Persistence paid off for the Children’s Law Center when the Judicial Council voted on Wednesday, July 29, to restore $865,000 in budget cuts that would have hurt legal services for 24,000 children in LA County’s foster-care system. The council, which controls the budget for the state’s trial courts, will also shift $9 million to dependency courts statewide.
“We represent kids in court, so our job is to give them a voice. When it came to the Legislature, being in the union and being successful made us feel like our voice was bigger than we thought.” – Attorney Brian Thompson
Law Center staff won broad support from management, the LA County Superior Court and presiding Judge Nash, who wrote a letter of support to the Judicial Council. They stood alongside other LA County court employees represented by SEIU 721 to press the case for restoring funding for children.
The decision came just a day after Gov. Schwarzenegger added tens of millions of dollars in new cuts for child welfare programs.
“We weren’t willing to give up — even in the face of the horrible economic news coming from Sacramento,” said attorney Damien Rosen. “The dependency system is established to protect children, and it definitely sends a strong message that children are in fact our first priority.”