Court Appointed Special Advocates of Los Angeles is hosting its first virtual seminar on early childhood, in partnership with the Atlas Family Foundation, “Advocating for Young Children in Child Welfare.”

The seminar began on Friday, Oct. 16, and continues on Oct. 23 and 30. The sessions last from noon to 2 p.m. 

The first panel, on Oct. 23, will include a variety of professionals in Los Angeles who support and collaborate with parents whose young children are in the child-welfare system. The panelists are Dennis Smeal, executive director of Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers; Richard Cohen, who currently focuses his work on fatherhood engagement with young children; Michelle Rosemond, who will be discussing the Volunteer Cultural Brokers program to support African American/Black parents in the child welfare system; the Rev. John Jefferson, Del Aire Church, who is a volunteer cultural broker; and Ambyr Rose, a lead community wide partner with Parents In Partnership, a program that matches parents with lived experience in the system with parents who currently have children in the child-welfare system.

The second panel will be speaking on Oct. 30 about the social and emotional health of young children in the child welfare system.  The panelists include Adriana Molina, chief program officer for Allies for Every Child; Charity Vasquez, director for Master of Science in Child Life program at Azusa Pacific University; Griselda Hernandez, social-emotional coordinator, South Central Los Angeles Regional Center; and Kathy Malaske-Samu, former director, Office of Child Care for Los Angeles County and a current CASA.

“We are hosting this event at a particular time in history, when all children, and especially young children in vital stages of development, are experiencing unprecedented circumstances due to COVID and other factors,” CASA/LA CEO Wende Julien said. “We encourage professionals, journalists and even just foster and biological parents to take part in this series of seminars for the betterment of children across L.A. County.”

CASA/LA is a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of children in the child-welfare system of Los Angeles County who have experienced abuse and neglect. CASA volunteers deal with a range of challenges that impact the lives of Los Angeles’ 30,000-plus children in the dependency court system.

To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4TBwEWBGQtKdz1tIoE8iQg.

For information, visit casala.org.