Hahn Proposes Pre-Petition Advocacy Model for LA County Child Welfare System

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors May17, approved a proposal by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Hilda Solis to explore creating a pre-petition advocacy model in Los Angeles County, with the goal of keeping more families safely together and reducing racial disparities in the child welfare system.

In Los Angeles County, legal advocates are court-appointed to represent children and families only after a petition alleging child abuse or neglect is filed with the Dependency Court seeking court intervention.  However, across the country a “pre-petition advocacy model” is being embraced, which enables legal advocates to represent children and parents before a child is removed and before a petition is filed with the Court.

This form of preventative legal advocacy is proving effective in keeping families together safely, keeping children at home, supporting social workers, and preventing the need for foster care. By providing prevention services and legal remedies for low-risk issues, this model results in reducing the trauma of unnecessary child and family separation and reducing the disproportionate number of Black and Indigenous families that become system involved.

The Board of Supervisors instructed the county CEO’s service integration branch to report back to the board on the feasibility of creating a pre-petition advocacy model in Los Angeles County. The work will be done in consultation with community stakeholders, including people with lived experience in the child welfare system.