“I don’t regret any of the things that happened to me in the system–they made me who I am today,” she says. She was lucky enough to have her mother caring for Tony while she jumped through the hoops of getting clean and finding the stability and strength she needed to have Tony returned to her care. She fought hard for her son (and for herself) by visiting him every chance she could, taking parenting classes and eventually entering residential drug treatment. She also fought hard in court as her own attorney–a very rare occurrence and an uphill battle for sure. Tony’s attorney was the first one she convinced that she was ready to have Tony home with her. Working together through many days of trial wherein Tony’s mom successfully presented evidence and cross-examined county child welfare workers, she eventually convinced the judge too. Tony’s little brother was born shortly thereafter. A little more than a year later, their case was closed. Tony is a happy, well adjusted little boy delighted to be living as a family with his mom and little brother and continuing to spend time with his beloved grandmother. His mom continues to advocate for herself and her family.  EBCLO salutes Tony, his mom and the families of all of the 315 other clients of ours who are safely home with their families.

In 2016, EBCLO attorney Rob Waring decided to file a writ of mandate in the California Court of Appeal on behalf of his client N.S. Because preparing all the necessary briefs involves many days of preparation on very short timeframes, he partnered with lawyers from Bay Area Legal Aid. This strategy paid off: our client’s writ was granted and the decision was published earlier this year. The decision, N.S. v. Superior Court, has important implications for many of EBCLO’s clients, who, like N.S. struggle with mental health issues.

A longtime EBCLO client, N.S. entered foster care at the age of 11 where she remained upon reaching adulthood. Thanks to the AB12 extended foster care program N.S. was able to continue receiving services after turning 18. N.S. was homeless and struggling with drug addiction, and desperately needed continued access to foster care services. Luckily, in 2015 the county recommended that N.S. be found eligible for extended services in light of her mental health issues.

Unfortunately, a year later the county sought to dismiss N.S.’s case from extended foster care. At a trial the county called N.S. to testify, and she spoke to her understanding of her eligibility for extended foster care services: N.S. stated that she was told she was eligible in light of her mental health. The county later called N.S.’s therapist to testify as to N.S.’s mental health diagnoses. She refused, citing therapist-patient confidentiality. The judge agreed with the county that N.S. put her mental health at issue and ordered the therapist to testify. EBCLO attorney Rob Waring, wary of what this would mean not only for N.S. but other EBCLO clients and their therapists, asked for a stay in order to file a writ seeking appellate review of the trial court’s order.

The Court of Appeal agreed with EBCLO and issued a stay. It ordered the trial court to vacate the order requiring N.S.’s therapist to answer the county’s questions. The appellate court found that N.S. had not independently placed her mental state at issue, because she discussed her mental health only in response to the county attorney’s questions. Further, N.S.’s testimony as to her eligibility was informed by the county’s own recommendation, made in 2015, that she be found eligible for services in light of her mental health needs. N.S. had not put her mental state at issue by testifying to the county’s prior recommendation.

This appellate ruling is not only important for N.S., but for all of EBCLO’s clients with mental health issues and those similarly situated throughout the state. It takes talented therapists to build trusting relationships with EBCLO’s clients, who often have traumatic backgrounds. These therapeutic relationships begin with a therapist’s promise that what our clients discuss in therapy will be kept private. With that promise therapists open up lines of communications that not only help our clients heal from their experiences, but also help them build trusting relationships with other adults. Thanks to this recent decision, our clients and their therapists know that EBCLO will go the extra mile to protect the private nature of the work they do together.

To read the entire opinion, see: N.S. v. Superior Court (2016) 7 Cal.App.5th 713

Julius didn’t spend his entire high school career in foster care. Rather, two years ago when his caregiver was evicted and no one in his family would take him in, Julius found his own family. He describes that his former pediatrician and her family “had a soft spot for me, I guess.” With the help of EBCLO, the relationship was made official, but the support of Julius’ new family came naturally. “If I needed something, I knew I could ask them. . . even if it was ridiculous,” says Julius.

