Dependency Advocacy Center (DAC) is charged with providing statutorily required legal representation to indigent parents and children in Santa Clara County’s Juvenile Dependency Court.  Pursuant to its contract with the State of California, DAC is responsible for providing multiple levels of conflict-free representation. To achieve this, DAC’s structure is that of an umbrella organization with five segmented, independent law offices, with the Chief Executive Officer having administrative authority over the entire organization. In addition to the six law offices, the Mentor Parent Program provides further critical peer support to parents involved in Santa Clara County’s Dependency Wellness Court.

Dependency Advocacy Center Staff & Contact Information:

Main Office

Main: 408-995-0714; Fax: 408-516-3812
31 N. Second Street, Suite 300
San Jose, CA 95113

AnnaLisa Chung, Founder in Residence
achung@sccdac.org

Preeti Mishra, Interim Chief Executive Officer/Chief Operating Officer
pmishra@sccdac.org

Hilary Kushins, Chief Program Officer
hkushins@sccdac.org

Nicole Radden, Operations Manager
nradden@sccdac.org

Franchesca Tran, Conflicts Administrative Assistant
ftran@sccdac.org

Karmen Perales, Administrative Assistant
kperales@sccdac.org

Office of Dependency Counsel

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

Cynthia Chen, Supervising Attorney
cchen@sccdac.org

Crystal Mendoza-Velarde, Staff Attorney
cmendozavelarde@sccdac.org

Jasmine Wang, Staff Attorney
jwang@sccdac.org

Lilit Arakelyan, Staff Attorney
larakelyan@sccdac.org

Family Legal Advocates

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

Margaret Burks, Staff Attorney
mburks@sccdac.org

Katarina Pena, Staff Attorney
kpena@sccdac.org

Dependency Legal Associates

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

Maggie Law, Staff Attorney
mlaw@sccdac.org

Adam Rust, Staff Attorney
arust@sccdac.org

Family Defense Counsel

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

Sarah Brauer, Staff Attorney
sbrauer@sccdac.org

Arthur Tan, Staff Attorney
atan@sccdac.org

Corridor Program

31 N. Second Street, Suite 220A
San Jose, CA 95113 | Main: 408-564-5142 | Fax: 408-512-1697

Sarah Cook, Managing Attorney
scook@sccdac.org

Kimberly Valencia, Paralegal
kvalencia@sccdac.org

Alondra Alcaraz Martinez, Social Worker
aalcaraz@sccdac.org

Parish Green, Mentor Parent (Corridor Program)
pgreen@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-836-2760

Victoria Ruiz, Mentor Parent (Corridor Program)
vruiz@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-516-7684

First Call For Families Program

31 N. Second Street, Suite 300
San Jose, CA 95113 | Main: 408-856-2992 | Fax: 408-856-2996

Katie Joh, Managing Attorney
kjoh@sccdac.org

Ajeya Woods, Staff Attorney
awoods@sccdac.org

Kimberly Valencia, Paralegal
kvalencia@sccdac.org

Claudia Marquez, Social Worker
cmarquez@sccdac.org

Cecilia Galvan, Social Worker
cgalvan@sccdac.org

Ana Nevarez, Mentor Parent (First Call For Families)
anevarez@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-406-9322

Carisa Castillo, Mentor Parent (First Call For Families)
ccastillo@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-836-2662

Gildardo Amador, Mentor Parent (First Call For Families)
gamador@sccdac.org
Cell: 669-342-9676

Mentor Parent Program (DWC)

31 N. Second Street, Suite 220B
San Jose, CA 95113

Dave Shuster, Mentor Parent Program Manager
dshuster@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-516-7470

Alyssa Lopez, Mentor Parent
alopez@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-516-7442

Brenda Manzo, Mentor Parent
bmanzo@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-674-7189

Mario Arenas, Mentor Parent
marenas@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-569-0868

Melissa Elias, Mentor Parent
melias@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-829-8585

Rehmi Ruiz, Mentor Parent
rruiz@sccdac.org
Cell: 408-829-9024

Social Worker Program

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

Margaret Ross, Social Worker Program Manager
mross@sccdac.org

Kira Johnson, Social Worker
kjohnson@sccdac.org

Carolyn El-Shammaa, Social Worker
celshammaa@sccdac.org

For more information about Dependency Advocacy Center please email your inquiry to info@sccdac.org or contact DAC’s Operations Manager, Nicole Radden at (408) 995-0714.