“There was a fundamental misalignment between Dr. Chandler-Cole’s approach and CASA’s mission—ultimately leading to a loss of confidence.” That was the statement released last week by the board of CASA of Los Angeles—a group that recruits volunteers to serve as court-appointed special advocates to represent children’s “best interest” in child-welfare cases—explaining why it had fired its executive director, Charity Chandler-Cole.
Chandler-Cole had been hired four years earlier to great fanfare. “Charity is the right leader at the perfect time for CASA/LA,” then–Congresswoman Karen Bass declared. “She is a visionary who will be a tireless champion for the program and the children and families they serve.”
That was then—when someone with Chandler-Cole’s radical politics could rise rapidly to the top of the foster-care world. Now, sanity might be making a comeback…