Two years later this delightful young man has accomplished a lot for himself-in addition to being Prom King and a high school graduate, he has a supportive family, a new job and plans to attend community college in the fall to earn a trade like auto mechanics or carpentry. He also has a new name thanks to his EBCLO attorney, Liz Aleman. Julius had wanted his name changed for at least 8 years, and Ms. Aleman wasted no time. Julius was able to enter adulthood officially using the name he’d informally used for so long. What’s Julius’ advice for other kids in the system? “Persevere through any situation even if you think you won’t make it out. You have to keep going because you never know what’s on the other side. And accept yourself; learn to love yourself. You have to be comfortable with who you are and have confidence.”

Congratulations Julius!

Adoption Finalization Day–January 21, 2016

This Mother’s Day, LaDawn has four more children. Actually, she’s had them since 2012 when they came to her as foster children. They stayed a week and went home. And then a few weeks later the call came that they needed a foster home again. All four of them-ages 6, 7, 9 and 12. Just days before, LaDawn and her husband had been asked to foster different children. Something inside told her not to take them. And so it was that she was able to take back the four children who had stayed with her just weeks before. This time, they stayed for good. There were 18 months of reunification services; countless hearings; a couple mediations; and always love. Lots of love. And lots of patience. LaDawn helped the children navigate their way through new schools, multiple social workers, visitation with their family, and just growing up. And then, on January 21, 2016, LaDawn and her husband made their family official. Our four clients were adopted. A heartfelt congratulations and a very Happy Mother’s Day to LaDawn!

If you are still in foster care at 18, it means you were never adopted, nor reunited with your biological parents.  You may have come into the system more recently, in your teen-aged years, but long after the abuse or neglect began and went unnoticed.  Then again, you could have come into the system as a young child.  Maybe you went back and forth between foster parents and biological parents, and the final attempts at reunification were unsuccessful.  Maybe you came into care as a young child, but no one was willing to become your guardian or adoptive parent.  Maybe by 18, you’ve been a “foster child” for over 10 years.  If you’re in foster care at age 18, California is your parent.

Age 18 is momentous for everyone.  It’s the expectation of independence, the angst of decision-making, the anxiety of new responsibility, and the hope of financial success.  You’ve heard about apartment leases, driver’s licenses, the high school diploma, the college degree, and the paycheck, but you might not really know how to achieve these things.  These things that everyone is encouraging you to do, but no one carries the full weight of—no one but you.  Most 18 year olds need support from someone older than they—support that should be the financial or emotional safety net provided by parents, a safety net that allows room for trial and error.  Foster youth don’t usually have a true financial or emotional safety net provided by a parent or family. It comes in the form of Assembly Bill 12 (AB12).

AB12 is the California law that provides three more years of social services and legal representation to foster youth in care at age 18.  This means that between 18 and 21, California tries its best to replicate what a parent might do: provide for the youth by helping them finish their high school education, start college, stay in college, get a job, find a place to live, get medical care, and teach adult life skills.

I’m the law fellow at EBCLO that is directing our AB12 Project aimed to help our 18-21 year old clients get all the available services under AB12, and one day transition out of care with a greater degree of success.  Every day I interact with our newly adult clients who are struggling the most. I often hear their stories of how they came into the system, and how they’re beginning to see how their past is affecting their current decisions.  Some of our adult clients have learning or developmental disabilities, some have emotional disturbances or severe mental health illnesses, and some have such an impaired ability to trust others that interpersonal conflict rules their life.  The trauma of their youth impacts their ability to thrive as adults.

I’m hopeful that my legal strategy and advocacy, community organizing, or listening ear, help our clients along.  Recently I got a text message from a 19 year old client who is also a mother.  She said she moved into a new transitional housing apartment, but had no food to eat.  Obviously the issue was bigger than food for that day.  Her life is hard.  The next day, I helped assemble her team of providers (CASA, case manager, and social worker).  She was struggling in many aspects of her life—school, work, unpaid bills, dental care, child care, and money management.  We talked with her, planned with her, and empowered her to tackle the various issues, one at a time.  We assigned each other tasks to work on together, while showing her respect and role modeling problem solving skills.  Our hope is that we’re teaching her how to “do adult life.”  There will always be trials, and complications, and moments of crisis in life.  But if I can help these young people act and try and cope, just a little bit more than last time, I’m making a difference.

