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Pro Bono Client Receives Over $24,000 in Retroactive Extended Foster Care Benefits

Vera Serova and Jillian Berk settled a case referred by the Alliance for Children’s Rights resulting in the payment to our client of $24.5K in retroactive extended foster care benefits.

Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) halted the benefits to our client when her foster son Trey turned 18, citing various inconsistent reasons such as that he wasn’t attending school, wasn’t engaged in a job search, and didn’t live with his foster mom anymore. In fact, Trey satisfied all criteria for receiving the benefits until the age of 21, because he did live with his foster mom, attended and graduated school, had a job, and enrolled in college. He was able to reinstate the benefits at the age of 20, however, DCFS still refused to pay the family retroactive benefits for the two and a half missed years.

After a four-year-long battle, our client was able to obtain, with our help, full repayment of the retroactive benefits. Trey now serves in the Army, and his mom is super proud of him.

Categories: Pro Bono