Juvenile Justice Conference: Supporting Dual Status Youth

CASA of Los Angeles presents

Conference Agenda D A Y 1 / T HURSDAY JUNE 10

Supporting Dual Status Youth: Intersections In Advocacy VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

Welcome

12:00 PM-12:20 PM

Kent Mendoza

12:20 PM-1:10 PM

Denise Herz

1:15 PM-2:15 PM

BREAK

2:15 PM-2:30 PM

Panel Discussion

2:30-4:30 PM

Dual Status Youth with LGBTQQ2+ Identities

Closing Remarks

4:30-4:35 PM

D A Y 2 / FRIDAY JUNE 11 Panel Discussion

12:00 PM-1:50 PM

Non-Minor Dependents and the Adult Criminal Justice System BREAK

1:50 PM-2:05 PM

Panel Discussion

2:05 PM-4:05 PM

Dual Status Youth and Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Wendelyn Julien

4:05 PM-4:50 PM

Closing Remarks

4:50 PM-4:55 PM

KEYNOTE/PRESENTER

SPEAKERS

Kent Mendoza

Wendelyn Julien

Denise C. Herz, Ph.D.

HE/HIM

SHE/HER

SHE/HER

Manager of Advocacy and Community Organizing at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Executive Director, Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission

Professor, School of Criminal Justice & Criminalistics, Cal State Los Angeles

Kent Mendoza was born in Mexico but migrated to the United States at the age of six. He grew up in Los Angeles County where at an early age he was exposed to gangs, drugs and violence. He joined a gang at the age of fourteen and was incarcerated at fifteen and served time in a probation camp. At the age of seventeen, he was tried as an adult and faced a prison life sentence. Kent was instead sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for 7 years where he served a total of 5 years incarcerated. Kent was released from Immigrating Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold on April 9th, 2014.

Wendelyn (Wende) Julien was selected by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in January of 2021 to lead the newly formed Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission as its first Executive Director. In this role, Wende oversees a nine-person citizen commission and a team of staff that will guide and enforce much needed reform and culture change in the nation’s largest probation department including closing all of the County’s juvenile halls and camps within the next five years.

Prior to joining the County, Wende served as the CEO of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Los Angeles for nearly five years, during which time the number of children served with CASA one-onone advocacy increased from 800 to 1,400 and she launched significant initiatives to stabilize CASA/ LA’s finances, move CASA/LA towards becoming an actively anti-racist organization, and serve youth in the juvenile justice system with CASA advocacy services. Prior to CASA/LA, Wende served as the Executive Director of the California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ, formerly NCCJ), where she worked in many roles including as a youth development specialist and facilitator of programs for thousands of youth, teachers, police officers and community members in human relations, elimination of bias, conflict resolution, and restorative justice.

Wende is an attorney who worked at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and as a law clerk with Public Counsel. She holds a J.D. from USC, an M.P.A. from Arizona State University and a B.A./B.S. from University of Arizona.

Wende began her career as a community organizer and remains dedicated to the belief that communities know what they need and that community safety and progress come through healing, restorative practices, equity, and access to resources. Fluent in Spanish, Wende is a certified mediator, a CASA volunteer, and her proudest title is that of mom/adopted mom/ foster mom/auntie/mentor to a crew of incredible children, teens and adults.

Denise Herz, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Criminal Justice & Criminalistics at Cal State Los Angeles and Research Director for the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Research & Evaluation Team. Her primary areas of research include building integrated systems to improve outcomes for dual system youth and building research-topractice feedback loops for comprehensive gang programming. Dr. Herz collaborates with the courts, probation, and child services in Los Angeles County to research dual system youth and improve practices to improve their outcomes. Currently, she co-leads the Los Angeles County Dual Status Workgroup with Judge Michael Nash, Executive Director of the Office of Child Protection. At the national level, she has served as a consultant to the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, participating in many initiatives including leading the development and implementation of the Crossover Youth Practice Model Research Component. Most recently, she was Co-PI for and completed the OJJDP Dual System Youth Design Study. Dr. Herz received her MA and Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Maryland at College Park.

