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1990 - Rock 'n' Roller Del Shannon, whose hit "Runaway" topped the charts in April 1961, found dead at home in Sand Canyon [story]
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| Thursday, Sep 13, 2018
Deputy Public Defender Celia Benitez-Balderrama of CARE represents a youth in Commissioner Robert Totten's courtroom inside the Eastlake Juvenile Courthouse.

 

The Los Angeles County Public Defender’s holistic approach to juvenile legal services has won the LA County Quality and Productivity Commission’s coveted Mega Million Dollar Award.

Called Client Assessment Recommendation and Evaluation (CARE), this Juvenile Division program extends legal representation to include advocacy and service linkage. To greatly reduce recidivism, youths work with their trial lawyer in addition to in-house clinical social workers and resource attorneys who specialize in mental health and educational advocacy.

The award is given to the program that generates the most cost savings, cost avoidance and/or revenue for the County.

Since 1999, CARE has assessed and linked clients to critical services related to mental illness, intellectual or developmental disability, special education, commercial sexual exploitation, homelessness, trauma, abuse and neglect. After analyzing 886 youths who received services and 1,224 who did not, an independent study conducted by Resource Development Associates found that CARE clients had significantly less repeat contact with the juvenile justice system.

A former client spoke highly of the program and the CARE social worker assigned to him.

“She was like a mentor basically … She made me think about my actions and start taking advice … and thinking before you do something,” he said. “She made me start thinking about my future.”

Since its inception, CARE has assisted on average 1,350 youths each year and some 20,000 children overall.

In 2005, CARE was voted Program of the Year by the California Public Defenders Association and in 2008, CARE received the California Council on Mentally Ill Offenders (COMIO) “Best Practices” Award.

COMIO was created by the legislature in 2001 “to investigate and promote cost-effective approaches to meeting the long-term needs of adults and juveniles with mental disorders who are likely to become offenders or who have a history of offending.”

The LA County Public Defender’s Office launched its holistic approach — expanding its legal efforts to include connecting clients to resources — in the late 1990s. The approach was implemented in the Mental Health Court to include social workers then to the Juvenile Division with the creation of CARE.

The 2018 Productivity and Quality Awards Program will take place Wednesday, Oct. 10 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Music Center’s Grand Hall.

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LOS ANGELES COUNTY HEADLINES
Thursday, Feb 6, 2025
Federal, state and local agencies will come together to host an informative webinar, "Understanding Air Quality After the L.A. Fires" on air quality impacts in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires.
Thursday, Feb 6, 2025
Join Los Angeles County parks as they celebrates Black History Month. From Feb. 13–28, the parks invite you to honor the achievements, contributions and resilience of black Americans through an exciting lineup of workshops, art exhibits, music, storytelling and community events.
Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025
The Department of Animal Care and Control has announced that the Castaic Animal Care Center has reopened its doors to the community after a temporary closure due to the recent Hughes Fire on Jan. 22.
Tuesday, Feb 4, 2025
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to the 24000 block of Woolsey Canyon Road in Chatsworth on Monday, at around 4:30 p.m. regarding a brush fire. Upon arrival, deputies saw a group of witnesses detaining a suspect. The suspect was in a prone position on the ground.
Friday, Jan 31, 2025
The South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued a residential No Burn Day Alert on the effective day(s), for all those living in the South Coast Air Basin, which includes Orange County and non-desert portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties including the Santa Clarita Valley.

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