is an example
of one of the forms (pdf, 177k).
