By Shirley Hawkins
Contributing Writer
MONTEREY PARK — Charity Chandler-Cole is a survivor.
Once a teenager struggling to survive poverty in South Los Angeles, the CEO of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), an organization that advocates for foster youth, became a ward in the juvenile and foster care system at the tender age of 16, a harrowing journey she captures in her riveting life story, “Stranger Danger.”
As a teen, Chandler-Cole moved to a new neighborhood in South L.A. with her mother and elder sister.
She soon found out that the neighborhood was infested with gangs.
“I was told that I had to join a gang and sell drugs,” she said. “I was 14. Sold to my classmates. I went from a straight ‘A’ student to a gangbanger and drug dealer.
“I eventually was able to break away from the gang but security in a store caught me stealing a pack of underwear.”
She was handcuffed and spent the rest of her childhood in and out of juvenile hall and foster care.
“My mom was dealing with mental health issues,” she said. “I stayed in foster care for two years.”
She soon found out that many of the youth in the foster care system were being physically and sexually exploited by employees in the group home who were supposed to protect the youth in their care.
According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles County plans to pay $4 billion to settle nearly 7,000 claims of childhood sexual abuse that allegedly occurred inside its juvenile facilities and foster homes.
The settlement is more than what county officials had anticipated to resolve a flurry of lawsuits. The county said it will pay out the money between 2026 and 2030, as it decides how to distribute the billions among the roughly 6,800 plaintiffs.
The unprecedented settlement arose from Assembly Bill 218, a 2020 state law that gave victims of childhood sexual abuse a new window to sue, even though the statute of limitations had expired.
The deluge of lawsuits continues from thousands of victims and continues to grow.
During her stay in foster homes, Chandler-Cole became a teen mom and ran away, but she was eventually able to turn her life around.
Today, she is a married mother of four children, a scholar-activist, author and national welfare advocate whose mission is to dismantle obstacles facing foster youth and to build a brighter future for those caught up in the juvenile justice system.
At CASA, she has devoted nearly a decade to reshaping social structures, policies and systems that have disproportionately oppressed foster youth and vulnerable communities by ensuring that foster youth have a voice in the decisions that shape their lives.
“We have 1,012 advocates who work with the children and their caregivers,” Chandler-Cole said. “We tell the courts what Johnny needs to be successful and then we make recommendations that are strength based.”
Chandler-Cole is committed to helping youth caught up in the juvenile justice and the foster care systems.
“This job is not a career, it’s a calling,” she said. “You live, breathe, sleep and eat the juvenile justice system that affects our youth. I want to have an impact on the people I am serving.”
CASA is seeking more volunteers. Visit casala.org for more information.
