Legal Education Program Presents:

Making California Family Code 3190

Counseling Orders Work for Your Clients

Bridging the Gap Between the Legal and Mental Health Worlds

Friday, March 2, 2012

1:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Location: Loyola Law School

Have you ever had one of these problems in your cases?

• Children  who have to be forced to see a parent?
• Kids who won’t talk to or visit with a parent?
• Difficulties obtaining an order for counseling, finding (affordable) mental health  services for a parent and child ordered into counseling, and overcoming the transportation, scheduling and other practical barriers to an order  for counseling?

If so, this certified CLE program lead by the well-regarded team of psychologist Dr. Mary Lund and family law Judge Thomas Trent Lewis is for you.

The session will cover identifying the problems; persuading the judge and the parties to address the problems through counseling; preparing an order for counseling that mental health providers can use and the courts can enforce; setting measurable outcomes for use by the court, lawyers, parties and counselors; addressing the logistics and mechanics; locating and communicating with mental health providers in a scarce economy with or without health insurance; measuring success and more.

Registration Information:

Download: Family Code 3190 Registration Form

Download: Family Code 3190 Agenda

For further information, contact cle@hbcfl.org; (213) 388-7505 ext. 320

Pre-payment required. Registration deadline: February 24, 2012. Cost includes materials and refreshments.

$35 Active Harriett Buhai  Center volunteers (50hours during the last 12 months)

$50 Non-profit legal aid providers, self help court personnel, government agencies

$125 All others

The Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. The Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law certifies that this activity has been approved for 2.75 MCLE credits by the State Bar.

To read the full LA Times article follow this link: www.latimes.com/health/la-me-prisoners-mentalhealth-20120109,0,4970554.story

Below is a letter written to the LA Times by Harriett Buhai Staff Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow Katherine Ojeda Stewart regarding the Center’s Family Reunification Reentry Project and The Family and Mental Health Law Project, which address the needs outlined in the article:

“Dear Ms. Gorman:

I am writing in response to your article on the L.A. Times website regarding the return of California state prisoners with mental illnesses to L.A. County. The article stood out to me as I work at the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law here in Los Angeles, which is a non-profit that provides free family law services to low-income persons. From September 2009 through the end of 2010, the Center provided direct legal assistance to 1,554 families with critical family law problems including domestic violence, which is an issue that arises in eighty (80%) of the Center’s cases. Women of color comprised the majority of clients and the families served included over 2,000 children. Included in these statistics are parents who are impacted by the criminal justice system and/or parents who have mental health illnesses or mental disabilities. These parents come to our Center seeking legal assistance with maintaining or reestablishing legal relationships with their children.

We were particularly interested in your article as it highlights the relationship between incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and their need for mental health services. I was happy to see that you specifically addressed the fact that people living with mental health illness often have a more difficult time linking to the services they desperately need. In our own practice, we see that family law legal services and legal education can make a dramatic impact on a formerly incarcerated parent’s life and the life of a parent living with a mental illness. Moreover, as studies demonstrate, maintaining family ties is concretely linked to lowered rates of recidivism and a successful reentry experience overall.

As I stated above, we have two specially designated projects at the Harriett Buhai Center that address the family law legal needs of parents who are impacted by incarceration and realignment, as well as parents with mental health illnesses or disabilities. Our practice consistently shows that parents who are impacted by incarceration are also living with mental health illnesses, mental disabilities, drug addictions, and histories of trauma.

Our first project, which is led by myself, the Family Reunification Reentry Project, is a direct legal services and community legal education program that works with formerly incarcerated women. Through this project, the Center provides legal education workshops on custody and visitation principles to formerly incarcerated women. The workshop is designed to address the barriers that many of these women face to maintaining and re-building legal relationships with their children as a result of their incarceration. The program also provides direct legal services, including case assessment, advice and counsel, preparation of legal documents and papers, representation in court, and case management. These services are available to formerly incarcerated women with custody and visitation disputes in family court (divorce, paternity, restraining order, and custody/visitation modification cases) and probate court (guardianship cases).