(OPENING KEYNOTE)

Kent Mendoza is the Manager of Advocacy and Community Organizing at the Anti-Recidivism (ARC). Prior to working at ARC, Kent worked at the LA Area Chamber of Commerce on smart justice issues. He was appointed to CA’s State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (SACJJDP) in November 2016. He held several positions at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce from 2014 to 2016, including Senior Administrative Assistant, Assistant, and intern.

While working at the Chamber on smart justice issues, he successfully completed the 2015 Commission Training Program offered by the Wally Mark Leadership Institute from the Liberty Hill Foundation. Kent is also the Spokespersons for the Campaign For Youth Justice (CFYJ) based out of Washington D.C. Kent was appointed to serve as a community representative for the fifth supervisorial district to the Los Angeles Countywide Juvenile Justices Coordinated Council (JJCC) in 2018, and was reappointed in 2020. Kent is also a 2018 Aspen Institute Ricardo Salinas Scholar Alumni.

Most recently, Kent was a leading consultant with the Haywood Burns Institute (BI) who helped on LA County’s Youth Justice Work Group’s which developed a Youth Justice Reimanged report that serves as a blueprint for how LA County can move all youth out of the probation department into one of care and youth development.

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(CLOSING KEYNOTE)

(PRESENTER)

LGBTQQ2+

SPEAKERS

MODERATOR

Michelle Neumann

Gia R. Olaes Miramontes

Aisha Canfield-Allen (Ai-sha)

SHE/HER

SHE/HER AND THEY/THEM

SHE/HER

Advocate Supervisor at CASA of Los Angeles

Field Coordinator NHBS-Trans Research and Evaluation Planning, Development and Research Division of HIV and STD Programs

Director, Ceres Policy Research

Michelle Neumann, has been an Advocate Supervisor at CASA of Los Angeles for over 2 years. Michelle is also a CASA volunteer for their Essential History Program as well current lead for their LGBTQQ2+ Committee. CASA/LA’s LGBTQQ2+ Committee is dedicated to ensuring that the organization remains a comprehensive ally to those who identify as LGBTQQ2+. The Committee is focused on providing ongoing training, resources, and opportunities to CASA staff, volunteers and the young people they serve.

Before her time at CASA/LA Michelle supported foster youth with policy advocacy at California Youth Connection as well as taught current/former foster youth college success skills at CRCD’S/LA Trade Tech program “Project Tipping Point”. Michelle has an MSW degree from USC’ School of Social Work with an emphasis on Community Organizing, Planning and Administration.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Through the Department of Public Health, Gia is an advocate for the well-being of the TGI (Trans/Gender Nonbinary/Intersex) community. Additionally, Gia works as Reentry Counselor responding to those in the LGBTQI2-S community who are impacted by incarceration. Serving with the Transgender Service Provider Network and the LA Transgender Advisory Council, Gia hopes to actively create progressive & inclusive change in policy for TGI identities with a focus on proper Gender Affirming care. Gia also sings with the Trans Chorus of LA and continues to support gender & sexual diverse artistic expression.

Sam Bernstein HE/HIM

Court Appointed Special Advocate at CASA of Los Angeles Samuel Garza Bernstein’s 30-year writing career has included working in film, television drama, children’s television, musical and non-musical theatre, and fiction and non-fiction books. His latest project in development centers on a gender-fluid tween. He has volunteered with LBGTQIA+ youth for much of his adult life. Presently he is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children, working with trans teenagers, two of whom have had concurrent delinquency court cases. He also spent 12 years as a rap group facilitator for kids aged 13-21 at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

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For almost a decade, Aisha has conducted research on the disproportionate detention of LGBQ/GNCT BIPOC youth and their pathways into the justice system. Her research was the first to establish that 20% of youth in juvenile detention facilities nationally are LGBTQ and that 85% of those youth are also BIPOC. With a growing need for jurisdiction-specific data, Aisha also provides training and technical assistance to juvenile probation departments to improve data collection processes that allow agencies to give youth an opportunity to disclose their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). Additionally, Aisha serves as an evaluation partner to community-based organizations who are serving as healing alternatives to traditional justice system responses for LGBQ/GNCT youth of color. Through her work, Aisha seeks to reclaim research and data as accessible advocacy tools for BIPOC youth, their families, communities and the practitioners working on behalf of their well-being and liberation. Aisha is reminded of the importance of creating thriving and liberated communities through her own journey as a Black and queer mother to her empathic and unashamedly confident threeyear-old daughter.