I never thought as a lawyer that I’d be able to make change in and outside of the courtroom.  There are many times when I advocate for our young adult clients in court: taking issues to trial, or holding other parties accountable, for example.  But fortunately, working for EBCLO means lawyering in the everyday lives of our clients.  It means dropping off applications, making phone calls together, and attending or organizing meetings. It means visits to jail, maternity wards, restaurants, homes, and schools.  It means fielding new and complicated issues in our clients’ lives, every single day.  It means having real talk with young people on the best and worst days of their lives.  It really means experiencing the joys and sorrows of life and relationship—the stuff that truly matters.  No, representing adults in foster care is not an easy job.  But it’s a thrilling job, to say the least.

By Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND — Something was clearly different Saturday at Alameda County’s Wiley Manuel Courthouse.

Usually somber, the Washington Street building was bedecked with brightly colored balloons. Teddy bears lined a corridor’s windowsill and packed every surface at the front of a courtroom. Photos were being taken — not mugshots, but portraits before a pastel backdrop. And everyone was smiling.

Alameda County’s 11th Annual Adoption Day, part of a national celebration, saw 37 families made whole and 41 children’s lives changed forever.

For Nicole and Jim Ludwig, of Danville, it was the end of a two-and-a-half year journey. They had begun taking classes to become eligible to adopt, and then the process slowed down due to state and county budget cuts.

That’s when a neighbor told them about Nadia. It turned out the Ludwigs knew Nadia’s great-aunt and great-uncle. They started looking into her situation, and after some research, “we wanted to adopt her before we even met her,” said Nicole, 40.

Nadia moved in with them 15 months ago, but they were not sure until April that the legal hurdles to adoption had been cleared. “For eight months, she’s living in our home and on any given day she could’ve been pulled,” said Jim, 50.

“But from the first day she was there, we couldn’t love her any differently,” Nicole added.

Nadia, now 6, called them “Mom” and “Dad” within a few months, although “Dad” took a bit longer because she had never had one before.

“That was a big day for me,” Jim said.

Over the 11 years that Alameda County has commemorated National Adoption Day, more than 600 families have been united and more than 750 children have found homes. Still, more than 1,600 kids remain in the county’s foster-care system — among more than 114,000 nationwide — hoping and waiting to find permanent families.

Alameda County Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Trina Thompson praised all the judicial officers and court workers, social service agency workers, private adoption agencies and others who cooperate to make days like this happen. They are the “giraffe society,” she said, “those who stick out their necks for children every day.”

Corinne Flores, accompanied by her husband, Tony, 52, and their son, Derek, 22, spoke about how they had finalized their adoption of Christona few weeks ago, just shy of his 18th birthday. Though he is technically not a child anymore, he is their child, she said: “We feel that he is with us forever, we’re here to be the family and support that every child deserves.”

And like any parents with teenagers, “there have been some tough times, some bumps in the road … and this was something he couldn’t do with us today,” she said, indicating his absence. “But we’ll work on it together.”

Upstairs, a short while later, Gerald and Lynnette Linnen of Hayward grinned as Judge David Krashna signed the final papers for their adoption of Jack Tango Linnen, not quite 2 years old.

They had not planned to be parents again; at 50, they have seven kids between them plus four grandchildren. But Lynnette’s former foster daughter was the victim of a crime and delivered Jack at only 23 weeks. Doctors did not expect him to survive, and they sat with him every day in the hospital mainly so that he would not die alone.

One day Jack reached up and grabbed Gerald’s finger. Lynnette said Saturday they are “very grateful, very fortunate and very blessed.”

“Jack is truly a miracle and I was blessed that I was able to be a part of his life from the beginning,” she said. “He’ll always have family. He can’t be taken away.