Our second project, which is led by Jackie Klein, The Family and Mental Health Law Project, provides family law assistance to parents with mental health illnesses and disabilities in cases involving custody and visitation. The project aims to dispel stigma by both focusing on a parent’s abilities and assisting parents with demonstrating to the Court that custody or visitation with that parent is in the child’s best interests.

What is unique about the Center is that these two projects aim to specialize in working with these two – and often overlapping –specific parent populations, whose needs are often greater in many aspects of their lives, and, the two projects are able to work in concert with one another. Through these two projects we are working to fill a critical gap in family law legal services in Los Angeles for parents impacted by incarceration and/or mental illness.

Thank you for your work on bringing attention to this very important issue. At the Harriett Buhai Center, our dedicated team faces the challenge to provide quality and empowering legal services and education to parents who are the most underserved and at the farthest margins of our society each day. We would be happy to provide you with more information as to either project. I run the Family Reunification Reentry Project and can be reached via email at info@hbcfl.org. Jackie Klein, who heads the Family and Mental Health Law Project, can also be reached at info@hbcfl.org.

Best,

Katherine Ojeda Stewart

Equal Justice Works Fellow/Staff Attorney

Family Reunification Reentry Project

Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law”

“Several years ago, I was trapped in a bad marriage. My ex husband was very controlling and emotionally abusive. He would often drink, get into rages, shout and kick things around in order to intimidate and threaten me. It worked. I felt weak and afraid.

I recall an incident, which was terrifying for me at the time, but which I can talk about today with ease. One weekend night, when I knew my husband would be coming home drunk; I went to sleep in my children’s bedroom so that I could hide and protect myself from his abuse. When my ex got home, he began looking for me, stumbling around, pulling the covers off the beds in the children’s’ room where my mother, who lived with us, was also sleeping. My husband’s violent mood turned to shock after he pulled back the covers, expecting to find me, and then he saw his mother in law glaring at him!

At the time, I tried to shield our sons from my troubles, but even so there are some things you just cannot hide. This was not the life I wanted for me or my boys, but I saw no way out. I was reluctant to get divorced because I had two young children and my mother to care for. I feared for our safety and economic security, I feared community rejection, but most of all I feared that I would lose my children because my husband had always threatened that he would take them away if I ever tried to leave him.

I didn’t know what to do or where to go to find help. I had spent a few hundred dollars at a paralegal agency that prepared papers to start a case for me, but they did a poor job. And then, when I had almost lost hope, a door opened for me because I had the good fortune to work for Blanche Bersch, who was on the Harriett Buhai Center Board of Directors. I feel truly blessed to have found the Center with the help of Blanche, as this really was the catalyst for change in my life.

The staff at the Buhai Center educated me about my legal rights and gave me all the tools I needed to gradually become my own advocate. The Buhai staff counseled me on all aspects of the dissolution process, including important issues such as how to keep me and my sons safe. The staff was kind, courteous, sympathetic and helpful in every way.

Once I started the legal process, the whole family dynamic changed. I was gradually becoming stronger and more independent. My ex no longer harassed me. He did not even challenge me for custody of our boys, as his main focus was to avoid giving me financial support.

When I finally went into court and got orders granting me a divorce, custody and child support, it felt like a terrible weight had been lifted from my shoulders and that I was now finally free to live my life.

My experience with the Buhai Center empowered me and gave me strength and confidence to accomplish what before I could only dream about. I began to focus on my education and got an AA degree in child development. Then I became certified as a health promoter and was hired by a community health center, to educate and assist low-income patients. I also do public speaking to raise awareness and organize my community in lobbying for decent health care services.

As part of my job, I reach out to help poor women and families in situations much like the one I was once in. I feel very lucky to be on the giving end instead of the receiving end this time.

