Morning Brief: Keeping LA Families Together, Student Loans, And Dine Latino Restaurant Week

Good morning, L.A. It’s May 19.

In an effort to keep families together, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors will consider setting up a preventative legal advocacy program that would offer services to parents and children before a petition of alleged child abuse or neglect goes to court.

The goal is to keep children from being separated from their families by being placed in foster care, report my colleagues Phoenix Tso and Nate Perez.

The plan was introduced to the board in a motion submitted by Supervisor Janice Hahn, and approved on Tuesday.

Hahn said the model, which is being increasingly adopted across the country, would reduce the trauma of unnecessary child and family separation. Such trauma disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous families — according to the ACLU, a staggering 60% of Black children in L.A. County will go through a Department of Children and Family Services investigation before they turn 18.

“We need to do everything we can to protect children from abuse, but far too many families are separated for reasons that actually stem from poverty,” said Hahn.

The motion will now go to the county CEO's Service Integration Branch, which will look into the feasibility of creating the model across L.A. County and report back to the board.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• For several people in Dr. John Cheng’s “kung fu family,” it was no surprise to hear he’d charged a gunman who opened fire in a Laguna Woods banquet hall, sacrificing his life for several others.
• L.A. Controller Ron Galperin wants to urgently implement his proposal to use vacant land owned by the city to house people experiencing homelessness, helping to lower rising death rates among the unhoused community.
• Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel paid off Otis Art School graduates' student loans last weekend.
• Two bills pending in the state Legislature would make it easier for undocumented and international students to qualify for in-state tuition at California’s public colleges and universities. 
• A new round of layoffs at Netflix is the latest signal of trouble at the streaming giant as it recently reported a decline in subscribers for the first time in a decade.
• It's been a busy three-and-a-half years for the InSight team, which is responsible for the Mars lander that’s been collecting seismic and geological information on the red planet.
  

Before You Go ... It's Dine Latino Week

Mmmmm... Berbere's vegan twist tacos are scrumptious.

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Danielle G. Adams

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L.A. is home to a large Latino diaspora, representing communities from Mexico through Chile. Because of that, we are lucky enough to have myriad options of delectable dishes that stem from folks’ countries of origin.

This week, you can check them all out at Dine Latino Restaurant Week, a celebration that offers a way to get out of a culinary rut and try new places. Don’t sleep on the celebrations.