On an otherwise ordinary afternoon in 2011, a woman in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles heard some extraordinary noises coming from outside her home. As she reached her bedroom…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