Before I came to the Center, I never would have imagined that one day, I would be presented on stage with an award from La Opinion newspaper for being one of 30 distinguished Latina women who have made a difference in the LA community. This dream came true for me last year! And here I am again today, this time on a different stage, in front of all of you wonderful Buhai Center supporters to express gratitude for the assistance you have given me and others like me.

I am so grateful to the Buhai Center for being there when I needed them and for helping me to make a better life for myself, my family and the community I am privileged to serve.

The Buhai Center helped me to change my life and become the person I am today—a community leader and educator, a strong member of the Latino community; and most importantly, a proud parent.”

*Client’s name has been changed to protect her privacy

• Educating post-incarcerated mothers about what it means to act in the best interests of their children;
• Facilitating meaningful parent-child relationships by assisting mothers to regain quality visitation and custody rights;
• Ending and preventing domestic violence;
• Providing tools to access and utilize community resources and public benefits;
• Conducting training for staff of other organizations that provide services to post-incarcerated women.

In practice with her husband, the firm Reisman and Reisman specializes in civil litigation and family law.  Wanting to find a way to give back to the community, Reisman found the Center to be a good fit.  Her work, which she began in 2008, has been both rewarding and educational.

Reisman has been very impressed with the Center’s staff ability to make great use of her time, “I always felt very productive and accomplished.”

One client that she remembers in particular was a young unmarried father. He was doing everything he could on his own and without legal help to be a part of his child’s life, but the mother was making it very difficult for him. She moved over 50 miles away with the baby and she would only let him see the child for an hour or so every week. Often times when he arrived for an agreed upon visitation, the door would be locked and she wouldn’t answer her cell phone.

“I was impressed with the father’s level of dedication to his child” recalls Reisman. Through the Center’s and Reisman’s efforts, he was able to get court orders for visiting with his child and he was no longer at the mercy of the child’s mother’s whims.

Volunteers like Erin Reisman are at the heart of the Center’s services. For more information on volunteering contact Nicola Kennedy at volunteer@hbcfl.org

“We realize we are not alone, that there are these types of centers that give us legal help. You have changed a large part of my life and family in all these different aspects. I admire your professionalism, enthusiasm, dedication and support from this center.”

“With the help of the Center I feel very comfortable because I have a better understanding about what and what not to expect. I think the Center provides a remarkable service for people who are going through a very emotional experience in the legal system.”

“I appreciate your help at this time of my life. It’s a difficult process (the divorce), you’ve helped me to get ahead and given me strength to go to court. You have helped other women who have been victims of domestic violence.”

“I feel more educated about my rights as a parent”

“I learned all about domestic violence and how to get help. In the future I will know what my options are and what to do.”

“The class (at the LA County Jail) taught me how to get restraining orders and more about domestic violence. I now know what signs to look for before an abusive relationship starts.”

Sarah Miller* bolted out the door, got in her car and fled the marriage that had become a nightmare of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

The middle class life she left that day concealed a pattern of abuse. It escalated after Sarah developed kidney disease when her children, now adults, were preschoolers. Her transplant was failing and Sarah was struggling with dialysis treatments, osteoporosis and heart problems.

Her husband, “an extreme alcoholic”, would physically pin down the small, fragile woman in bed for hours at a time and threaten suicide. He told her that she was lazy, that there was nothing wrong with her. “The sicker I got, the harder it was.”

Sarah, who needed many hours of dialysis daily, was desperately ill and living in her car when she came to the Harriett Buhai Center for help with divorce proceedings.

“We didn’t have a lot assets and I figured it would be clear cut,” Sarah said. Instead, delays and objections from her husband’s side meant that paper work had to be repeatedly updated. “He didn’t want to pay me any alimony. He wanted to contest that I was disabled.”

As the process dragged on, Sarah was hospitalized several times. “My outcome didn’t look too good. My husband kept threatening me financially, trying to get me to sign paperwork when I was in the hospital. He was insistent that the courts would do nothing, so I’d better accept the $400 a month that he was offering and be happy with that.”