LGBTQQ2+

SPEAKERS

Bianca D. M. Wilson

AJ Young

Timothy (Timo) Vallez, ASW

SHE/HER

SHE/HER AND THEY/THEM

HE/HIM

Senior Scholar of Public Policy, UCLA Williams Institute

Associate Justice Deputy & Special Projects Supervisor Sheila Kuehl

DPO II, Los Angeles County Probation, Residential Treatment Services Bureau

Bianca D.M. Wilson, Ph.D., is the Rabbi Zacky Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. Her research focuses primarily on system-involved LGBTQ youth, LGBT poverty, and sexual health among queer women. In addition to multiple peer-reviewed and institution-published reports, she co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Lesbian Studies that featured a multidisciplinary collection of work on health and other topics from the perspectives of Black Lesbians in the U.S., Caribbean, and South Africa. She earned a doctorate in Psychology from the Community and Prevention Research program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with a minor in Statistics, Methods, and Measurement, and received postdoctoral training at the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies and the UCSF Lesbian Health and Research Center through an Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) postdoctoral fellowship.

AJ Young serves as an Associate Justice Deputy for LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. Her areas of focus are LGBTQ+ communities and juvenile justice. AJ has over a decade of experience working with youth facing a variety of challenges, including homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, trauma, and developmental disabilities.

Timothy Vallez is a 32-year veteran with the Los Angeles County Probation Department in the Residential Treatment Services Bureau. Mr. Vallez is also an ardent advocate for LGBTQ+ youth in detention and is the department’s subject matter expert for LGBTQ+ related topics. He also represents the Department on the Inter-County Agency LGBTQ Steering Committee. In addition to working for probation, Tim was an Associate Clinical Social Worker for La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center.

La Fuente is a leader in LGBT focused residential substance abuse treatment. Mr. Vallez has served on the joint County of Los Angeles/City of Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Domestic Violence Task Force and the LGBTQ+ Youth in Detention Task Force. Currently he is on the LGBTQ+ Youth Advisory Council and is a board member on the Los Angeles County LGBTQ+ Child Abuse Council. He has presented on LGBTQ+ Youth in Detention as a guest lecturer at Luskin School of Public Policy, University of California Los Angeles, CSUN and CSULA.

Kris Mady HE/HIM AND THEY/THEM

Senior Program Officer, Just Detention International Kris Mady is a Senior Program Officer at Just Detention International (JDI). Kris has extensive experience serving the LGBTQ+ community and survivors of sexual violence through policy work, community organizing, and direct services. At JDI, Kris helps ensure that incarcerated survivors of sexual abuse can receive services to help them heal by bringing together corrections agencies and community rape crisis centers. Kris also provides support to survivors inside detention facilities and responds to letters and crisis calls.

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She has extensive direct service experience in nonprofits and schools—where she learned the value of building authentic relationships and tapping into the unique strengths of individuals and communities.

AJ holds a BA in Critical Gender Studies from UC San Diego and an MSW with a concentration in community-based practice from Portland State University. She is interested in people’s stories and using the power of relationship and connection to change culture and systems.

Mr. Vallez graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 1988 and from California State University Los Angeles with a Master of Social Work in June of 2016. In 2018 he completed a certificate program from the Mc Court School of Public Policy, Georgetown University in Supporting LGBTQ Youth.

CSE

SPEAKERS

MODERATOR

Arlene Anguiano, MSW

Amber Davies, MSW, LCSW

Michelle Henderson

SHE/HER

SHE/HER

SHE/HER

Advocate Supervisor at CASA of Los Angeles

Senior Director of Clinical Programs at Saving Innocence

Attorney, Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender

Amber is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, currently the Senior Director of Clinical Programs at Saving Innocence. Amber began her career working in group homes and alongside law enforcement in a juvenile diversion program before becoming licensed in 2011.

