To
offer a brief explanation, the "dependency
system", refers to all departments, agencies
and courts that evaluate, plan and make decisions
regarding the welfare of children. Children
are placed in the "system" when they
have been removed due to allegations of abuse,
neglect and/or abandonment. Sacramento Child
Advocates, as an organization, provides legal
representation to these children from the beginning
stages of removal to the child's final placement
of either reunification with his or her family,
or permanent placement outside the home.
What
makes SCA's approach to child advocacy so different
is the attorney-youth advocate social worker
model of legal representation. SCA's attorneys
collaborate with professional youth advocate
social workers (all of whom have Bachelor's
or Master's degrees in social work) to make
thorough recommendations to the court in the
best interest of the child. By combining legal
and clinical expertise, SCA is able to truly
understand the individual situation of every
child represented, and can make accurate recommendations
on their behalf to the court. This attorney-youth
advocate social worker model is imperative to
the representation of children in these special
situations because the issues involved are not
just legal, but also psychological and emotional
in nature. SCA puts an added emphasis
on making sure that the educational and mental
health needs of each child are addressed at
each hearing.
Dependency
proceedings are about determining and reducing
risk to children's physical and emotional well-being.
The stated public policy of California is that
every child is entitled to be free from physical
and emotional abuse and neglect. The goal of the
dependency system is to reduce the risk of abuse
and neglect in families so that children may safely
be maintained in their own homes.
