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Dependency
Advocacy
Center

Interdisciplinary legal services for the reunification and preservation of families in Santa Clara County's child welfare system

Contact Us

If you have a court case in Santa Clara County that involves CPS (Department of Family and Children's Services) and need legal representation:

Call Us - (408) 401-6691

If you do not have a court case, but have been contacted by Santa Clara County CPS (Department of Family and Children's Services) and need legal advice:

Call Our Warm Line - (408) 856-2992 Call Our Warm Line -
(408) 856-2992

Imagine a world where the integrity of every family is fiercely protected— a world where parents and children are safely rooted together in communities not in court rooms.

DAC’s Holistic Approach

Dependency Advocacy Center (DAC) serves Santa Clara’s County parents and children involved in the child welfare system. DAC’s multi-pronged approach to advocacy, which focuses on both protecting the client’s legal rights while simultaneously engaging the client to better their circumstances, is targeted toward making the family whole again. DAC supports families involved in the system through an interdisciplinary team.

Attorneys providing free legal representation

Social Workers providing clinical expertise

Mentor Parents that have lived experience in the child welfare system

Since 2008 DAC’s work has supported thousands of families reunifying with or preventing the removal of children from their family home.

Breaking Cycles of System Involvement

family laughing together

DAC's team gave me my life back. Because they took my case when I was incarcerated and gave me a second chance. I have everything today. I have a career. I have a home. I have my kids back. I have a relationship with my family, the people that I hurt.

DAC's team gave me my life back. Because they took my case when I was incarcerated and gave me a second chance. I have everything today. I have a career. I have a home. I have my kids back. I have a relationship with my family, the people that I hurt.

In Santa Clara County, African American and Latino children living in poverty are far more likely to enter foster care — a system that regularly serves as a pipeline to incarceration, substance abuse, sex trafficking, and homelessness.

Without effective intervention strategies that target long-term family wellbeing, the parents and children served by DAC are particularly susceptible to repeated cycles of separation and court involvement.

Mother and infant baby

Know Your Rights!

Find Out What DAC Has Been Up To

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Contact Us

For funding, media, or general inquiries, please submit the form below.

If you require immediate representation on an active dependency case call DAC’s main office phone number at 408-995-0714.


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Main Office

Map location of DAC main office

Main: 408-995-0714
Fax: 408-516-3812

31 N. Second Street, Suite 300
San Jose, CA 95113