Her professional roles include a therapist for foster youth, a professor of social work education and Team Leader, managing teams both locally and in Australia.

As a part of Saving Innocence since 2014, Amber oversees a team of advocates, a foster family agency, and trains providers and front-line professionals in supporting Commercially Sexually Exploited Children and Youth (CSECY). She serves on the Advisory Board for Ho`ola Na Pua, a sister organization supporting CSEC survivors throughout Hawaii. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Westmont College, and a Master of Social Work degree from California State University, Long Beach. She is passionate about creating and sustaining healing environments for survivors, as well as promoting survivor leadership.

Michelle is the Alternate Public Defender (“APD”) assigned to Compton Juvenile’s STAR Court. STAR Court is the only juvenile justice courtroom in Los Angeles County specially designed to help dually involved human-trafficking survivors.

Arlene Anguiano, MSW, is an Advocate Supervisor at CASA of Los Angeles for four years. Arlene received a Master’s in Social Work from San Diego State University, and a Bachelor’s in Social Work from California State University, Los Angeles. She has 15 years of experience working with children in the foster care system by helping them find stability and supporting them through adulthood. In addition, Arlene has completed additional training in the field of adoption and related subjects. Her passion is finding and implementing services to meet the needs of the children and the families she proudly serves.

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In her capacity as STAR Court’s APD, Michelle collaboratively works with Los Angeles County agencies (such as Probation, Department of Mental Health and Department of Public Health) as well as Victim Advocacy groups to help transition youth out of “the life” and connect them to educational, therapeutic and career services. Michelle is also responsible for providing courtroom advocacy for her clients who must testify against their traffickers in adult court. Michelle enjoys working closely with her youth and finds tremendous satisfaction helping them transition from probation to adulthood.

Michelle received her Bachelor’s degrees in Criminology, Law and Society and African American Studies from The University of California – Irvine and received her Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern Law School – Los Angeles.

CSE

SPEAKERS

Temica Wofford

Betty Liu

SHE/HER

SHE/HER

ZOE Home for Youth STRTP Administrator

Court Appointed Special Advocate at CASA of Los Angeles

Temica Wofford began serving in social services in 2003 upon receiving her B.A. in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University; she went on to receive her Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling to help further address the mental health needs of the youth and families she served. Temica brings a wealth of knowledge and experience having served youth in the foster care and juvenile probation systems in various roles in Atlanta, Chicago and now Los Angeles providing prevention and intervention services in community and school-based settings.

In 2015, Temica started the nonprofit organization Loving Me: Empowering Girls to Love Themselves Unconditionally, to provide advocacy and resources that address the hair care needs of foster and probation youth. Temica became a Word on the Street curriculum facilitator in an effort to raise awareness about human trafficking in the faith based and African American communities. She served as a CARE Case Manager at the Children’s Law Center in a unique role providing advocacy for Dual Status and CSEC youth while training MSW interns how to navigate the dependency and delinquency systems.

She sits on the board of directors of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice. Temica is currently the S.T.R.T.P. Administrator at ZOE Home for Youth, a program designed to bring restoration and healing to female identified youth impacted by human trafficking.

Betty has been a CASA LA volunteer since the summer of 2017. She currently works with a 19- and a 15-year-old youth. As an advocate, Betty collaborates with the Los Angeles mental health and the publicschool systems to ensure that the youths receive all necessary services. She has experience navigating both the dependency and juvenile justice system and supporting families.

Originally from Taiwan, Betty holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of North Carolina and has published scientific literature on cancer biology and neuroscience. Currently, she is a Senior Program Officer at the W. M. Keck Foundation, where she evaluates grant applications from academic researchers around the country. By supporting scientist’s work, Betty hopes to lay the groundwork for breakthrough discoveries and new technologies.

In her free time, she loves to hike and explore ways to integrate art and science.

