Child Life in the Community
AB1187
As the Child Life practice continues to expand and evolve, many seasoned Child Life Specialists think about serving children and families in community settings. Building and sustaining a private practice within the community is a beginning.
A “Call for Action” and Provisions for CL Services were submitted to community partners/stakeholders to identify the need for experienced Child Life Specialist to provide trauma-grief support to victims of fatal family violence. The Los Angeles District Attorney Family Violence Division recognized the need to include Certified Child Life Specialist as a valuable referral for services and to reimburse for services.
We are happy to announce that AB1187 unanimously passed and was recently signed by our California Governor allowing this legislation into effect January, 2024. This is a triumphant victory for CCLS to have the opportunity to work with children and families in the community and to be listed as a referral resource within the Family Violence Victims of Crime Division.
There is much more to come. In-service training to include: requirements to become vetted, application process, required documents, billing process, clinical supervision, and much more.
Contact us to learn more!
Child Life in the Community Applications
We are ready for the next steps of recruiting qualified CCLS to implement AB1187.
We are recruiting those who do community work, in private practice, or interested in starting to work in the LA community. Since the passing of the AB1187 although a slow process we have had referrals from both VOC (Victims of Crime) and DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services).
Currently, there is an opportunity to grow these referrals across LA county but need to add more qualified CCLS that meet the criteria to do this work. In addition, we have had an interest from several CCLS in different areas of California. We are hoping that once LA is established, we can make those connections in these different areas given that every county and referring agencies are different.
Please note that: Phase I of this new CL community endeavor will begin in LA County. Phase II will be implementation Statewide. For those reading this for the first time, please see the information about AB1187 above. This opportunity for CCLS is a valuable resource to serve children and families in the community. If you are interested, please download the application below.
