Los Angeles Needs Safe Spaces for Jewish Foster Children
So many Jewish parents who face crises worry about losing their kids to the government foster care system, so they stay silent. We really wanted to help.
So many Jewish parents who face crises worry about losing their kids to the government foster care system, so they stay silent. We really wanted to help.
As of October of this year, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill granting all transgender children in foster care the right to placement consistent with their gender identity, regardless of the sex listed in government records, California’s social service agencies were obliged to rewrite policies to plan for a more inclusive future.
For 18 years, Harriet Zaretsky has been devoting her time to helping the abused, abandoned and neglected foster children that the rest of society tends to forget.
A Canadian court ordered the fringe haredi Orthodox Lev Tahor sect to turn over as many as 13 of its children to authorities after some of its members appeared to have fled the country.\n
Two weeks ago, John turned 18. Two weeks before that he was arrested for threatening to beat up a boy in his group home. And it has only been six weeks since his 19-year-old girlfriend gave birth to his baby. The arrest warrant is the most immediate problem. But looming greater is the day, coming soon, when he ages out of the foster care system and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) will terminate his case.
Just off Motor Avenue in West Los Angeles, about where cars shoot out from under the 10, a simple sign points the way onto the campus of Vista del Mar Child and Family Services. Go fast and you\’ll miss the sign and the 17.5 acres beyond it of bungalows, recreation areas and service buildings.
White Oleander\nBy Janet Fitch\n\nLittle, Brown, $24..\n\nWhen author Janet Fitch was 9, her longtime friend disappeared into the netherworld of the Los Angeles foster care system.
Vista Del Mar and Family Services and DIVE! restaurant are teaming up for a holiday toy drive. Bring an unwrapped toy to the Century City restaurant between Nov. 28 and Dec. 22, and you\’ll receive 10 percent off your total lunch or dinner check.