Tiffani Cortez SHE/HER

Children’s Law Center of California, CSEC Attorney Supervisor Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Specialized Program Tiffani Cortez is a supervising attorney at the Children’s Law Center of California (CLC), where she has represented children in the foster care system since August 2013. In February of 2016, she became the first CSEC Attorney and began exclusively representing youth in the foster care system who were being commercial sexually exploited in 6

the newly opened DREAM court (Dedication to Restoration through Empowerment, Advocacy and Mentoring). She has presented at numerous trainings and conferences on the topic of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, including the impact on gay males and transgender females, as well as CSEC youth who become parents. She has presented conferences such as NACC, NCJFCJ, and Beyond the Bench. She has also been a lecturer in the Pan African Studies Department at California State University, Los Angeles. In 2020, she became the CSEC Attorney Supervisor, along with supervising Transitional Age Youth and Parent Support Case Managers. She is both a Wolverine and a Bruin, and earned her J.D. in 2012 from the University of Michigan, her Masters in Elementary Education from Loyola Marymount University in 2009, and her B.A. in African American Studies with a Political Science minor in 2003.

Emara Tims SHE/HER

Emara Tims is a part time college student and a full-time mom to two beautiful children, Tayari (6) and Tony (3). She entered the foster care system when she was 11 years old and currently uses her experiences with DCFS and CSEC as a means to empower and strengthen herself and her community.

Emara participated in many different systems while in foster care, like Saving Innocence, DREAM Court, STAR Court, CLC and Probation CTU. She’s currently studying Administration of Justice at Bakersfield College because she believes that the young people who experience the Juvenile Justice System deserve true justice. Emara completed the Survivor Leadership Academy for Youth (through Saving Innocence) in April 2020 and was on the UCLA Youth Advisory Board from 2018-2020. She also participates in monthly Saving Innocence RFA Informationals as a Lived Experience Expert to provide insight and inspiration to prospective resource families. She desires to make the world a better place for her own 2 children and your youth who are experiencing trafficking and foster care.

NMD

SPEAKERS

MODERATOR

Christian Gudiel

Andrea Lane Eastman

Susana E. Juarez

HE/HIM

SHE/HER

SHE/HER

Youth Navigator Coalition for Engaged Education

Andrea Lane Eastman, PhD Research Assistant Professor Children’s Data Network Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work University of Southern California

Law Offices of the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender

As a juvenile, I have always had difficult times remaining at a single school. I was always someone who would go in and out of juvenile halls and camps, kicked out of many schools, raised without a father figure and with a mother who struggled financially and with 3 kids. I was not sure whether ill even graduate on time, but luckily, I did. I, myself felt the same financial struggle my mom went through, so I committed myself on seeking a job. I have always wanted a job in which I can learn skills and apply them into real life situations. Throughout my entire working era even up to now, I have managed to learn different skills, such as cooking, maintenance and repairing, customer service and hospitality, work with security systems and even up to sales. Aside from the skills I have gained, I have even become a father myself to 2 beautiful kids: a girl and a boy.

Throughout my entire life, I have faced many obstacles in which at first, I never had a clue on how to resolve them. But up to know, I have learned to see how responsibilities feel like and how to manage them. I have learned how to help my family in many ways, such as cooking for them, repairing appliances for them, assist them with more technological things and even helping them financially. I have even been blessed on getting the chance on becoming that father that I never had. These very same obstacles have given me a different view on life and has taught me what real responsibilities feel like, along with discipline, which to me are 2 new skills I have learned. Now I am learning how to use these skills on applying them into my everyday life and to continue helping my family, including others as well. With this, I plan on continuing my education and work alongside others who have gone through similar life situations.

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Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level racial and income disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning vulnerable youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems.

Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since July 2019.

Her scholarship has been informed by her previous work in the California State Senate where she served as a legislative aide and committee consultant on several state initiatives surrounding health and human services and public safety. She is currently leading a portfolio of research for the USC Children’s Data Network funded through grants from the Reissa Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and stewarding a data partnership with the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Eastman graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology and received her MA in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine. While obtaining her MA, Eastman worked as a therapist trainee for victims and perpetrators of child maltreatment.

