Advocating for Children: A Commitment That’s Come Full Circle

The issues of early childhood have been a consistent theme throughout my career. During my first month as Assistant Press Deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman, the “Eyewitness News” was airing the first of five reports about child abuse and the way the Department of Public Social Services was handling cases. The reporter had called to alert us, and hoped that we could get Ed to react.

This TV clip set the tone for the next three years of my career, and gave me the opportunity to learn the PR trade while fighting for a cause I believed would help the abused and neglected children of LA County – the creation of a separate department of Children’s Services (now the Department of Children’s and Family Services). Despite a difficult political climate, the measure was passed with a 4-1 vote.

Photo of MacLaren Hall, a former facility for abused children that closed in 2003.

I know the turning point was an epic hearing I helped organize that featured social workers, clergy, LAPD officers, as well as a good turnout of figures in sports and entertainment. These celebrities, who included “Happy Days” star Henry Winkler, comic Carol Burnett and the Raiders’ defensive end Lyle Alzado, were part of an informal Hollywood network of children’s advocates led by the late philanthropist Nancy Daly. Her group regularly volunteered to help the kids at MacLaren Hall, an El Monte facility that was intended as a short-term refuge for abused children, but had turned into a nightmarishly overcrowded human warehouse that was worse than prison. The volunteers’ presence at the hearing was much more than window-dressing; they spoke knowledgeably, and were able to project passion and concern based on their direct experiences of providing care to kids in crisis.

Fast-forward several decades: I am now working with Hershey Cause Communications where we target clients in the social and health issue space who can make the world a better place for children. Two examples of organizations doing great work in this field are our nonprofit clients EMQ FamiliesFirst and Sojourner Center.

So much has changed in the social services space. There is far less reliance on warehousing foster youth and victims of abuse. Residential treatment has been largely replaced by concepts like “Wraparound,” which prioritizes helping children in crisis by keeping them in their homes or in the homes of other relatives whenever possible, and bringing mental health and social services to the entire family, rather than isolating the child from his or her community.

To fight for abused, neglected and traumatized children requires the toughest skin imaginable. I feel fortunate to be able to work with leaders like that again, including EMQ’s current CEO, Darrell Evora and Sojourner Center’s Dr. Maria Garay.

I am glad to see this field evolving, and I am glad that it is now clearer that the true divide in American society is the one separating children who suffer trauma and violence in their formative years, and the ones who are fortunate enough to escape such circumstances.

To save children from such suffering and misfortune is the noblest cause there could be. I’m grateful to Chris Hershey and Hershey Cause for giving me the unexpected opportunity to explore my own roots as a communicator, by allowing me to help clients who are seeking to continue that crusade.