by CASA of Los Angeles | Dec 1, 2015 | Stories
When Linda Mokler was assigned as the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for two girls in foster care about six months ago, she had one urgent mandate: to find out why they weren’t getting the speech therapy they needed. The court had ordered it for them months...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Sep 2, 2015 | Stories
At first, he wouldn’t talk to her. He might nod or shake his head, but he used no words. So it was a measure of the relationship they had built when, after several months of weekly visits, twelve-year-old Jack finally started to talk to his Court Appointed Special...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Aug 4, 2015 | Stories
On a morning last August, two cars pulled up in front of Thomas Green’s home, in Watts. They were there to pick up Thomas and his three grandchildren for a meeting at the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). The meeting was ostensibly to...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Jul 2, 2015 | Stories
It was about a year ago. Sarah, then 10, was at home with her mother, Rachel, when she took a terrible fall, hitting her head and gashing her eyebrow. Stunned but aware she was injured, she walked to a neighbor’s house and rapped on the door. “I’m hurt,” she said. “My...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Jun 13, 2015 | Stories
It’s been about six years since child welfare authorities were tipped off to trouble in the home of then-seven-year-old James, near Downtown Los Angeles. James’ mother had become chronically ill and delegated his care to his older brother, who was also a minor. The...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Apr 21, 2015 | Stories
As CASA stories go, this is a simple one. It involves no custody battles, mistaken identities, or disagreements among stakeholders. But it’s an important story—even an archetypal one—because it exemplifies the most crucial role of a Court Appointed Special Advocate...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Mar 4, 2015 | Stories
A lot was riding on Leslie Podolsky in her first case as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). She was assigned to two sisters, Paris and Melanie, thought to be 5 and 4, respectively, who had been placed in foster care after their father was killed and their...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Feb 4, 2015 | Stories
It started out as a reunion. Eleven-year-old Charlotte and her four siblings had been separated in 2008 and dispersed across four homes in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. They had hardly seen each other since then, so their social worker had made a...
by a1l2f3i4a5n | Dec 2, 2014 | Stories
Back in 2012, La Chantay Sheppard might have seemed an unlikely candidate to get a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). She was a straight-A high school student and an athletic standout, plus she had firm plans to go to college. But that’s exactly what...
by CASA of Los Angeles | Nov 10, 2014 | Stories
Four years ago, De’Shan Jones, then 15, didn’t think much of school. “I don’t know how I graduated eighth grade, but I did,” he remembers. “Going into high school, my mindset was ‘I’m just going to push through, do the...