Deputy in Charge – Juvenile Division Susana E. Juarez is the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico. She is the first in her family to attend college. She attended California State University, Los Angeles where she graduated cum laude with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Economics; all while working a full-time job to finance her undergraduate education.

Ms. Juarez was encouraged by her undergraduate professor Marc Dollinger to pursue her dream of going to law school and becoming an advocate to protect the most vulnerable members of society.

Susana received her J.D. from Loyola Law School where she served as a board member for La Raza de Loyola and the Criminal Law Society. She was an active participant in the Women’s Law Society.

At Loyola, Ms. Juarez was selected to participate in the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy as a legal advocate on behalf of children & youth charged with criminal offenses. It was at this time that Ms. Juarez became committed to protecting the rights of the accused who were prosecuted in criminal court.

Upon graduating from law school, Ms. Juarez became an attorney with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. In 2013 she joined the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office where she continues to advocate on behalf of indigent clients as a felony trial attorney and Deputy in Charge of the Juvenile Division

NMD

SPEAKERS

Justan Torres

Julian Adame

Felix Tunador

HE/HIM

HE/HIM

HE/HIM

Coalition for Engaged Communication.

Community Counselor.

Youth Navigator at Coalition for Engaged Education

LA County Department of Health Services, Reentry Program Manager

Justan Torres has been involved in community activism all throughout Los Angeles County for more than a decade. Growing up taking the bus all over to attend workshops, protests, and backyard Punk Rock shows, he began to build relationships with likeminded individuals and groups that believed underrepresented communities were entitled to a higher quality of life. Attending undergraduate school and then graduate school at Cal State LA and majoring in the field of social work, he developed a love for the field of restorative justice, seeing it as a tool for healing and empowering communities.

Presently, whether it be in one on one counseling sessions or teaching screen printing to a group of students, he does his best to incorporate these restorative principles and practices at the Coalition for Engaged Education.

Julian Adame, 18 years old, grew up in Hollywood being a sibling of four. At a young age Julian was system impacted, but this hasn’t stopped him. He is now attending Santa Monica College and aims to pursue a higher education in Sociology. He is aiming to transfer to a four-year university and eventually graduate with his Masters in Social Work.

Felix Tunador is a Reentry Program Manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ Whole Person Care pilot. He works within Correctional Health Services at the LA County jails to ensure patients with high risk medical and mental health conditions are provided with Medicaid activation, release medications, and continuity of care within the community once they leave the jail.

Tunador’s work focuses on the social determinants of health, with an interest in the confluence of sexual orientation, gender identity and the justice system.

He holds a Masters in Sociology from the University of Connecticut with foci on gender and sexuality, immigration, transition to adulthood, and health.

In addition, Julian Adame is a Youth Navigator for the Coalition for Engaged Education. He joined the Coalition for Engaged Education to help others, with the same assistance he received. As a youth navigator, he enjoys working with other youth, motivating them and being the connection between the youth and the program.

Furthermore, Julian enjoys being a role model and being able to relate to most of the youth. Julian hopes to continually grow as a person and help others grow.

Bob Perkins HE/HIM

Lindsay C. Verity SHE/HER

Children’s Law Center of California, Attorney Lindsay Verity is an attorney with the Children’s Law Center of California who specializes in representing non-minor dependent foster youth. She has worked on policy issues impacting youth in foster care and spoke to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors regarding youth who experience homelessness while in foster care. Prior to moving to California, she was the Legal Director for the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless and spent more than ten years handling adoptions and related poverty law issues with Atlanta Legal Aid. Her work there included testifying to amend proposed adoption legislative changes to minimize their impact on low-income families.

Additionally, she was the president of the Georgia Assocation for Women Lawyers. Lindsay attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Law and obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Court Appointed Special Advocate at CASA of Los Angeles Bob Perkins, a CASA for 10 years, has focused his advocacy on transition-age youth. Bob’s retired, but has worked as a submariner, a handyman, a typist, a lawyer and a teacher. Married with two adult kids, his hobbies include senior softball and his Poetry Circle.