Advocacy, Access, Accountability for California Foster Children
What began as a handful of passionate advocates in 1993, has grown into a beacon for California's nearly 38,000 children in foster care. Advokids isn't just a nonprofit; it's a legal lifeline. Advokids provides the only free child welfare legal services and online self-help legal library for anyone concerned about a child in foster care in California. For three decades, we've been an unwavering voice, a tireless champion for those navigating the complexities of the foster care system: a foster parent trying to prevent an unnecessary move of a child in their care; a grandparent fighting to keep their grandchild within the family; an adult sibling searching for a long-lost brother.
We fight for children in foster care because every time a child enters foster care, we are presented with an incredible opportunity to make their life better. It is just not enough to keep children physically safe, we must work to ensure that they are given the opportunity to heal from the abuse or neglect that brought them into foster care. Advokids’ critical free legal services enhance the quality of life for children in foster care by preventing and mitigating stressors and loss that children often experience while in foster care and ensuring them their basic right to emotional and developmental health and wellness.
Our Mission:
Advokids fights for the right of every child in foster care in California to safety, security, and a permanent home.
Our Vision:
Advokids' envisions a future where every child in the California foster care system's physical, emotional and developmental needs are at the center of all decision-making, ensuring them the opportunity to heal and thrive.
Our Values:
- Child-Centered Advocacy: We place children’s safety, emotional security, and developmental needs at the center of our legal work.
- Access to Justice: We believe all children in foster care and their advocates deserve access to free, high-quality legal services and support.
- Accountability and Integrity: We work openly and ethically with partners and collaborators to hold child welfare systems accountable.
- Excellence in Education and Training: We equip advocates for foster children statewide with the legal tools and knowledge they need to be effective.
- Systemic Change: We leverage data and experience to identify systemic failures that harm children, and promote child welfare reform.
Our Goals:
- Make legal support accessible to families and advocates. Ensure statewide access to free legal services that protect children’s rights in juvenile dependency court.
- Increase legal literacy across the foster care community. Expand access to legal resources through our free online legal library.
- Enhance professional competency through education. Provide high-quality legal training for attorneys, social workers, relatives, and caregivers to strengthen advocacy and representation in child welfare cases.
- Advance systemic change in child welfare law and practice. Turn frontline experience into policy and reform for children in foster care.
- Build a strong network of informed advocates and volunteers. Expand volunteer engagement to strengthen legal support for foster children.
An Advokids Story:
Frequently Asked Questions
The Advokids Helpline offers the only free child welfare legal services in California for anyone concerned about a child in foster care. Advokids provides individuals with legal information, legal education, and ongoing support for navigating the child welfare system and the juvenile court dependency system on behalf of a child.
To request help, please fill out our online Helpline Intake Form. An attorney will respond within 1-3 business days.
Advokids works to protect the rights of foster children through legal advocacy, policy initiatives, and systems change efforts. The data that we gather and analyze from our cases in California counties allows us to identify trends and systemic problems at the state and local levels and propose solutions and proactive reform on behalf of all children in foster care.
In an effort to hold counties responsible, in 2024 Advokids’ attorneys co-authored a report “Out of Sight, Out of Mind: When Children in Foster Care in California Don’t Meet Their Court-Appointed Attorneys”.
Advokids offers dynamic, cutting-edge trainings for attorneys, social workers, mental health professionals, CASA volunteers, relatives, and caregivers. Our programs are designed to improve standards of representation in juvenile dependency court, strengthen understanding of local rules, state regulations, and federal laws governing child welfare cases, and promote child-centered legal advocacy.
We offer a variety of on-demand, online, and in-person trainings across California. Click on the 'Trainings' tab at the top of the page to learn more.
Every contribution helps protect and advance the rights of foster children. Support Advokids today by making a donation and help change the lives of California’s foster children. If you’re interested in volunteering your professional expertise or applying to join our board or committees, please email us at [email protected].
We are also excited to partner with corporations who are interested creating a lasting relationship. Click here to learn more about our corporate partnership program.
Yes, Advokids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Your generosity helps us protect the rights of foster children across California. You can make a one-time gift or choose to provide steady, ongoing support by setting up a monthly donation. Set up monthly donations here today! Every gift makes a difference in the life of a child.
Legal Disclaimer: Advokids provides educational information and resources to those who use our website, call our hotline, or submit requests for information via the website. Any information provided may not be construed as the giving of legal advice to any person about a particular legal matter and should not be relied upon as the basis for taking a particular action or refraining from taking a particular action in any legal matter. If you want or need legal advice about a particular legal matter, you should consult a lawyer.
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