The Buhai Center volunteers and staff prepared to help Sarah go to court on her own. Due to her circumstances, it was clear that she would need representation in court. They referred Sarah to a volunteer attorney.

“It was a very compelling case,” said Buhai Center Pro Bono Manager Nina Combellack. “We needed someone who would effectively advocate for Sarah and get her the best possible results.” Combellack contacted experienced family law attorney Erin Grey, who has committed to making public service work part of her practice.

“It was imperative that Sarah was protected.” Grey said. “The thought of her living the last months of her life in a car and on dialysis was unthinkable to me.”

On the day of the trial, Sarah had to be helped to the stand. She collapsed in the hall after her testimony and spent the nine days in the hospital.

But Sarah finally had cause to celebrate. Her dissolution of marriage was granted and she had been awarded $1,500 a month in spousal support. “Sarah’s determination and hope were inspirational to me,” Grey said. “It was an honor to have worked with her. But without the Buhai Center’s help to begin with, where would she be today?”

Today, Sarah has hope. She is back on the transplant list and no longer living in her car.

If not for Erin and the Harriett Buhai Center, I would not have had a chance,” Sarah said. “My mind is clearer now. I have things to smile about, I can laugh again—and that’s probably what my family and my boys like the most.”

For information on volunteering to help clients like Sarah, contact Nicola Kennedy, Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@hbcfl.org

*The client’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.

When she first came to the Center, Yolanda* was terrified by her husband’s growing gang involvement. She was very fearful and traumatized by his physical and sexual violence towards her, sometimes witnessed by their two small children. He carried a gun which she found unprotected in their home, and he said he could not assure the family’s safety when they traveled because of gang fighting. She had absolutely no money to pay for a lawyer to relieve her nightmare.

It is only with your help that we can continue to respond to another Yolanda who crosses our door.

To support the Harriett Buhai Center and clients like Yolanda donate online here or  contact events@hbcfl.org 213-388-7505 ext. 317

*The client’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Sunday, April 15, 2012
Music Center of Los Angeles

4:00 PM – Reception
6:30 PM – Performance of “Green Day’s American Idiot”

Reception and award ceremony honoring:

Judith R. Forman, Zephyr M. Ramsey Award

Ellen Peck, Harriett Buhai Community Service Award

And our 2011 Volunteer Award Recipients:

Denise Nardi, Frances Wender Kandel Volunteer of the Year

Louise Nixon, Pro Bono Attorney of the Year

Melissa McNair, New Volunteer of the Year

Ellin Palmer, 25 Years of Service

Liza Cunanan, 10 Years of Service

Linda Morra, 10 Years of Service

Reception followed by a performance of “Green Day’s American Idiot”, a groundbreaking and exuberant musical adapted from a blockbuster record album. Portraying the ageless story of youth in rebellion, the play follows several young men on their road to self-discovery. This Tony-nominated show reinvents Broadway for a new generation and appeals to all who love live music and dance.

Reply by February 17th to be listed on the invitation

Click here to download 2012 Theater Benefit Order Form

For more information, email events@hbcfl.org or 213-388-7505 ext. 317

Honorary Committee

David Bohnett, Candis Duke, Nadine & Fredric Rosen, Susan R. Stockel, Alfre Woodard

Event Committee

Larry A. Ginsberg, Chair

Honey Kessler Amado, Robert Brandt, Radell Simon Brown, Deborah Carabet, Carole H. Cohen, Bruce Cooperman, Debra S. Frank, Francine & Manley Freid, Eunice Castillo, Robert S. Kaufman, Patty Kestin, Erin Kimmel, Betty L. Nordwind, Joan Patsy Ostroy, Patricia Phillips, Jaye Jo Portanova, Heidi Slater, Terry Steen, Cori G. Stockman