First 5 Kern: Keeping

by Victoria Limbean, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance D URING THEIR FEBRUARY 2020 meeting, First 5 Kern Commissioners approved 5-year continued funding for 37 programs that have a demonstrated hisory in benefitting the health and well-being of Kern County children, ages 0-5. Two of the programs selected for continued funding, the Domestic Violence Reduction Project and the Guardianshop Caregiver Project, are administered by Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Inc. (GBLA). First 5 Kern’s Executive Director, Roland Maier, shared that “First 5 Kern has partnered with GBLA for over 10 years now, and I am honored to continue serving together to benefit otherwise underserved children and families here in Kern County.” A little bit about the programs: GBLA’s Domestic Violence Reduction Project (DVRP) provides a wide-range of legal services to ensure that each year at least 172 children, ages 0-5, are safe and no longer subjected to violence in the home. Violence in the home has significant negative emotional and physical impacts on children. Symptoms in children exposed to violence in the home are well documented and include enduring effects on cognitive development; poor coping skills; poor eating habits; high emotional and psychological distress; poor school performance; engagement in criminal behavior later in life; and much more. The DVRP co-locates at the Family Justice Center (FJC) where an array of specialized services focused on domestic violence are provided to children and their families by a network of highly competent partners in one safe, caring, and confidential environment. Victims of family violence obtain coordinated legal, social, and health services all under one roof. Due to the DVRP’s legal services and close coordination with FJC partners, children are kept emotionally and physically safe while further exposure to domestic violence is prevented. abuse and/or neglect. Reasons for grandparents and other caregivers stepping in include parental substance abuse, neglect, abuse, domestic violence, abandonment, parent(s) are incarcerated, physical and mental illness, teen pregnancy, AIDS, and death of parent. The majority of cases seen by the GCP involve domestic violence and drugs. Without a legal guardianship, grandparents and other caregivers are unable to do the day-to-day activities that parents take for granted such as enroll children in school and sign for medical treatment. The GCP serves as a resource for programs using the “Differential Response” (DR) approach. The DR approach involves a network of agencies working together to effectively respond to reports of child abuse and neglect. For example, instead of taking children out of their high-risk households and placing them into an already overburdened dependency system and foster care, agencies using the DR approach, such as CPS, refer caregivers to the GCP to obtain a legal guardianship. The legal process of obtaining a guardianship ensures children live with a caregiver who has the ability and disposition to provide a supportive, safe, and loving home. Toward the end of cases, both the DVRP and GCP administer a First 5 Kern approved evaluation that helps measure the impact GBLA legal services have made on children and their families. Result indicators such as child safety, child stability, peace of mind, knowledge of rights and obligations demonstrate that both Projects are helping to turn the curve. GBLA’s Executive Director, Estela Casas adds, “On behalf of the children, who have been subjected to abuse and neglect in their very young lives, we want to give a heartfelt thank you to First 5 Kern. We could not do this important work without First 5’s continued support and partnership.”

RES IPSA LOQUITUR GBLA’s Guardianship Caregiver Project (GCP) provides legal services to grandparents and other caregivers seeking a legal guardianship to ensure that each year at least 200 children, ages 0-5, are safe and no longer subjected to substantiated child If you are an attorney wishing to volunteer with one or more of the Projects (or thinking you might like to volunteer and would like more information), please contact Cynthia Bradshaw with GBLA’s Volunteer Attorney Program of Kern County at (661) 321-3996.